The Nexus between Iranian EFL Students’ Big Five Personality Traits and Foreign Language Speaking Confidence

Abstract

This study sought to explore the extent to which Iranian EFL students’ personality traits influence their foreign language speaking confidence in the classrooms. To do so, Big Five Inventory questionnaire developed by John et al. (1991) and foreign language speaking confidence questionnaire, based on MacIntyre et al. (1998) heuristic model, designed by Apple (2011) were applied to collect the data. 217 Iranian EFL learners were invited to participate in the study. Multiple regression analysis revealed that learners’ foreign language speaking confidence is positively affected by their personality trait. Findings also indicated that favorable social conditions in the classrooms and classroom climate influenced learners’ speaking confidence. Concerning the relationship between gender and foreign language speaking confidence, statistically significant association was found. Various educational implications and recommendations for further works were proposed.