EFL students ’ attitudes toward learning English language : The case study of Kashan University students

Attitude is considered as an essential factor influencing language performance and received considerable attention from both first and second language researchers. Al-Mamun, Rahman, Rahman, and Hossaim argue that attitude is the feeling people have about their own language. Thus, attitude to language is a construct that explains linguistic behavior in particular. This study aimed at investigating attitude of male and female English as a foreign language (EFL) learners of Kashan University toward English language learning in terms of the behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects. To this end, a questionnaire survey administered upon a total of 30 randomly selected samples. Results of qualitative and quantitative data analysis showed a positive attitude toward English learning in three aspects of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional. In addition, there were statistically significant attitudinal differences between the two groups. Subjects: Applied Linguistics; English Language; Pragmatics; Semantics


Introduction
"Knowing the language can help us to express our opinions, hopes, and even our dreams" (Abidin, Pour-Mohammadi, & Alzwari, 2012, p. 119). In foreign language learning context, there are various factors that influence the learning process such as motivation, attitudes, anxiety, learning achievements, aptitudes, intelligence, age, personalities, etc. (Shams, 2008). The matter of learner's attitude is acknowledged as one of the most important factors that impact on learning a language (Fakeye, 2010).

PUBLIC INTEREST STATEMENT
Attitude is opinion and feeling that everyone has about something. Learning a foreign language is no exception. Thus, attitude to language is a construct that explains linguistic behavior in particular. This paper attempts to investigate behavioral, cognitive, and emotional attitudes of male and female English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Learners of Kashan University toward English language learning. The findings didn't support our hypothesis because the male and female participants showed significant difference in their attitudes toward learning English. That is, the females had more positive attitudes, especially cognitive and emotional, toward and were more interested in learning English than males.
In order to be able to evaluate the students' attitudes, some definitions of the term 'attitude' are presented. Al-Mamun, Rahman, Rahman, and Hossaim (2012) defined the term as a psychological construct which defines a particular behavior. To Brown (2001) (as cited in İnal, Evin, & Saracaloğlu, 2005), attitude is characterized by a large proportion of emotional involvement such as feelings, self, relationships in the community. Learning could not come about easily unless students have positive attitudes toward it on one hand, and attitudes might originate from life experiences, on the other hand. As such, since attitude can influence success or failure in learning it plays a very crucial role. Ajzen (2005) believes like any personality trait, attitude is a directly unobserved hypothetical construct and must be inferred from measurable responses which reflect and evaluate positive or negative attitudes (as cited in Dehbozorgi, 2012).
In this study, attitude is considered as an essential factor influencing language performance and received considerable attention from both first and second language researchers. There are many reasons why students' attitude toward language learning is important. For instance, Weinburgh (1998) believe that attitudes toward learning influence behaviors such as selecting and reading books, speaking in a foreign language. Generally, it is believed that learners' attitudes dictate whether or not they will be able to absorb the details of language. In other words, achievement in a target language relies not only on intellectual capacity but also on the learner's attitudes toward language learning. This means that learning language should be approached primarily as a social and psychological phenomenon rather than as a purely academic one. As Tella, Indoshi, and Othuon (2010) investigated, negative attitude toward English is the most affective and psychological factor that results in the students' poor performance in English.
Besides the intellectual perspective, the nature of language learning has psychological and social aspects and depends primarily on the learners' motivation and attitude to learning the target language (Padwick, 2010). The ability of students to master a second language is not only influenced by the mental competence or language skills but also on the students' attitudes and perceptions toward the target language (Abidin et al., 2012). They also advocated that attitude concept could enhance the process of language learning, influencing the nature of student's behaviors and beliefs toward the other language, its culture, and community, and this will identify their tendency to acquire that language.
It is said that language teachers, researchers, and students should acknowledge that high motivation and positive attitude of students facilitate second language learning. Thus, if a learner does not have the interest and tendency in acquiring the target language to communicate with others, this learner will possess a negative attitude and will not be motivated and enthusiastic in language learning. Therefore, learners' attitudes could incorporate in language learning because it may influence their performance in acquiring the target language. Students' attitude, i.e. feelings, beliefs, likes, dislikes, needs, should be considered, since their attitudes influence language learning. This study looks into the concept of attitude as one of the major affective factors for success in learning a foreign language. More specifically, it investigates freshmen EFL (English as a Foreign Language) students' attitudes of Kashan University toward learning English language, taking the three aspects of attitude i.e. emotional, cognitive, and behavioral into consideration. Additionally, it attempts to determine the influence of students' gender on their attitudes toward learning English.

