How social support contributes to self-efficacy and learning achievement: A validation study of secondary EFL learners

While the role of social support in student learning has been emphasized in the literature, relatively few studies have examined social support constructs in tandem, and how these social support constructs may predict students' learning achievement remains under-researched particularly in second language acquisition. This study aimed to develop and validate the Social Support for English Learning Scale (SSELS) in a sample of secondary students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in China. Findings of both exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis supported the four-factor model of the SSELS which includes teacher support, family academic support, family autonomy support, and peer support. The four SSELS dimensions explained 38.4 % of the variance in participants’ English learning self-efficacy and 9.5 % of the variance in their English learning achievement. Among the four SSELS dimensions in the regression equation, teacher support and family autonomy support emerged as significant positive predictors of both learning self-efficacy and achievement.