Exploring the Relationship among Attitude toward Course and Teacher, Writing Self-Regulation, Task Achievement of Iranian EFL Learners

Abstract

The attitude-behavior relationship has long been a bone of contention among scholars. This study attempted to examine the correlation of attitude toward the teacher and the course with writing self-regulation and task achievements among EFL university learners in the Iranian context, using Pearson product-moment correlation and multiple-regression techniques. A total of one hundred and sixteen undergraduate sophomores undergoing mandatory essay writing courses participated in the study. Based on the findings, attitudes toward the teacher and the course were not significantly correlated with the cognitive, meta-cognitive, and behavioral strategies, and the task achievement. At the same time, it significantly correlated with the self-efficacy, goal, and motivation. However, the attitude toward the teacher was found to be the stronger predictor of task achievement. Further regression analyses disclosed that the attitude toward teacher was the only predictor of the motivational strategies. Pedagogical applications, implications, and insights for the furtherance of the foreign language program in domain-specific tasks of EFL writing are eventually discussed.