Do self-efficacy belief and emotional adjustment matter for social support and anxiety in online English learning in the digital era?

The advent of digital technologies has revolutionized the education landscape, ushering in a new era of online learning. This transformative shift has opened unprecedented opportunities for learners in a foreign language context, redefining the boundaries of traditional classroom settings. Emotional adjustment, social support, self-efficacy belief, and anxiety are four important constructs to traditional foreign language classroom settings. The present study aimed at exploring the mediating roles of self-efficacy belief and emotional adjustment on the relationship between social support and anxiety related to online English learning. A total of 585 university students in mainland China participated in this study. They completed surveys on self-efficacy, emotional adjustment, social support, and foreign language anxiety. Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) was adopted to explore the relationships among the four variables. Results lent support to the mediating role of self-efficacy belief on the effects of social support on foreign language learning anxiety. Findings shed light on the importance of self-efficacy belief on reducing students’ English learning anxiety. In addition, social support predicted emotional adjustment and self-efficacy belief. Relevant implications based on the findings were discussed.