Review of related studies
A large number of studies on language attitudes with various dimensions have been conducted over the years across the world such as teachers' attitude toward the inclusion of students' needs (Bigham, 2010), Persian EFL teachers and learners' attitudes toward humor in class (Ketabi & Simm, 2009), relationship between attitudes and motivation (Al-Mamun et al., 2012;Bernaus, Masgoret, Gardner, & Reyes, 2004), attitudes toward English (Jahin & Idrees, 2012;Yang, 2010), teachers' attitudes toward students' beliefs and motivation (Salehi, Taghavi, & Yunus, 2015), and the effect of teachers' attitudes on communication (Al-Magid & Al-Mamun, 2009). Since learning a language is closely related to the attitudes toward the languages and attitudes are viewed as components of R E T R A C T E D motivation in language learning, some of these studies obtained information on what the attitudes of the people toward languages are while others explored the determinants of attitudes, i.e. what constructs and changes attitudes of the people.
In his great work "Principles of Language Learning and Teaching", Brown (1994) added "attitudes, like all aspects of the development of cognition and affect in human beings, develop early in childhood and are the result of parents' and peers' attitudes, contact with people who are different in any number of ways, and interacting affective factors in the human experience" (p. 168). It seems obvious that there are many stimulants that lead to a positive or negative attitude. Attitude concept can be viewed from three dimensions regarding aspects of it. Each one of these dimensions has different features to bring out language attitude results, i.e. behavioral, cognitive, and affective. These three attitudinal aspects are based on the three theoretical approaches of behaviorism, cognitivism, and humanism, respectively.
The behavioral aspect of attitude (BAA) deals with the way one behaves and reacts in particular situations. Kara (2009) stated that positive attitude leads to the exhibition of positive behavior toward studying, absorbing themselves in it, and striving to learn more. Such students are also observed to show more enthusiasm to solve problems, to acquire what is useful for daily life, and to engage themselves emotionally.
Cognitive aspect of attitude (CAA) involves the beliefs of the language learners about the knowledge that they receive and their understanding of the process of language learning. The cognitive attitude could be classified into four steps of connecting the previous knowledge and the new one, creating new knowledge, checking new knowledge, and applying the new knowledge in many situations.
With respect to the emotional attitude, Feng and Chen (2009) stated that "Learning process is an emotional process. It is affected by different emotional factors. The teacher and his students engage in various emotional activities in it and varied results of emotions are yield." Since attitude is one of the key factors for success in language learning, numerous studies have already been conducted in the field of language attitude. In addition, language attitude research has been considered in the previous 50 years because of the growing relation between the importance of the language use and the nature of individuals (Saidat, 2010).
A number of recent studies addressed the role of attitude in the learning of foreign languages in different countries with different cultures, English background, and grades. For instance, Shams (2008) conducted a study attempting to investigate students' attitudes, motivation, and anxiety toward the learning of English. The findings underlined that the students had affirmative attitudes and high enthusiasm toward English. This also highlighted that most of them showed positive attitudes toward English language and its learning which, in turn, emphasized the value of English language efficiency in the daily life.
The findings of investigating the secondary stage students' attitudes toward learning English as a foreign language and their achievements in reading comprehension indicated that the respondents have positive attitudes toward learning English (Momani, 2009). Also, there was a strong correlation between the students' attitudes toward learning English and their performance in reading comprehension. The same findings were supported by Al-Tamimi and Shuib (2009) who conducted one study on Petroleum Engineering students' motivation and attitudes toward learning English. As they argue, the students have positive attitudes toward the use of English in the Yemeni social and educational contexts. They also showed an affirmative attitude toward the culture of the Englishspeaking world.
Regarding the factors like gender, background, field, and year of study, Abidin et al. (2012) attempted to investigate EFL students' attitudes of Libyan secondary school toward learning English in terms of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects based on the demographic information (gender, field, and year of study). The participants, contrary to expectations, showed negative attitudes toward learning English. Another important finding was that on the demographic profile, significant attitudinal differences regarding gender and field of study but not the year of study was found.
Suleiman (1993) investigated 22 Arab university students' motivation for studying English as a second language, their attitudes toward Americans and the United States, and future expectations for the study of English. All of the students have at least five years of ESL study at Arizona State University. Results revealed positive feelings and also gender-related differences in motivation.
Regarding the gender variable, Fakeye (2010) investigated the correlation between attitude and achievement in English among 400 senior secondary students selected randomly from five secondary schools. A significant relationship between attitude and achievement was the result found in that study. Additionally, it was explored that students' attitude is not gender-related. Thus, there was not a statistically significant difference in the attitudes of male and female students.
If a learner is not interested in acquiring the target language, he possesses a negative attitude and is not motivated and enthusiastic in language learning. Hence, the researcher of the present study intended to fill up this identified research gap and explore the emotional, cognitive, and behavioral attitudes of the undergraduate EFL students of Kashan University toward English language.

