Perfectionism, Anxiety and English Language Achievement of Iranian EFL Learners: The Contribution of Performance Goal-Orientation
الموضوعات : Research in English Language Pedagogy
Pardis Zafarani
1
(Department of English, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran)
Saeideh Ahangari
2
(Department of English, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran)
Nasrin Hadidi Tamjid
3
(Department of English, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran)
الکلمات المفتاحية: Goal-Orientation, anxiety, English achievement, perfectionism,
ملخص المقالة :
Foreign language learning is often associated with affective factors among which the constructs of anxiety and perfectionism have been recognized as important predictors of language performance. The purpose of this research was to explore the significant influence of Iranian EFL learners’ socially prescribed and self-oriented perfectionism in the prediction of Foreign Language Anxiety, via the contribution of a mediated variable of achievement goals. Additionally, the associations among these constructs as a predictor of English language achievement were examined. The participants were 400 EFL learners within the age range of 15-30 who enrolled in private language learning institutes in Iran. The participants’ proficiency fell within the range of upper-intermediate to advanced levels. For estimating perfectionism, the Multi-dimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS) of Hewitt and Flett (2004) and for anxiety factor, Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) developed by Horwitz et al. (2008) was utilized. Finally, Goal-orientation was measured by using Elliot and Murayama (2008) questionnaire. The language achievement was obtained from their final exam scores. Correlation analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) were used to investigate the data collected. The research findings revealed there exists a relationship among the participants’ perfectionism, FLCA, and English language achievement via the mediating role of performance goal-orientation. The findings have significant theoretical and practical implications for teachers, school psychologists, teacher educators, curriculum designers, and researchers. They contribute to planning learning activities and utilizing various techniques for different types of learners and learning settings to meet the program goals and objectives.
Abdollahi, A., & Talib, M. A. (2015). Emotional intelligence moderates perfectionism and test anxiety among Iranian students. School Psychology International, 5(3), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1177/0143034315603445
Alrakaf, S., Sainsbury, E., & Rose, G., & Smith, Lorraine. (2014). Identifying achievement goals and their relationship to academic achievement in undergraduate pharmacy students and preferred teacher qualities. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 78(7), 135-145. https://doi.org/10.5688/ajpe787133
Ayas, H., & Biçer, T. (2021). The relationship between perfectionism and goal orientation types on sports continuation. J Neurobehav Sci, 8, 107-13.
Burgess, A. & DiBartolo, P. M. (2016). Anxiety and perfectionism: Relationships and mechanisms. In F. Sirois & D. Molnar (Eds.), Perfectionism, health, and well-being (pp. 177203). New York: Springer
Castro, J. R., & Rice, K. G. (2003). Perfectionism and ethnicity: Implications for depressive symptoms and self-reported academic achievement. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 9(1), 64-78.
Damian, L. E., Stoeber, J., Negru, O., & Băban, A. (2014). Positive and negative affect in adolescents: An investigation of the 2×2 model of perfectionism. Cognition, brain, behavior. An Interdisciplinary Journal, 18, 1-16.
Dewaele, J. M. (2012). Personality: Personality traits as independent and dependent variables. In S. Mercer, S. Ryan & M. Williams (Eds.), Psychology for language learning: Insights from theory, research and practice (pp. 42-57). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.
Dewaele, J. M., & Thirtle, H. (2009). Why do some young learners drop foreign languages? A focus on learner-internal variables. International Journal of Bilingual Education, 12(6), 635-649.
Elliot, A. J. (1999). Approach and avoidance motivation and achievement goals. Educational Psychologist, 34(3), 169-189.
Elliot, A. J., & Murayama, K. (2008). On the measurement of achievement goals: Critique, illustration, and application. Journal of Educational Psychology, 100, 613-628.
Elliot, A. J., Murayama, K., & Pekrun, R. (2011). A 3×2 achievement goal model. Journal of Educational Psychology, 103, 632-648.
