The Relationship between Iranian EFL Learners’ Self- efficacy Beliefs and Reading Comprehension Ability

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to find out if language learners’ self-efficacy beliefs affect the reading comprehension achievement of EFL learners in Iran.  A convenience sample of 120 learners from different language schools participated in this study. A self-efficacy questionnaire was developed to measure students’ self-efficacy beliefs. To measure their reading comprehension ability, the reading part of Michigan Test, as a test of English language proficiency was adopted and administered to the participants. The Pearson product-moment formula demonstrated that there was a significant relationship between self-efficacy and reading comprehension, and the correlation between self-efficacy and reading comprehension was positive. Therefore, it might be postulated that the more self-efficacious the learners are, the better they have answered the reading comprehension questions. The results of the statistical analysis also led the researcher to conclude that the relationship between language learners' self-efficacy beliefs is not affected by gender.

Key words: Self-efficacy, Reading Comprehension, Language Proficiency