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Examining English Self-Efficacy Beliefs of University Preparatory Class Students*

Article History: Purpose: Students in Turkey have difficulty reaching fluency in English. Affective factors in teaching English are as important as cognitive factors. Perceived self-efficacy, an affective factor, is known to influence learning a second language. This study explores the effects of a university preparatory school’s English curriculum on its students’ selfefficacy beliefs to understand if the design, application and evaluation of the curriculum could be better suited to English language learners. Research Method: 426 students participated in the research, conducted with the cross-sectional survey design. An adapted psychometric scale was used to Received: 15 Jun. 2019 Received in revised form: 26 Jan. 2020 Accepted: 28 Feb. 2020 DOI: 10.14689/ejer.2020.86.3

measure students' levels of English self-efficacy beliefs. In addition, an open-ended questionnaire was distributed to the participants to better understand their views on the sources of self-efficacy. The data were analyzed using paired samples t-test, percentages and frequency distributions. Findings: Findings revealed that preparatory class practices increased students' self-efficacy beliefs in all sub-dimensions. The fear of making mistakes, losing face, and not being able to express their opinions negatively affected students' self-efficacy beliefs. Applying the language in productive activities, showing effort to use English in daily life and taking responsibility within the context of the English curriculum, modelling after positive behavior of the teachers and friends, and encouraging expressions by the teachers positively affected students' self-efficacy beliefs. Implications for Research and Practice: To develop professional teacher training programs that apply more effective activities and provide better feedback and correction, it is imperative to establish better communication with the students and understand how to integrate technology in the language lessons. © 2020 Ani Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved

Introduction
In an increasingly globalized world, where the mother tongues are not adequate for proper communication, English has long emerged as the lingua franca. It has been preferred as the language of economy, education and research as well as media and popular culture. English language has been a compulsory school subject in European classrooms where multilingualism is standard. Similarly, learning English in Turkey is no longer perceived as a luxury, but a necessity.
Despite all efforts put forth into the teaching of the English language, it is still problematic in Turkey (Bayraktaroglu, 2014a;Paker, 2012). According to the Education First English Proficiency Index (2018) scores, Turkey ranks 73 rd out of 88 countries. Even in universities where English is the medium of instruction, the targeted advanced language skills are not achieved by the students (Bayraktaroglu, 2014b). To rectify this downward spiral, educational policies, and more specifically, English curricula, keep changing.
Ministry of National Education introduced English lessons at an earlier age and supported curriculum with up-to-date teaching methods and materials. Nevertheless, affective factors need to be considered as well, as they too, are important as cognitive factors in language teaching (Henter, 2014). Separating affection from cognition can hinder the ability to comprehend life as a whole (Swain, Kinnear & Steinman, 2011). Bandura (1986, p. 391) defined self-efficacy as "beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations". The effects of self-efficacy on the cognitive processes (Bandura, 1993) and the performance of learning a second language (Acikel, 2011;Karafil & Ari, 2016;Raoofi, Tan & Chan, 2012;Tilfarlioglu & Ciftci, 2011) are well substantiated. However, studies reveal that the majority of language learners exhibit low levels of self-efficacy, thus negatively affecting the success of language learning (Crookes & Schmidt, 1991;Oxford & Shearin, 1994). Many students feel lost in language classes (Horwitz, Horwitz & Cope, 1986). Students do not feel confident when they feel they cannot learn a foreign language. As a result, they approach the learning process with lower levels of motivation and lack of enthusiasm.
