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Volume 7 Number 1, Spring 2010, Pages 1-393   


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Individual and Social- Psychological Variables Related to Bangladeshi Students and Their Proficiency in ESL

    Md. Kamrul Hasan


The main objective of the present study is to examine the relationship between different social psychological variables on the one hand and proficiency on the other. We have found a significant correlation between scoring for exact responses versus acceptable included responses, suggesting the Cloze procedure would well be appropriate for use with non-native speakers. Except for the medium of instruction, resentment motivation and class-room anxiety, all other variables, namely age, sex, socio-economic status, exposure to English, schooling, attitude towards English-speaking Bangladeshis, attitude towards English, integrative motivation, instrumental motivation, manipulative motivation and parental support are significantly correlated with the Cloze scores. Cloze has shown a significant positive correlation with socio-economic status. This indicates that the learners who are from the lower rungs of society have not done well in the Cloze test even though they have a positive attitude towards English-speaking Bangladeshis and also have realized the importance of English in obtaining a better education and good jobs. Those students who have performed better have come from "high socio-economic statuses" and do not sustain positive attitude towards English-speaking Bangladeshis and also view English unfavourably. Those who come from good and English medium schools are generally from higher socio-economic statuses; therefore, there is a high co-relationship between socio-economic status and schooling. The results of our present study confirm that schooling is the most significant predictor of achievement and proficiency in second language learning.

Keywords: English language proficiency, Cloze test, correlation matrix, social-psychological variables, attitudinal and motivational orientation