Significance of the study
This study should be of interest to a number of researchers focusing on demographic variables of Second Language (L2) learners, English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners, and English education policies and practices. By providing insights into attitudes of Iranian EFL learners toward the English language, English education policies, and their purposes for learning English, this study contributes to an understanding of English learning and teaching and adds to the growing body of studies on the spread of English. Furthermore, this study aims to offer insights for language attitude research and studies on gender variable of L2 learners in EFL context.
In addition, if English language teachers know and recognize their students' feelings, needs, behaviors, they are able to fit appropriate activities with their needs and would encourage them to positive attitudes toward English learning. Furthermore, curriculum makers would review the content and the design of the curriculum to meet the needs and the interests of the students.

Purpose of the study
The purpose of the qualitative, quantitative study is to discover EFL students' feelings and ideas of Kashan University about learning English, who are freshmen and have a similar background and little knowledge of English learning, and also determine if there is a significant difference in their attitudes toward English learning between male and female students. The study is led by the following research questions: (1) What are the attitudes of freshmen EFL students of Kashan University toward learning English in terms of their behavioral, cognitive, and emotional aspects?
(2) What is the difference in male and female freshmen EFL students' attitudes toward English learning?

Research design
The design of this study is quantitative in nature i.e. descriptive and inferential as well. Thus, an adapted questionnaire was employed as a measuring instrument. The participants were required to answer all the items of the questionnaire honestly, giving their own perceptions about their attitudes toward learning English language in terms of the emotional, cognitive, and BAA as well as their demographic profile i.e. gender.

Participants
The participants in the present study were 30 freshmen EFL learners, who have a similar background and little knowledge of English learning, majoring in English Translation and English Literature at the State University of Kashan, Iran. They were 19 female (N = 19) and 11 male (N = 11) freshmen.

Instrument
One attitude questionnaire, shown in Appendix 1, was the only instrument used to collect the data. The questionnaire was adopted from the Attitude Questionnaire Test employed by Boonrangsri, Chuaymankhong, Rermyindee, and Vongchittpinyo (2004), the Attitude and Motivation Test Battery (AMTB) designed by Gardner (1985), and a Behavioral, Cognitive, Emotional Attitude (BCEA) questionnaire (as cited in Abidin et al., 2012). On the whole, the questionnaire used in the study contains 30 items concerning language attitudes in terms of behavioral (the first 10 items), cognitive (the second 10 items), and emotional (the third 10 items) aspects of attitude. Overall, 18 items were positive and 12 items were negative. The statements were put in a five-point Likert scale from Level 1: Strongly Disagree to Level 5: Strongly Agree.

