The effects of Iranian EFL learners' locus of control (external vs. internal) on their test anxiety and test scores

Abstract

The present study aimed at investigating the effect of Iranian EFL learners' locus of control (external vs. internal) on their test anxiety and test scores. To this end, 130 freshman students of English translation from Sobhe Sadegh Institute of Higher Education were selected. Three samples of TOFEL reading comprehension texts, selected randomly from TOEFL iBT, were run to homogenize participants in terms of their English reading comprehension proficiency. In the last phase of data collection, three other samples of TOEFL reading comprehension texts were run for collecting the participants test scores. This test was considered as their final achievement test in order to be a real test. The results revealed that external locus of control could negatively influence participants' test anxiety and test scores. On the other hand, the participants with internal orientation of locus of control outperformed the participants with external orientation of locus of control.

The Relationship between Willingness to Communicate, Locus of Control and Foreign Language Anxiety among Iranian EFL Learners

“…Consistent with this study, Mousavi, Rezaei, Atefi Karajvandi and Javanparast (2018) found no interplay between LOC and anxiety. This finding is also consistent with the findings of a study by Katirayifar and Rezvani (2017) in which the effect of LOC on anxiety was investigated among Iranian EFL learners. Data analysis was conducted using correlation test and regression analysis.…”

“…Further, it was shown that test scores and discipline referrals are negatively associated. In a study by Katirayifar and Rezvani (2017), the effect of locus of control (LOC) on language anxiety and test scores was investigated among Iranian EFL learners. Participants included 130 students studying in the field of English translation at Sobhe Sadegh Institute of Higher Education.…”

Learner Autonomy and Internal Locus of Control: Influential Factors in EFL Context

“…Moreover, due to the significant impact of the locus of control on people's lives and their attitudes to life-events in both educational and non-academic contexts, this notion "as a personality variable has been more important in recent theoretical and applied researches" (Soleimani, Aghayani & Ashari, 2018, p. 14). A number of studies reported the effectiveness of locus of control in EFL context in which it influences EFL learners' test anxiety and test scores (Katirayifar & Rezvani, 2017), affects EFL learners' translation achievement (Irgin & Öz, 2020), influences EFL learners' preference for vocabulary acquisition (Aghayani & Soleimani, 2016), improves EFL learners' reading comprehension (Naseri & Ghabanchi, 2014;Nejabati, 2014), strengthens EFL learners' creativity in writing (Khoshsima & Izadi, 2015), predicts EFL learners' willingness to communicate (Arkavazi & Nosratinia, 2018), enhances EFL learners' language achievement (Amini, 2013), and affects EFL learners' reading and writing achievement (Ghonsooly & Elahi Shirvan, 2011).…”