Investigating Third Year Efl Learners Attribution To Success And Failure In Academic Achievement

Résumé: The study aims to examine the use of the attribution style among third year EFL learners, and to identify the factors that successful students and non-successful students attribute their success and failure. Students of Larbi Ben Mhidi university were asked to complete a questionnaire scale on attribution style. The questionnaire consists of items classified into five factors: ability, effort, task difficulty, luck, and teachers'/classroom effects. Based on the student GPA in the first semester, we differentiate three groups of students: high, low and average students and the results show that high achiever students attribute their success to internal, unstable and controllable factors such as ability and effort while their failure is attributed to low effort and task difficulty. Low achiever students ascribe their success to external, unstable factors such as luck, task difficulty and teacher/classroom effects and failure to stable internal factors such as low abilities. Average students were different in the use of the attribution style; success is attributed to a variety of causes: effort, ability, task difficulty, luck and teacher/ classroom effects and failure is ascribed to their limited abilities, lack of effort, luck and unsuitable classroom environment. The results of our study confirm the principles of attribution theory in which success is attributed to internal, unstable, controllable causes and failure to external, stable, uncontrollable ones.

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