On the relationship between self-efficacy in reading, reading anxiety, self-regulation and reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners

The present study investigated the relationship between self-efficacy in reading, reading anxiety, selfregulation and reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners. The participants of the study included 100 students studying in grade three of a high school in Hamadan. For data collection purposes, four instruments were adopted in the study including Foreign Language Reading Anxiety Scale (FLRAS), developed and validated by Saito et al. (1999), Self-efficacy in Reading Scale, devised and validated by Ghonsooli Elahi (2001), The Self-Regulation Trait (SRT) Questionnaire designed and validated by O Neil and Herl (1998) and a validated reading comprehension test. The participants responded to the reading comprehension test first. Then, after a week, the three questionnaires of FLRAS, self-efficacy in reading, and SRT were administered to the participants. The findings of Pearson Product Moment correlations revealed that a) there was a significant positive correlation between self-efficacy in reading and reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners, b) there was no significant relationship between self-regulation and reading comprehension ability of the participants, and finally c) there was a significant negative relationship between reading anxiety and reading comprehension of the participants. Moreover, the results of multiple regression analysis indicated that among the predictor variables of the study, self-efficacy in reading was a stronger predicator of reading comprehension ability of Iranian EFL learners. The results are discussed at length in the paper.