Student performance is a function of many factors within and external to the classroom. Broader contextual and attitudinal variables might influence student achievement.
Increasing interest toward language learning has made the parameters determining language achievement more significant. If effective and successful language learning is to be achieved, one solution would be Stevick’s (1980) claim about how successful language learning relies less on learning materials, methods, tasks and language study and more on what is within and between learners and teachers. This sheds more light on the significance of parameters resulting in individual differences among learners. Religion has shown to play a significant role in the daily functioning of the behavior and it constitutes an important factor in understanding a person’s psychological makeup. In the context of language learning, low levels of psychological well-being and self-esteem can have serious consequences. Students with low psychological well-being may have problem in the face of the perceived burdens of university and cannot cope with and adjust to new challenges. Additionally, students with low self-esteem may avoid taking the necessary risks to acquire communicative competence in the target language; they may feel deeply insecure and even drop out of the class.
In Moradi and Langroudi’s research from Foreign Languages Department at Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman, Iran published in Open Journal of Modern Linguistics 2013 Vol.3, No.4, 337-343. This study aimed at finding the relationship of religious orientation (RO), psychological well-being (PWB), and self-esteem (SE) with language achievement (LA) among Iranian EFL learners. The results revealed that there was a significant positive relationship between IRO, PWB, and SE with LA and a significant negative relationship between ERO and LA.
This research revealed that learners’ personality factors play an important role in their learning process. Therefore, it is suggested that language researchers and practitioners, teachers, curriculum developers, and material designers should pay attention to both personality-related factors of learning as well as language-related aspects in learning a foreign or second language. Teachers may become more conscious of their students’ present status and psychological makeup and can attend to their students accordingly. Regarding instructional designers and curriculum developers, knowing about learners’ variables make them develop materials and curriculums that are better tailored to the needs and characteristics of specific group of learners.
View Original Post, please click here>>The Role of Religious Orientation, Psychological Well-Being, and Self-Esteem in Iranian EFL Learners’ Language Achievement(Author(s) : Elham Moradi, Jahanbakhsh Langroudi)