Several studies have focused on English self-efficacy beliefs (e.g. Bonyadi, Nikou & Shahbaz, 2012;Filatov & Pill, 2015;Matthews, 2010;Zimmerman, Bandura & Martinez-Pons, 1992) and sources (e.g. Blumenthal, 2014;Phan & Locke, 2015;Zuo & Wang, 2014). In Turkey, research directed at English self-efficacy beliefs have often examined the relationship between self-efficacy and other variables (e.g. Kanadli & Bagceci, 2015;Karagol, 2015;Kasik, 2014). However, little research has targeted students in English preparatory classes. Tilfarlioglu and Cinkara (2009) found that English preparatory class students had high levels of self-efficacy. They also postulated that there was a positive correlation between language proficiency and selfefficacy level with regard to year-end final grades. Acikel (2011) claimed that English preparatory class students' perceived self-efficacy is a good predictor of reading and listening skills in English. Karafil and Ari (2016) surmised that students' reading selfefficacy was the highest while their writing self-efficacy was the lowest. Despite these studies, no research has investigated how the English preparatory class curricula affected students' self-efficacy beliefs. Moreover, there is no analysis of the self-efficacy sources of English preparatory class students. Thus, a need to examine the effects of English preparatory class curricula on the self-efficacy beliefs controlling for curricular and non-curricular factors affecting English self-efficacy sources is a viable research endeavor.
This study benefits the administrators and faculty members that are responsible for designing and implementing the curriculum because a key factor that has been missing in the processes of creating a dynamic English curriculum is the concept of students' self-efficacy. Moreover, findings from this study inform instructors about the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum in terms of students' self-efficacy beliefs and enable them to review their practices. In addition, the results enhance the awareness of preparatory class students' own learning strategies and point out what they can do to raise their own perceived self-efficacy.
The purpose of this study was to identify how the English curriculum of a university preparatory class affected the students' self-efficacy beliefs in order to be able to design, apply and evaluate such curricula better. The main research question was, "How does the English preparatory class curriculum of a state university affect the students' selfefficacy beliefs?" In order to best answer this question, the following questions below were also examined: 1. Is there a significant difference between the self-efficacy scores of students before taking and after completing the course in the curriculum?
2. What are the students' opinions on the factors affecting their English selfefficacy?

Research Design
Survey research design aims to collect data from a large group of participants at a certain time to understand the nature of an already existing phenomenon and to describe the tendencies, attitudes or opinions of a certain group (Cohen, Manion & Morrison, 2005;Creswell, 2014). Therefore, the study was conducted using crosssectional survey research design as the aim was to understand the nature of the English preparatory class curriculum's contribution to students' self-efficacy beliefs.

Research Sample
The sample of this study was constituted of A1, A2 and B1 level students who studied in the preparatory class at a state university in the fall (n=704) and spring (n=698) semesters during the 2016-2017 academic year. A total of 598 students, who were enrolled in undergraduate programs and did not repeat the preparatory class, volunteered to participate in the study in the fall semester. In the spring semester, 486 students volunteered. After having excluded the students whose questionnaires contained missing information and/or who did not participate in both the pre and posttests, the sample size of the study numbered 426 students: 59.1% A1 level students (n=252), 30.8% A2 level students (n=131), and 10.1% B1 level students (n=43).

Research Instruments and Procedures
English self-efficacy scale. Yanar and Bumen's (2012) Self-Efficacy Scale for English was disseminated to students in two separate phases -right after the semester began and immediately following upon completing the curriculum for the academic year. The Likert-type scale consists of 4 sub-dimensions and 34 items associated with reading, writing, listening and speaking skills in English. As the scale was developed for high school students and was intended to be used for a higher education group in this research, validity and reliability tests were carried out after the pretest (n=598). The test for Cronbach's alpha revealed a total scale score of .94. The Cronbach's alpha value of the sub-dimensions was as following: reading .76, writing .82, listening .92, and speaking .73. A scale is accepted as reliable if the Cronbach's alpha value is .70 and above (Nunnally, 1978). After confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was employed to verify the model of the scale, t values for the sub-dimensions and items were found to be significant at the level of .001. The results of CFA fit indices (χ 2 /df=2.51, p<.01, CFI=.90,RMSEA=.05,GFI=.90,AGFI=.88) showed that the model-data fit is either good or acceptable and the scale has construct validity (Anderson & Gerbing, 1984;Joreskog & Sorbom, 1993).

Factors affecting English self-efficacy beliefs questionnaire.
