A Latent Profile Analysis of Chinese EFL Students’ Speaking Self‐Efficacy: The Role of Gender in Predicting Profile Membership and the Association of Profiles With Speaking Proficiency

Understanding learners’ English speaking self‐efficacy is essential for promoting effective oral communication in EFL contexts. However, variable‐centered research on English speaking self‐efficacy often overlooks heterogeneity among learners. Studies have reported mixed findings on the relationship between English speaking self‐efficacy and speaking proficiency, and the influence of gender remains unclear. To better capture learner variability and clarify these inconsistencies, this study adopted a person‐centered approach using latent profile analysis (LPA) to explore learner speaking self‐efficacy. It aimed to identify distinct self‐efficacy profiles, examine the role of gender in predicting profile membership, and assess the relationship between self‐efficacy and proficiency across profiles with data from 1410 students across four universities in China using a five‐dimensional English speaking self‐efficacy scale. The LPA identified three profiles: Low, moderate, and high English‐speaking self‐efficacy. Gender influenced profile membership, with males being more likely than females to belong to the low profile rather than the high profile. English speaking proficiency varied significantly across the three profiles, revealing a positive association with self‐efficacy. Notably, the relationship between self‐efficacy and proficiency differed among profiles. For students in the moderate profile, self‐efficacy related to accuracy and self‐regulated learning significantly predicted speaking proficiency, while no such predictive effects were observed in the low and high profiles.