The Impact of Socio-Economic Status (SES) on the Iranian EFL Learners’ Identity Processing Styles and Language Achievement

Abstract

The present study intended to address the impact of the socio-economic status (SES) on the Iranian EFL learners’ language achievement and identity processing styles. To attain this goal, 148 students studying General English were designated on the base of purposive sampling from Yasuj University of Medical Sciences (YUMS). At the first step, questions related to social, cultural, and financial background was asked of 20 participants (sample) by an interview. Then, a the researcher constructed a questionnaire from the information attained from the interview, regarding the factors related to the social, cultural, and financial factors (variables) and was distributed among the population (148 students) of the study. The participants’ English University Entrance Exam Score (Achievement test) scores were obtained from the Education Office of Yasuj University of Medical Sciences. Afterward, Berzonsky’s forty item revised version of the identity style inventory (ISI3) (Berzonsky, 1992) assessed the identity style of each participant. Examination of the results indicated that the structural relationship between the variables of identity processing style and language skills was 0.84 and its standard value was equal to 0.345. This value indicated a positive and average relationship between the two structures. That is, with the change of identity processing style, the language skills of the participants have changed.