The Effect of Iranian EFL Learners’ Motivation and Proficiency Level on Types of Their Spelling Errors

Abstract

This study investigated the effect of Iranian EFL learners’ motivation and proficiency level on types of their spelling errors as well as identifying the degree to which these errors are common among them. Data were collected through a motivation questionnaire and dictations of 106 Iranian EFL learners (female) at a junior high school in Shiraz, Iran. The spelling errors found in the dictations were analysed and classified into six categories of errors including addition (insertion), omission (deletion), substitution, segmentation, disordering (transpositions), and miscellaneous (unrecognizable). Students’ proficiency level was determined by calculating the mean of their midterm and final exam scores. Pearson correlation, regression analysis, and MANOVA were used to analyse data. Results indicated that omission and substitution were the most and disordering and segmentation were the least common types of spelling errors. Results of regression analyses showed that there was a significant relationship between independent variables of motivation and proficiency and the dependent variables of substitution, omission, addition and miscellaneous errors. However, the results of the correlation analysis showed that only proficiency level, and not motivation, had a meaningful negative relationship with substitution and omission errors and a significant negative relationship with the addition and miscellaneous errors. Finally, the MANOVA results indicated that the interaction of the two independent variables had a significant effect on all different types of spelling errors. In other words, students with higher degrees of proficiency and motivation had made fewer spelling errors in comparison with those with lower levels of proficiency and motivation