The last few days I have been going hard researching Bandura and his theory of self-efficacy. I now feel confident explaining what he describes in his work, which can be found below. I have also gotten to the portion of finding proponents of his research. Russell Hawkins goes against what Bandura says in his theory, stating that the internal and external factors he describes, which determines one's level of self-efficacy, is not indicative or the direct result of the behavior. Hawkins references Dewy’s Conventional Learning Theory which, similarly to the Social learning Theory, stresses the impact that observation and judgment have on the learning process as a whole.

Factors that influence self-efficacy.

Performance outcomes can be described as the feelings we get from doing a new task. Success can create feelings of adequacy while failures can cause self-doubt. Not living up to one's own expectations for success can also impact one's desire to try again.

Vicarious experiences can be described as experiences that are made by observing. This could mean that you are witnessing a situation take place, and you are using that experience to guide your thinking about what would happen if you were to do the same thing. These experiences could be both negative or positive. One example of a negative vicarious experience could be watching someone learn to ride a bike for the first time. If the person trying to ride their bike falls and gets injured, the observer is going to take note of that experience and may feel scared or hesitant to try as they do not want to experience the same negative experience. A positive vicarious experience could be that same person successfully mastering how to ride a bike. They could be smiling, laughing, and getting positive feedback or words of encouragement from an onlooker. This experience would make the observer feel secure and that they could do it. This situation could apply the same to the success or failure of a language learner as well.

Verbal persuasion is when one can be persuaded that they have what is necessary to succeed. This includes positive feedback or words of encouragement. With this, a person can feel more confident and less unsure of their abilities to succeed. This feedback could come from a peer, a teacher, an onlooker, the relationship between the individual and the one giving feedback is not always considered. Negative feedback can also impact this situation as well as a person's self-esteem.

Physiological feedback is the way a person feels after attempting a task, whether it was a success or a failure. Success can produce positive feelings, making a person feel good about their abilities. This would encourage them to try again. Failures can produce bad feelings, or self-doubt, potentially causing the person to feel hesitant to try performing the task again. This could include embarrassment, being self-conscious, or feeling they are being judged.

While this image is not of direct relation to my work, it was nice to have a visual to see how the different learning theories are laid out.

Hawkins, R. M. (1992). Self-efficacy: A predictor but not a cause of behavior. Journal of Behavior Therapy and Experimental Psychiatry, 23(4), 251–256. https://doi.org/10.1016/0005-7916(92)90047-M