Flett, G. L., Hewitt, P. L., Blankstein, K. R. & Mosher, S. W. (1995). Perfectionism, life events, and depressive symptoms: A test of a diathesis-stress model. Current Psychology, 14, 112-137. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.75.5.1363
Flett, G. L., Hewitt. P. L., Su. Ch., & Flett . K. D. (2016). Perfectionism in Language Learners: Review, conceptualization, and recommendations for teachers and school psychologists. Canadian Journal of School Psychology SAGE Publications, 2, 1-27. https://doi.org/10.1177/0829573516638462
Ghorbandordinejad, F. (2014). Examining the relationship between students’ levels of perfectionism and their achievements in English learning. Research in English Language Pedagogy, 2(2), 36-45.
Gregersen, T. S. (2003). To err is human: A reminder to teachers of language-anxious students. Foreign Language Annals, 36, 25-32.
Gregersen, T., & Horwitz, E. K. (2002). Language learning and perfectionism: Anxious and non-anxious language learners’ reactions to their own oral performance. The Modern Language Journal, 86, 562-570. https://doi.org/10.1111/1540-4781.00161
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (1991). Perfectionism in the self and social contexts: Conceptualization, assessment, and association with psychopathology. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 456-470.
Hewitt, P. L., & Flett, G. L. (2004). Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale (MPS): Technical Handbook. Toronto: Multi-Health Systems.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., Besser, A., Sherry, S. B., & McGee, B. (2003). Perfectionism is multidimensional: A reply to. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 41(10), 1221-1236.
Hewitt, P. L., Flett, G. L., Sherry, S. B., Habke, M., Parkin, M., Lam, R. W., McMurtry, B., & Stein, M. B. (2003). The interpersonal expression of perfection: Perfectionistic self-presentation and psychological distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84(6), 1303-1325.
Hosseyni Ramshe, M., Ghazanfari, M., & Ghonsooly. B. (2019). The role of social goals in Iranian undergraduate students' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement. Applied Research on English Language, 8(1), 115-138.
Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and Human Growth. New York: Norton.
Horwitz, E. K. (2001). Language anxiety and achievement. Annual review of applied linguistics, 21(1), 112-126.
Horwitz, E. K., Horwitz, M. B., & Cope, J. A. (1986). Foreign language classroom anxiety. In E. Horwitz, E. K., & Young, D. J. (1991). Language anxiety: From theory and research to classroom implications. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Kilbert, J. J., Langhinrichsen-Rohling, J., & Saito, M. (2005). Adaptive and maladaptive aspects of self-oriented versus socially prescribed perfectionism. Journal of College Student Development, 46,141-156.
Kline, R. (2011). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling (3rd ed.). Guilford.
Kord, B. (2018). The relationship between achievement goals and academic success: The investigation of mediating role of academic self-efficacy. Iranian Journal of Learning and Memory, 1(2), 45-51.
Kralova, Z. (2016). Foreign language anxiety. Nitra, Slovakia: Univerzita Konštantína Filozofa v Nitre.
Lee, Y. J., & Anderman, E. M. (2020). Profiles of perfectionism and their relations to educational outcomes in college students: The moderating role of achievement goals. Learning and Individual Differences, 77, 101813. doi:10.1016/j.lindif.2019.101813
Madigan, D. (2019). A meta-analysis of perfectionism and academic achievement. Educational Psychology Review, 31, 967-989. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-019-09484-2
Maehr, M. L., & Zusho, A. (2009). Achievement goal theory: The past, present, and future. In K.R. Wenzel & A. Wigfield ds.), Educational psychology handbook series. Handbook of motivation at school (pp. 77-104). Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
Mahigir, F. (2021). Development and Initial Validation of Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (FLAS). Research in English Language Pedagogy, 9(Special Issue of NTLL Conference), 146-160. https://doi.org/10.30486/relp.2021.1932480.1285
Margot, K. C., & Rinn, A., N. (2016). Perfectionism in gifted adolescents: A replication and extension. Sage Journal, 27(3) 190-209. https://doi.org/10.1177/1932202X16656452
Moller, A. C., & Elliot, A. J. (2006). The 2×2 achievement goal framework: an overview of empirical research. In A. V. Mittel (Ed.), Focus on educational psychology (pp. 307-326). Nova Science Publishers.
