The Impact of College Students’ Academic Self-Concept on English Learning Engagement: A Chain Mediation Effect of Self-Efficacy and Positive Academic Emotions

This study focused on English learning engagement, a core issue closely related to college students’ academic performance, and examined the association between academic self-concept and learning engagement while testing the chain mediating roles of self-efficacy and positive academic emotions. Data were collected through an online survey administered via the Questionnaire Star platform, using validated scales to assess academic self-concept, self-efficacy, positive academic emotions, and English learning engagement. A total of 1,054 valid responses were obtained. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the hypothesized relationships, and bootstrapping was employed to examine mediation effects. The findings revealed that academic self-concept, self-efficacy, and positive academic emotions all had significant positive effects on English learning engagement. Both self-efficacy and positive academic emotions served as mediators in the relationship between academic self-concept and learning engagement. Moreover, a significant serial mediation was identified, whereby higher academic self-concept was related to greater self-efficacy, which was associated with higher levels of positive academic emotions, leading to stronger learning engagement. These findings enrich the understanding of how cognitive and emotional factors jointly contribute to English learning engagement in higher education and provide practical insights for fostering students’ academic beliefs and positive emotions to enhance engagement.