Study links self-efficacy, engagement pathways and CET-4 scores among Chinese EFL undergraduates

An observational study of 650 Chinese undergraduate English-as-a-foreign-language students found that behavioral engagement was the engagement dimension most directly associated with later CET-4 performance. Self-efficacy also retained a direct association with test scores after the modeled engagement pathways were included.

Researchers used structural equation modeling to compare a theory-based sequential model of learning engagement with a parallel mediation model. The participants were second-year students at three comprehensive universities in Zhejiang Province who took the College English Test Band 4 in December 2024.

Self-efficacy, emotional engagement, cognitive engagement and behavioral engagement were assessed through self-report in October and November 2024, about two months before the examination. CET-4 scores from official records, collected after the December results were released, served as the achievement outcome. The final sample comprised 232 males and 418 females, with a mean age of 18.4 years.

The sequential model fit the data better than the parallel alternative, in which emotional, cognitive and behavioral engagement were modeled as independent mediators. Fit was acceptable for the sequential model, with a comparative fit index of 0.929, Tucker-Lewis index of 0.922, root mean square error of approximation of 0.049 and standardized root mean square residual of 0.061. The parallel model had a standardized root mean square residual of 0.136, and a scaled chi-square difference test indicated significantly worse fit.

Within the sequential model, self-efficacy was positively associated with emotional engagement and cognitive engagement. Emotional and cognitive engagement were each associated with behavioral engagement, while emotional engagement was also associated with cognitive engagement. However, the emotional-to-cognitive direction could not be established empirically: a model reversing that order had identical fit, and the reciprocal specification could not be identified with the available single-wave data.

Behavioral engagement was the only engagement dimension directly associated with CET-4 achievement, with a standardized coefficient of 0.205. Emotional engagement and cognitive engagement did not have significant direct associations with achievement after behavioral engagement was included. Their significant indirect associations with test performance ran through behavioral engagement rather than through direct paths to the outcome.

Bootstrapping with 5,000 resamples identified three significant indirect routes from self-efficacy to behavioral engagement: through emotional engagement, with a standardized estimate of 0.194; through cognitive engagement, at 0.038; and through emotional and cognitive engagement sequentially, at 0.127. All three indirect routes from self-efficacy to CET-4 achievement through behavioral engagement were significant, whereas indirect routes that bypassed behavioral engagement were not.

Self-efficacy had a direct standardized association of 0.131 with CET-4 achievement, alongside a significant total indirect association of 0.108 through the engagement structure. The cumulative indirect effect through behavioral engagement was 0.074, described by the researchers as about 31% of the modeled total association. That percentage was a descriptive decomposition rather than evidence that a causal effect had been explained.

The findings are limited by the concurrent measurement of self-efficacy and the three engagement dimensions, which leaves their temporal ordering unresolved. Prior English proficiency was not controlled, behavioral engagement was based on self-report rather than direct observation, and achievement was represented by a single standardized test score. The results therefore show associations in a proposed model, not evidence that changes in engagement cause higher CET-4 scores.

Subject of Research: Associations among self-efficacy, learning engagement and CET-4 achievement in Chinese EFL undergraduates

Article Title: From belief to behavior: behavioral engagement as the proximal link between self-efficacy and L2 achievement

Article References: Zhang, G., Zhang, F. A., Li, Y., Gong, Y., & He, F. (2026). From belief to behavior: behavioral engagement as the proximal link between self-efficacy and L2 achievement. Frontiers in Psychology, 17, Article 1997825. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1997825

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.3389/fpsyg.2026.1997825

Keywords: self-efficacy, behavioral engagement, L2 achievement, CET-4, English learning, sequential mediation, structural equation modeling, Chinese undergraduates, belief, behavior, behavioral, engagement