An additional 13 openended questions were developed to further understand how students' opinions affected their self-efficacy beliefs. The instrument was applied at the end of the preparatory class practices. The survey questions were written within the context of self-efficacy sources. Questions 1 thru 6 are specific to mastery experiences, questions 7 and 8 apply to vicarious experiences, questions 9 thru 11 cover verbal persuasion, and questions 12 and 13 are a measurement for emotional and physiological state (Bandura, 1977(Bandura, , 1988(Bandura, , 1994. The survey was then sent to various members of the departmental faculty where upon suggestions were finalized before it was administered to participants in the posttest setting.

Data Analysis
Measures of skewness (pretest=-.395; posttest=-.347) and kurtosis (pretest=.625; posttest=.336) demonstrated the data set exhibited a normal distribution curve. Paired samples t-tests were run to evaluate the first sub-problem; whereas percentages (%) and frequency (f) were employed to determine the second sub-problem.
To analyze the open-ended questions, all written responses were first read, and then coded under certain concepts and phrases based on their frequency of repetition. Then, these codes were categorized within the themes of self-efficacy sources. These categorizations were labelled as positive, negative and sometimes other.

Effects of the Curriculum on the Students' Level of Self-Efficacy
Students' self-efficacy scores before and after they've participated in the English preparatory class practices are presented in Table 1. Average of total test scores of the students' self-efficacy levels was found to be significant at the end of the English preparatory class t(425)=14.12; p<.05. Findings revealed that the English curriculum of the preparatory class increased students' levels of self-efficacy, both in total and in all sub-dimensions. The greatest increase occurred in the reading sub-dimension. It should be noted that the English curriculum contributed more to the self-efficacy scores in terms of receptive skills, such as reading and listening; as opposed to productive skills, such as writing and speaking.

Students' Opinions on the Factors Affecting Self-Efficacy Beliefs
Mastery experiences. Findings indicated that the mastery experiences of English selfefficacy beliefs were derived from "putting effort" (f=881) and "characteristics of the curriculum" (f=726). Students' opinions on putting effort were categorized under positive (f=690) and negative (f=191) opinions as shown in Table 2. Students' responses indicated that they included English in their daily lives (f=457) as a result of showing effort to practice it more. In doing so, they respectively used English for entertainment purposes (f=136), in situations that require basic communication (f=113), while communicating with foreigners (f=111), in every opportunity (f=48), while chatting with friends (f=27), and abroad (f=22).
Students mostly put effort to use English for entertainment purposes. For example, one student says, "I think I learn daily phrases in English better when I watch English TV shows. It helps me pay more attention to pronunciation and stress while speaking." Students who undertake responsibility within the curriculum (f=169) study/make revisions (f=43), do vocabulary (f=40) and reading (f=33) exercises, attend to the lessons (f=21), do writing exercises (f=9), obtain extra materials (f=8), translate (f=7), watch the lesson videos (f=5), take notes (f=2), and identify their weaknesses (f=1). The following statement, "I repeated what we did at school after school constantly and regularly." is an example for studying and making revisions. For doing vocabulary exercises, one respondent stated, "I made a vocabulary box. I added the new words I learnt at school in this box and I repeated them every day." Another student says, "I started reading simplified books. I started with Grade 3, but I can understand Grade 5 books now very well." as an example for doing reading exercises. In addition to these activities, other students placed emphasis on class attendance: "Even though I get bored in some of the lessons, I forced myself to attend to them and tried to make them fun for myself." Furthermore, some students indicated they experienced more success after they put effort in learning (f=64): "I think the effort I put in the extra exercises paid off for me." Of the students who pointed out negative opinions (f=191), with regard to putting in the effort, many expressed they failed even if they tried (f=58), that they did not include English in their daily lives (f=40) and that they only used English when forced to do so (f=10). The most viable opinions were found to be in not putting enough effort (f=83). According to one student, "I find myself inefficient in all of the subjects in English. I don't spend enough time and effort because when I study on my own, I struggle too much and then I just quit." Contrarily, there were students who put in the effort, yet failed in the end. One such student stated, "I watch English TV shows, but my language skills don't improve at all. I read English books, but I will fail the preparatory class." In Table 3, the data