Attributional Analysis of Language Learners at High Schools: The Case of Iranian EFL Learners

This study was conducted to find out to what factors Iranian EFL language learners at high schools attribute their successes and failures. To this end, 708 Iranian high school students from different socioeconomic backgrounds and gender were selected. These participants were asked to take an attribution questionnaire. The questionnaire consists of four parts: Emotion, Self-image, Intrinsic motivation, and Language policy. Mainly, ANOVA and Post-hoc tests were employed to analyze the data. The results demonstrated that Intrinsic motivation is the primary attribution, and gender does not play any role in attribution. Moreover, significant differences were found among students of different social classes. Students from high socioeconomic background scored highest in Emotion and Self-image; and students from rural areas outscored in Intrinsic motivation and Language policy. Finally, the results were discussed in the context of language learning and teaching.