Stimulating educational growth through vision and self-efficacy: a case study of adult users of English as a foreign language

Abstract

The present study focuses on scrutinising the congruence between the two concepts which are currently at the forefront of the motivational research, namely self-efficacy and the mental representation of a future state which, in the literature, is referred to as vision. To this very end, the first part of the paper offers a concise summary of the theoretical underpinnings behind both constructs. The latter sections of the examination are exploratory and interpretative in their nature and are dedicated to the empirical analysis of the correlation between vision and the sense of personal agency as well as the discussion of the answers stemming from the semi-structured interviews employed for the purpose of the study. The outcomes of the investigation provide satisfactory evidence to account for the presence of a reciprocal interaction between the adopted variables and prompt various noteworthy implications, for example, the positive impact of the notions on inducing a long-term, motivated action, the ability of vision to substitute efficacy beliefs in the initial stages of agency growth, and the stimulating influence of pre-experiencing emotional arousal related to a future state on a student’s language proficiency. This, in turn, creates an opportunity for inspiring the motivational gain in a variety of settings, including a foreign language classroom.