Cultural Intelligence, Cultural Identity, Autonomy, Self-Efficacy and Second Language Achievement of Iranian EFL learners: A Path Analysis

This study was designed to explore the relation pattern of cultural intelligence, cultural identity, autonomy, and self-efficacy and second language achievement of Iranian EFL learners. The participants were ۲۴۷ undergraduate students. Data were collected nationwide, from different parts of Iran; that is, from Kerman, south of Iran; Hamadan, west of Iran; Mashhad, east of Iran; and Gorgon, north of Iran. The participants' ages ranged from ۱۸ to ۲۶ and they were mostly juniors and seniors. They completed the following questionnaires: Cultural Intelligence Questionnaire (Ang, et al., ۲۰۰۷), Cultural Identity Clarity Scale (Usborne & Taylor, ۲۰۱۰), Learner Autonomy Questionnaire (Cotterall, ۱۹۹۵, ۱۹۹۹) and Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (Pinitrich, Smith, Garcia & Mckeachie, ۱۹۹۱). The participants’ GPA of three general English courses were considered as their second language achievement. Responses from questionnaires were collected through convenience sampling. The design of the study is based on path analysis. After data collection, the hypothesized model was tested by AMOSE program. The results demonstrated that the variables under study could strongly predict EFL learners' L۲ achievement. L۲ achievement may largely depend on students’ cultural intelligence, cultural identity, autonomy and self-efficacy. Also, it was reported that autonomy was the strongest predictor of EFL learners’ L۲ achievement.

Keywords:

Cultural Intelligence , Cultural Identity , Autonomy , Self-efficacy , L۲ Achievement