Pintrich, P. R. (2000). Multiple pathways, multiple goals: The role of goal orientation in learning and achievement. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 544-555.
Pishghadam, R., & Akhoondpoor, F. (2011). Learner perfectionism and its role in foreign language learning success, academic achievement, and learner anxiety. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2, 432-440.
Pourmohammadi, E. (2012). The relationship between perfectionism and language proficiency of Iranian EFL learners [Unpublished Master Thesis]. Shahid Bahonar University, Kerman.
Rastegar, M., Khabir, M., & Mehrabi Kermani, E. (2017). The Relationship between perfectionism and language proficiency in intermediate, upper intermediate, and advanced students of kerman institutes. Open Journal of Modern Linguistics, 7, 142-150.
Speirs Neumeister, K. L., Fletcher, K. L., & Burney, V. H. (2015). Perfectionism and achievement motivation in high ability students: An examination of the 2x2 model of perfectionism. Journal of the Education of the Gifted, 38, 215-232. https://doi.org/10.1177/026142940702300306
Stoeber, J. (2015). How other-oriented perfectionism differs from self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Further findings. Journal of Psychopathology and Behavioral Assessment, 37(4), 611-623. http://doi.org/10.1007/s10862-015-9485-y
Stoeber, J. (2018). The psychology of perfectionism: An introduction. In J. Stoeber (Ed.), The psychology of perfectionism: Theory, research, applications (pp. 3-16). London: Routledge.
Stoeber, J., & Hadjivassiliou, A. (2020). Perfectionism and aggression following unintentional, ambiguous, and unintentional provocation. Current Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-020-00940-9
Stoeber, J., Feast, A. R., & Hayward, J. A. (2009). Self-oriented and socially prescribed perfectionism: Differential relationships with intrinsic and extrinsic motivation and test anxiety. Personality and Individual Differences, 47(5), 423-428. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2009.04.014
Stoeber, J., & Otto, K. (2006). Positive conceptions of perfectionism: approaches, evidence, challenges. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 295-319. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327957pspr1004_2
Stoeber, J., & Rambow, A. (2007). Perfectionism in adolescent school students: Relations with motivation, achievement, and well-being. Personality and Individual Differences, 42, 1379-1389.
Stoeber, J., Stoll, O., Pescheck, E., & Otto, K. (2008). Perfectionism and achievement goals in athletes: Relations with approach and avoidance orientations in mastery and performance goals. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 9, 102-121.
Taherkhani, R., & Karbakhsh Ravari, R. (2018). Cultural intelligence, cultural identity, autonomy, self-efficacy and second language achievement of Iranian learners: A path analysis. Applied Research On English Language, 7(4), 345-366.
Verner-Filion, J., & Gaudreau, P. (2010). From perfectionism to academic adjustment: The mediating role of achievement goals. Personality and Individual Differences, 49, 181-186.
Wadsworth, L. P., Burgess, A., & DiBartolo, P. (2021). Examining psychometrics of the frost multidimensional perfectionism scale in children ages 8-12 years using child and parent report. Child Psychiatry Hum Dev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10578-021-01167-
Widdowson, H. g. (2003). Defining issues in English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wolf, E. J., Harrington, K. M., Clark, S. L., & Miller, M. W. (2013). Sample size requirements for structural equation models an evaluation of power, bias, and solution propriety. Educational andPsychological Measurement, 37(6), 913-934. https://doi.org/10.1177/0013164413495237
Zarghmi, M., Ghamary, A., Shabani, S. E. H. S., & Varzaneh, A. G. (2010). Perfectionism and achievement goals in adult male elite athletes who compete at the national level and above. Journal of Human Kinetics, 26, 147-155.
Zeifman, R., Antony, M., & Kuo, J. (2020). When being imperfect just won' do: Exploring the relationship between perfectionism, emotion dysregulation, and suicidal ideation. Personality and Individual Differences, 152, 109612. DOI:10.1016/j.paid.2019.109612.