indicated that 316 positive statements and 410 negative statements were associated with the characteristics of the curriculum. However, the respondents stated more positive opinions with regard to learning situations (f=296). Specific activities aimed to develop language production (f=192) in particular, appeared to be positively associated with students' self-efficacy. These activities were mostly related to speaking and writing skills. According to one respondent, "… the presentation we did in front of the whole class transformed us in such a way that we both became more self-confident and our language skills improved immensely." Another stated, "The essays we wrote in the writing class were enough for us to see our mistakes. I think we learn better when we get concrete corrections after we make a mistake." Some students criticized that there were not enough classroom activities that supported language production (f=62): "I feel inefficient. The opportunities to practice the language are really limited. Speaking lesson in particular should include constant practice." A small number of respondents felt exams (f=8) improved self-efficacy beliefs. For example, one respondent stated, "Having to attend to lots of classes and to take many exams like quizzes and monthly exams disciplined me this year." Another added, "I tried to improve my English by comparing myself to my partner in the speaking exam." Some students claimed otherwise (f=3) by highlighting that the exams contributed negatively to their self-efficacy because they are difficult and on the remembering level: "I think the quizzes are too difficult and based on memorization. Getting low scores makes me feel inadequate." Among other characteristics of the curriculum that were found to positively contribute to the self-efficacy were speaking club, English as the medium of instruction and grouping students. However, the lack of extra-curricular activities (f=177) was given as the most influential factor that negatively affected self-efficacy beliefs. Vicarious experiences. As seen in Table 4, the most influential vicarious experience on the students' self-efficacy beliefs was taking someone as a model (f=875). The students' opinions on taking someone as a model were categorized under positive (f=272), negative (f=446) and other (f=157). Respondents indicated that their classmates played more of a negative role (f=220) than positive (f=144). Both the success and failure of their classmates created negative emotions in students and hindered learning after modeling. One such student stated, "I have friends who study more than me, but they still fail. I don't know, I feel like I will fail at the end even if I try not to." Another asserted, "I've always looked down on myself because of my friends whose English is really good. This affected my grades negatively." Findings showed that being in the same class with students who exhibited different proficiency levels negatively affected their self-efficacy beliefs. One respondent declared, "I don't think we are in the right language level. There are people whose English is way better than mine in my class. I am demoralized when they say the classroom activities are easy because they are actually very hard for me." However, regarding classmates as a model could also have a positive effect (f=144). A number of students felt that having successful classmates at a similar language level with them was beneficial for their self-efficacy. Students who reported that they were not affected by the success or failure of their classmates had a high frequency (f=157). Findings indicated this situation to be mostly related to personality traits, for example, one minding one's own business rather than others' and cultural factors (Everyman for himself).
The role of the teacher was found to be more positive (f=70) than negative (f=30). Teachers' perseverance, determination and interest in the students supported selfefficacy beliefs, in addition to their effective language skills in English according to this student's statement, "I took some of my teachers as role-models. They are determined, hardworking and genuinely interested in us and this affected me a great deal." Further, another one added, "I modelled after my teachers' fluent and accurate English." However, too much teacher talking time, a lack of concept and instruction checks, and methods and techniques used to deliver the lessons had a negative effect on student's self-efficacy who exhibited low language proficiency (f=30). One respondent said, "Teachers mostly talk themselves and there are no activities that would make a difference. This makes me lose my motivation to learn." Another added, "I thought I was going to fail because of the negative behaviors and attitudes of some teachers." Another statement shows how the language proficiency of teachers can have a negative effect on the students' selfefficacy; "For me, a teacher must have a good command of English. Everyone van make a mistake or be forgetful at times. But I get demotivated when this happens too much." Students' opinions on taking family members as models (f=47) revealed the positive effects of diligence, determination and negative experiences of learning English of family members.
