Examining the nonlinear relationships among self-efficacy, metacognitive strategies, and English achievement: a perspective of the Island Ridge Curve

Self-efficacy and metacognitive strategies play important roles in determining English achievement. However, how they interact with each other remains understudied. Moreover, an emerging theory called the Island Ridge Curve (IRC) contends that the effects of cognitive and motivational factors on language performance fluctuate with the increase in language proficiency. The current study explored the interplay between self-efficacy and metacognitive strategies in determining English achievement and the variations of these relationships across low-, medium-, and high-proficiency students. We recruited 1,184 undergraduates (females = 48%, Mage = 18.95, SD = 0.76) from two Chinese universities. Results of multi-group structural equation modelling showed that: (1) both self-efficacy and metacognitive strategy use were positively associated with English achievement, and these associations fluctuated in the nonsignificant-significant-nonsignificant pattern; (2) metacognitive strategy use positively mediated between self-efficacy and English achievement, and the mediation fluctuated in the nonsignificant-significant-nonsignificant pattern. These results demonstrate the utility of the IRC in examining nonlinearity in language research.