The Role of Metacognitive, Emotional, and Social Skills in Predicting Academic Self-Efficacy Among EFL University Preparatory Students

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between metacognitive, emotional, and social skills and academic self-efficacy among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) preparatory students enrolled in a university program in Turkey. Academic self-efficacy, defined as students’ beliefs in their ability to manage academic tasks successfully, is considered a key factor in learning and engagement. In EFL contexts, learners are often required to cope with linguistic, emotional, and social demands simultaneously, which highlights the importance of examining these skills together. Accordingly, the study investigated whether metacognitive, emotional, and social skills were associated with academic self-efficacy and further examined using path analysis. A total of 241 EFL preparatory school students at a university preparatory program in Turkey participated in the study. Data were collected using the General Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (GASE), the Metacognitive Skills Scale, the Emotional Skills and Competencies Questionnaire (ESCQ-21), and The Social Skills Rating System (SSRS-BR). The findings revealed that metacognitive, emotional, and social skills were all positively associated with academic self-efficacy. Furthermore, path analysis indicated that each of these skill domains made a significant unique contribution to academic self-efficacy, with the model accounting for 18.5% of the variance. Overall, these findings suggest that metacognitive, emotional, and social skills jointly contribute to academic self-efficacy in EFL university preparatory contexts and underscore the importance of addressing these domains in an integrated manner in higher education language learning environments.