Verbal persuasion. As seen in Table 5, students' opinions on verbal persuasion (f=820) were classified as positive (f=323), negative (f=69) and other (f=428). Teachers (f=165) played a key role in forming students' self-efficacy beliefs in terms of verbal persuasion. One respondent stated, "Teachers give me good feedback to my answers in the class. It encourages and motivates me more." The student illustrated how teachers' constructive feedbacks motivated students. However, teachers (f=36) can also be a source for negative social persuasion. To exemplify, "Some teachers said that we are not good enough and have to study again next year." Teachers' stern warnings concerning the importance of exams and grades did not have the desired effects on students' selfefficacy as seen in the following statement: "Teachers' speeches starting with 'You will fail this year.' 'You are supposed to know this.' after each exam made me think that I wouldn't be able to learn English." Methods applied in the classroom for error correction and giving feedback by some teachers also negatively affected student's self-efficacy beliefs. One student claims, "I get sad and don't want to attend to the lessons when my teachers ridicule my mistakes." Family members (f=129) was another contributing factor that affected students' selfefficacy. The praising of students' individual characteristics, for example, their intelligence, talents, and diligence; all were positively associated with students' selfefficacy beliefs. One respondent states, "My family and friends gave me positive feedback that I will succeed. They told me that I am capable, smart and will learn English easily." Other (f=428) factors that affect English self-efficacy beliefs through verbal persuasion included that students received neither positive (f=86) nor negative (f=290) feedback. Several students penned they did not receive negative feedback from anyone as they were already successful and even if they did, it would make them study more. Additionally, students reported that certain teachers did not have encouraging or discouraging expressions (f=48): "My teachers didn't encourage me to learn more, but they didn't say anything discouraging, either." Lastly, a small number of students declared they were not affected by their teachers' encouraging or discouraging expressions (f = 4). According to one such respondent, "I don't let the expressions of teachers affect me in any permanent way." Physiological and emotional state. Table 6 shows that students' opinions on the physiological and emotional state (f=782) were grouped as positive (f=276) and negative (f=506). Statements reporting positive physiological and emotional state of the students were categorized into three categories: positive emotions (f=222), reasons (f=43) and positive attitude (f=11). The following statement encompasses the positive emotions that students experience when they use the language. He/she states, "I feel like I can achieve anything I want. I feel happy as if I was someone with a great talent." It is clear in the students' statements that they attribute positive emotions to being successful: "I am proud of myself because it's great to see my achievements after nine years of learning English." Furthermore, some students exhibited a positive attitude towards the curriculum. One such student writes, "I remember having attended to Listening and Reading classes willingly because I was able to follow up with the syllabus more easily." Another statement is an example of having a positive attitude towards teachers: "… another reason is that we have a great MC1 teacher. I think the most important factor in understanding what the teacher says is to love him/her." Students who reported experiencing negative emotions (f=311) included expressions such as 'anxiety,' 'stress,' 'nervousness,' and 'embarrassment' in their statements. One student claims, "No matter what I try, I just freeze when I have to speak English." Negative emotions were mainly experienced during speaking exams, when having to speak with English native speakers / foreigners, and /or when speaking in front of other people.
The lack of English knowledge (f=76) was the most repeated reason why students had negative emotions (f=179). Students' lack of knowledge in grammar and vocabulary triggered negative emotions, especially during language production activities: "I am not efficient in speaking lessons. I struggle a lot while speaking because I don't have the right vocabulary." Another respondent adds, "Writing, because I don't think my grammar and vocabulary are good enough." Findings indicated that the fear of making mistakes was negatively associated with self-efficacy beliefs.
Negative attitude (f=16) was directed at the part of the curriculum which was intended to improve productive skills. One student asserts, "I feel inefficient in writing classes because I don't like writing. I only write when I must or when I absolutely need it. And even then, I can't write well." A negative attitude towards English is apparent in the following statement: "I wouldn't like to learn English at all if it wasn't compulsory."

