Underachievement and Its Causes in EFL Learning in China’s Non-government Universities

The paper first introduced the origin of academic underachievement and the underachieving phenomenon in China’s nongovernment HEIs. After a discussion of the concept of underachievement, a definition for underachievement in EFL learning is given. Then the paper reviews the relevant theories interpreting the phenomenon of underachievement. At last, the key factors giving rise to students’ underachievement in EFL learning are explored under the context of nongovernment HEIs in mainland China. It is assumed that prior attainment, learning motivation, educational strategy and peers’ effect are the four key factors that give rise to students’ underachievement in English learning.