Language Learning Strategies, Motivational Beliefs, and English Learning Achievement Among Thai University EFL Learners: A Structural Equation Modelling Analysis

Abstract

This study investigated the structural relationships among language learning strategies (LLSs), motivational beliefs (MBs), and English language achievement (ELA) among first-year Thai university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Grounded in self-regulated learning, social cognitive, and expectancy-value theories, the study examined how LLSs and MBs jointly contribute to ELA. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used, with 913 participants from a public university in Thailand. Data were collected via a structured questionnaire measuring learners’ cognitive, metacognitive, and social strategies; intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, task value, and self-efficacy; and overall assessment of their perceived English learning achievement and self-rated English proficiency across the four language skills. Descriptive statistics, Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) were conducted. Results indicated moderate use of LLSs, with cognitive and metacognitive strategies used more frequently than social strategies. Students reported moderate-to-high motivational beliefs, with task value emerging as the strongest dimension. EFA and CFA supported the reliability and construct validity of the measurement model. SEM analysis demonstrated excellent model fit and revealed that intrinsic motivation, task value, and self-efficacy significantly predicted strategy use and ELA. LLSs showed the strongest direct effect on achievement, whereas extrinsic motivation had no significant direct effect. In addition, LLSs partially mediated the effects of intrinsic motivation, task value, and self-efficacy on achievement. The SEM results indicated that ELA is shaped by the combined influence of adaptive motivation and effective strategic behaviour. Therefore, instructional interventions should synchronously enhance strategic language learning and increase learners’ motivational beliefs to promote English learning achievement.