Discussion, Conclusion and Recommendations
The preparatory class's English curriculum had a positive effect on the students' self-efficacy beliefs. The increase in students' self-efficacy levels in listening, speaking, reading, and writing sub-dimensions were significant. Although no research has been carried out with English preparatory classes in this particular field, other studies have demonstrated that receiving training for a certain skill is positively correlated with self-efficacy beliefs of this skill (Ballo-allo, 2010;Celik, Gokce, Aydogan-Yenmez, & Ozpinar, 2017;Rahayu & Jacabson, 2012). When students' pre and posttest scores were compared, the students' self-efficacy beliefs of receptive skills (listening and reading) increased more than productive skills (speaking and writing). Considering there is a strong correlation between self-efficacy beliefs and the academic success at language skills (Kitikanan & Sasimonton, 2017), a higher level of achievement at the end of preparatory class practices can be reached through activities designed to improve students' self-efficacy beliefs.
Results revealed that students' opinions were primarily related to mastery experiences, thus confirming it to be the most effective self-efficacy source (Bandura, 1997;Sheu et al., 2018;Usher & Pajares, 2008;Zimmerman, 2000). Students demonstrated effort in using English by including it in their daily lives and undertaking responsibilities within the curriculum. Individual efforts exhibited inside and outside of the classroom positively affected the students' self-efficacy beliefs in that they themselves started to use the language more effectively. Yough (2011) emphasizes the importance of the relationship between the willingness to use the language and self-efficacy. On the other hand, not showing enough effort was a factor resulted in low self-efficacy. Kara, Dundar and Ayaz (2017) confirmed that students attribute their own failure in learning English to not spending enough time and putting in effort.
The analysis revealed the most effective component of the curriculum, in terms of students' self-efficacy beliefs, was learning situations. While activities aimed at producing the language improved students' self-efficacy beliefs, activities that did not support language production had a negative effect. Doing grammar exercises is known to affect self-efficacy beliefs negatively, when compared to productive and communicative activities (Haznedar, 2010). Interactive videos and other uses of technology should be integrated in the courses and the course materials should be designed considering the needs, interests and levels of the students as the materials and facilities can have a profound effect on the self-efficacy beliefs (Solak & Bayar, 2015). The lack of extra-curricular activities negatively affects students' self-efficacy beliefs although other studies have shown that academic self-efficacy beliefs can be supported through extra-curricular activities (Attarwala, 2015;Burr, 2012).
Results also suggested that role-models affect students' self-efficacy beliefs through vicarious experiences. Bandura (1994) expresses that model and observer should share similar characteristics for the self-efficacy beliefs to be affected. The findings supported this notion as the classmates were the most effective contributing factor to improve or damage self-efficacy beliefs. Thus, grouping students based on their language proficiency levels can prevent mix-ability classrooms and enhance selfefficacy. Students modeled after their teachers, which confirmed the claim that the model's proficiency in the observed skill or behavior is more influential than the similarity between the model and the observer (Ahn, Bong & Kim, 2017;Ahn, Usher, Butz, & Bong, 2016). Teachers' statements, specifically on the subject related to the importance of exams and grades, did not have the desired effects on students' selfefficacy. Moreover, methods used by teachers for giving feedback and error correction did not improve students' self-efficacy beliefs, either. Social persuasion affected students' self-efficacy beliefs in the form of positive and negative expressions given by different people in students' lives. In particular, encouraging expressions made by teachers and friends affected students' self-efficacy beliefs. Other studies have similarly shown that positive verbal persuasion and feedbacks from advisors, teachers, friends and classmates encourage students to practice speaking in English more (Rahayu & Jacabson, 2012;Zuo & Wang, 2014). This study concluded that positive expressions had a higher frequency than negative ones, which gives evidence to the fact that verbal persuasion heavily influenced students' self-efficacy beliefs. Students' cultural background should be taken into consideration when commenting on vicarious experiences and verbal persuasion. Ahn et al. (2016) advocates that the self-efficacy beliefs of students from collectivist and individualist cultures are affected differently by these sources. Considering the traditionally collectivist structure of the Turkish society (Ozdil, 2017), students may have attributed more value to these two sources.
