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Internal and External Factors Affecting Learning English as a Foreign Language

Received: 25 August 2015     Accepted: 8 September 2015     Published: 17 September 2015
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Abstract

This study investigated the effects of internal and external factors on learning English as a foreign language from Iranian EFL learners’ points of view. Copies of a 30-item Lickert-scale questionnaire, addressing internal and external factors or principle components, were distributed among about 140 postgraduate students of ELT in three universities in Iran. The collected data were then subjected to Principle Component Analysis (PCA). The findings revealed that while internal and external components are distinguishable, many of the variables do not heavily load on the principle component to which they theoretically belong. After separating the non-correlating variables it became clear that most of these variables are very important variables. Further analysis indicated that it is possible to divide internal variables to cognitive and affective and external variables to environmental and curricular. The conclusion reached was that the importance of variables should not be judged based on their nature but based on the importance accorded to them by the respondents. It was also concluded that extreme attention paid to internal variables should be balanced against external variables.

Published in International Journal of Language and Linguistics (Volume 3, Issue 5)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16
Page(s) 313-322
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2015. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Principle Component Analysis, Internal Variables, External Variables

References
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  • APA Style

    Soheil Mahmoudi, Asgar Mahmoudi. (2015). Internal and External Factors Affecting Learning English as a Foreign Language. International Journal of Language and Linguistics, 3(5), 313-322. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16

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    ACS Style

    Soheil Mahmoudi; Asgar Mahmoudi. Internal and External Factors Affecting Learning English as a Foreign Language. Int. J. Lang. Linguist. 2015, 3(5), 313-322. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16

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    AMA Style

    Soheil Mahmoudi, Asgar Mahmoudi. Internal and External Factors Affecting Learning English as a Foreign Language. Int J Lang Linguist. 2015;3(5):313-322. doi: 10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16,
      author = {Soheil Mahmoudi and Asgar Mahmoudi},
      title = {Internal and External Factors Affecting Learning English as a Foreign Language},
      journal = {International Journal of Language and Linguistics},
      volume = {3},
      number = {5},
      pages = {313-322},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijll.20150305.16},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijll.20150305.16},
      abstract = {This study investigated the effects of internal and external factors on learning English as a foreign language from Iranian EFL learners’ points of view. Copies of a 30-item Lickert-scale questionnaire, addressing internal and external factors or principle components, were distributed among about 140 postgraduate students of ELT in three universities in Iran. The collected data were then subjected to Principle Component Analysis (PCA). The findings revealed that while internal and external components are distinguishable, many of the variables do not heavily load on the principle component to which they theoretically belong. After separating the non-correlating variables it became clear that most of these variables are very important variables. Further analysis indicated that it is possible to divide internal variables to cognitive and affective and external variables to environmental and curricular. The conclusion reached was that the importance of variables should not be judged based on their nature but based on the importance accorded to them by the respondents. It was also concluded that extreme attention paid to internal variables should be balanced against external variables.},
     year = {2015}
    }
    

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    T1  - Internal and External Factors Affecting Learning English as a Foreign Language
    AU  - Soheil Mahmoudi
    AU  - Asgar Mahmoudi
    Y1  - 2015/09/17
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    T2  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    JO  - International Journal of Language and Linguistics
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    PB  - Science Publishing Group
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    AB  - This study investigated the effects of internal and external factors on learning English as a foreign language from Iranian EFL learners’ points of view. Copies of a 30-item Lickert-scale questionnaire, addressing internal and external factors or principle components, were distributed among about 140 postgraduate students of ELT in three universities in Iran. The collected data were then subjected to Principle Component Analysis (PCA). The findings revealed that while internal and external components are distinguishable, many of the variables do not heavily load on the principle component to which they theoretically belong. After separating the non-correlating variables it became clear that most of these variables are very important variables. Further analysis indicated that it is possible to divide internal variables to cognitive and affective and external variables to environmental and curricular. The conclusion reached was that the importance of variables should not be judged based on their nature but based on the importance accorded to them by the respondents. It was also concluded that extreme attention paid to internal variables should be balanced against external variables.
    VL  - 3
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    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of English Language, Ahar Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ahar, Iran

  • Department of English Language, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran

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