Learners' attributional beliefs in success or failure and their performance on the interchange Objective Placement test

Abstract

Although attribution theory has been applied in many fields of education as a way of understanding individual differences, it has somewhat been neglected by professionals in ELT to date. This study has thus sought to investigate the role of EFL learners' attributions for success and failure in learning a foreign language and their performance on placement tests. Three instruments, namely, the Interchange Objective Placement Test (Lesley, Hansen, & Zukowski-Faust, 2005), the Revised Causal Dimension Scale, and the Language Achievement Attribution Scale were administered to 96 Iranian Intermediate EFL learners studying at English language institutes. Attributional properties and causal attributions were compared with learners' English language proficiency scores. Pearson product-moment correlation was applied to the data in order to see if there was any significant relationship between learners' attributions of success and failure and their English language proficiency. The results showed significant correlations between LAAS as well as CDS-II subscales and learners' proficiency scores. Results from Regression Analysis for causal attributions and proficiency scores indicated that effort attribution was the best predictor of high scores, but task difficulty attribution was the best predictor of low scores, in proficiency. Moreover, results from Regression Analysis for attributional properties and proficiency scores indicated that internal locus positively, but external control negatively, predicted students' foreign language proficiency. At the end, what the results of the study may tell us about language teaching and learning is considered.