Statements from students divulged mostly feelings of stress, anxiety, and embarrassment, which parallels other studies in the literature. English language learners often go through stress, embarrassment, nervousness and anxiety (Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2014;Dornyei, 2005;Jin, Bot & Keijzer, 2017;Kruk, 2015). Bhatti, Memon and Pathan (2016) reported that students avoid using English for fear of negative evaluation by others or not being able to communicate. Dogan (2016) points out the negative correlation between anxiety and English self-efficacy. Situations, in which students experience negative emotions, correspond with the five factors defined by Mak (2011); fear of being assessed negatively, anxiety of talking to native speakers, negative attitude towards English courses, negative self-assessment, and fear of failure. Kayaoglu and Saglamel (2013) defined the possible reasons for language anxiety in speaking classes, which are linguistic difficulties, cognitive challenges like fear of failure and lack of self-esteem, lack of information in the native language, teachers' role, and competitiveness. The findings in this study confirms their results in terms of teachers' negative expressions, classmates' success and individual differences.
Students reported that they avoid situations in which they need to speak English because they are afraid that their friends would make fun of their mistakes and pronunciation. Students' statements related to not being able to express themselves and fear of making mistakes stand out amongst others. Zuo and Wang's (2014) study found similar results. Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope (1986) also highlighted that students who experience higher levels of anxiety tend to think their classmates are better than them and they fear they would make mistakes while speaking. As a result, they have a fear of being mocked by their peers. On the other hand, statements reporting positive emotions can be interpreted as a reflection of another study where the researchers found out that perceived self-efficacy is a strong predictor of student happiness, especially in competitive situations (Shilpa & Prasad, 2017).
The limitation of the study was collecting data only from the students at the beginning and at the end of the academic year. Therefore, future qualitative studies may ensure that data is collected from all stakeholders and explore how the English language curricula are implemented in terms of students' self-efficacy beliefs and sources. Nevertheless, based on the results of this study, certain suggestions are offered for English curriculum implementations. English curricula can include more activities aimed at producing the language and real communication to get students to have more mastery experiences. Professional development programs for teachers to design and apply in-class activities considering students' self-efficacy, to give constructive feedback and better error correction, to have a more effective communication with students, and to integrate technology in their lessons can be organized. Teachers can highlight students' progress rather than comparing them to one another in their feedback. They can also create a safe environment for students to practice English without any hesitation or fear. Students with low and high selfefficacy levels can be identified and matched in in-class activities and term projects so that they could have the opportunity to learn after modelling and to motivate one another. Dornyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner: individual differences in second language acquisition. NewJersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.  (Henter, 2014). Duyuşsal özelliklerden olan öz yeterlik algısının bilişsel süreçler üzerinde (Bandura, 1993) ve yabancı dil öğrenme performansında etkili olduğu ileri sürülmektedir (Açıkel, 2011;Tılfarlıoğlu ve Çiftçi, 2011). Alanyazında, üniversite hazırlık sınıfı İngilizce öğretim programlarının öğrencilerin İngilizce öz yeterlik algısını nasıl etkilediğine ya da bu öğrencilerin İngilizce öz yeterlik algısını oluşturan kaynaklara ilişkin herhangi bir çalışma bulunmamaktadır. Bu araştırma, programın yönetiminden sorumlu karar alıcılara, koordinatörlüklere ve özellikle programı tasarımlayan ekibe İngilizce öğretim programlarının öğelerini dil öğreniminde kilit rol oynayan öz yeterlik algısını da dikkate alarak tasarlayabilmelerine imkân tanıyabilecek sonuçlar üretilebilir. Ulaşılan sonuçlar ayrıca, öğretim görevlilerine öğrencilerin öz yeterlik algılarına katkıları açısından yürüttükleri programın güçlü ve zayıf yönlerini gösterebilir ve böylelikle kendi uygulamalarını gözden geçirmelerini sağlayabilir. Hazırlık sınıfı öğrencilerinde ise kendi öğrenmeleriyle ilgili farkındalık oluşturabilir ve öz yeterlik algılarını artırabilmeleri için neler yapabileceklerine dikkat çekebilir.