Assessment of Students’ Confidence in Speaking English: A Case Study of Anshun University, Guizhou Province, China

Abstract

The objectives of this study were threefold: 1) To examine the level of non-English major students’ confidence in speaking English at Anshun University in Guizhou Province, China; 2) To investigate the factors influencing their confidence; and 3) To analyze the predictive effects of speaking self-efficacy, foreign language speaking anxiety, and external learning factors related to English speaking on students’ confidence in speaking English. A quantitative research design was employed using a structured questionnaire administered to 400 students through stratified random sampling, with 392 valid responses collected for analysis. The data collected were analyzed by descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression. The results indicated that: 1) non-English major students demonstrated a moderate level of English-speaking confidence (M = 3.08; S.D. = 0.68); 2) Correlation analysis showed that speaking self-efficacy and external learning factors were positively and significantly related to English-speaking confidence (r = .61 and .53), while speaking anxiety was negatively associated with it (r = -.49); 3) Multiple regression analysis further revealed that all three predictors jointly explained 56% of students’ Englishspeaking confidence, with speaking self-efficacy was the strongest predictor (46%). The findings suggest that enhancing students’ self-efficacy, reducing speaking anxiety, and creating supportive learning environments can effectively improve students’ confidence in speaking English.