Self-regulated learning strategies, self-efficacy, and learning engagement of EFL students in smart classrooms: A structural equation modeling analysis

Smart classrooms have become increasingly prevalent in the domain of foreign language education. However, students' EFL learning in smart classrooms, especially their self-regulated learning (SRL) strategies, self-efficacy, and learning engagement during the process, remains understudied. Given the significant impact of these factors on students' academic achievement, this study applied a quantitative method to first clarify their respective factor structures, on the basis of which the links between the three were examined via structural equation modeling (SEM). Participants were 1107 undergraduates from different universities in China who had engaged in EFL learning in smart classrooms. The factor analysis revealed a two-facet structure of students’ SRL strategies (goal-planning strategies and help-seeking and self-evaluation strategies), a similar dual-component structure of their self-efficacy (self-efficacy of communicating with instructors and self-efficacy of task completion), and a four-dimensional structure of their engagement (cognitive engagement, behavioral engagement, social engagement, and emotional engagement) during EFL learning in smart classrooms. Moreover, the SEM results showed that SRL strategies did not directly predict learning engagement, while self-efficacy fully mediated the relationship between SRL strategies and learning engagement. The implications and limitations of these findings were also discussed.