The Relationship between Iranian EFL Students’ Personality Trait and use of Metacognitive Reading Strategies

The purpose of this study was to determine relationship between the use of metacognitive reading strategiesand personality traits among Iranian university students. The sample of the study consisted of 198 EFL undergraduatestudents, majoring in English Literature and English Translation at the universities across Esfahan city namely ShekhBahaee university, Najaf Abad Payam Noor university, , Esfahan university and Khorasgan Islamic Azad university,during the second term of 2017-2018 academic year. Research data was collected from two inventories: the first,NEO-Five Factors Inventory (NEO-FFI) and the second, The Survey of Reading Strategies (SORS) based on thequantitative method. Results obtained indicate that the students were moderate to high metacognitive reading strategyusers. The findings revealed that the most popularly used subcategories of SORS was problem solving strategies andthe most preferred personality trait was Conscientiousness. The results of the study from Pearson’s r correlationrevealed that Iranian university students’ four personality traits: extraversion, openness, agreeableness andconscientiousness were positively and significantly correlated with the overall use of metacognitive reading strategiesand subcategories of SORS. The results also showed that there was a negative and significant relationship betweenthe neuroticism and two of three subcategories of SORS (Problem Solving and Global Strategies). The results canhave implications for EFL teachers to determine which reading strategies are more appropriate for students withdifferent personality traits.

کلیدواژه ها:

Metacognitive Reading Strategies ، Support Strategies ، Global Strategies ، Problem Solving Strategies ، personality traits