Procedure for data collection and data analysis
The study was based on analysis of a questionnaire consisting of 30 items showing cognitive, behavioral, and emotional aspects of attitude toward English learning. After the researcher was assured that this questionnaire enjoyed satisfactory reliability and construct validity, the final version was used for the main study. Thirty male and female freshmen EFL students studying English Literature and English Translation in the State University of Kashan were selected randomly and asked to answer to the questionnaire. Then, the items were analyzed and compared qualitatively with respect to the participants' attitudes. Finally, SPSS software was used for further analysis of the data. More specially, T-test was applied to analyze the possible significance of the observed differences between male and female learners with respect to emotional, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes.

Results
Concerning the first research question, the result of descriptive analysis shows that the overall mean score of English language attitude among the participants is 40.0382 (SD = 4.5899). This result reveals that the participants have a positive attitude toward learning English. Moreover, the mean scores of the three aspects of attitudes toward English among the respondents differ. As seen in Table 1, the mean score of BAA is 37.1818 (SD = 4.74467), that of the CAA is 40.6842 (SD = 4.30829) and the mean score of responses regarding the Emotional Aspect of Attitude (EAA) is 42.2488 (SD = 4.71693).

The behavioral aspect of attitude toward English language
The most striking results obtained from the preliminary analysis of the statements are presented in some tables. Among the statements, the first 10 statements elicited respondents' positive and negative behavioral attitude toward English language, which is shown in Table 2.
Among negative statements, 56.7% respondents strongly disagreed and 3.3% strongly agreed that they don't care about learning English and attending English class as well. A majority of respondents (60.0% strongly agreed and 3.3% strongly disagreed) stated that they like to learn English, especially in the way a native speaker does. Overall, all the positive behavioral items (the first four statements) obtained the most percent at strongly agree and agree and the most percent went toward strongly disagree and disagree in the negative behavioral statements (the second six items). Thus, it can apparently be said that the respondents have positive behavioral attitudes toward English language. In other words, they have a hopeful and confident demeanor on learning English.

The cognitive aspect of attitude toward English language
Statements 11-20 obtained respondents' positive and negative cognitive attitudes toward learning English, which is shown in Table 3. Most of the respondents (70.0% strongly disagreed and 3.3% agreed) opined that they enjoy learning English, not just for passing their exams (instrumental objectives). Interestingly, regarding the first six positive statements, all respondents strongly agree and agree that more knowledge, information, understanding, and help with other subjects are possible with learning English.
It is apparent from the data of the table that the respondents recognize the importance of learning English in the area of communicating effectively. This is indeed an expression of positive cognitive attitudes of the respondents toward English language.

The emotional aspect of attitude toward English language
Eliciting the positive and negative emotional attitude toward learning English, statements 21-30 are shown in Table 4. As far as the good emotions/feelings, high importance, more proud, enjoinment, and confidence is concerned, 63.3% of the respondents strongly agreed and 6.7% disagreed that studying English is enjoyable and interesting for them. Over 70.0% of the respondents (56.7% strongly agreed and 23.3% agreed) opted to learn English because it's a proud for them. In the same line over 86.0% (63.3% strongly agreed and 23.3% agreed), the majority of them, showed good and positive emotions/feelings to learning English. This table is quite revealing the respondents' positive emotional attitudes toward learning English while reporting over 80.0% (76.7% strongly disagreed and 10.0% disagreed) of them don't have little interest in English and also 70.0% (50.0% strongly disagreed and 20.0% disagreed) preferred learning a foreign language as well as their mother tongue.

Language attitude and participants' gender
The total number of respondents of this study was 30. All of them wereundergraduate male and female EFL students of the State University of Kashan. The results in Table 1 show that the total mean score of language attitude among female students is 40.34 and standard deviation is 7.39763 while they are 26.1818 and 3.41894, respectively among male students. However, the mean score of female students' behavioral attitude is 37.0 and it is 37.3636 among male ones, i.e. male students have slightly higher attitude in terms of behavioral aspect. By contrast, the score means of cognitive and emotional aspects of attitude among female students are higher, 40.6842 and 43.3158, respectively, than men students. These descriptive results show that the attitudes of female EFL students toward English, on the whole, are higher than that of male ones. In other words, the T-test did show a statistically significant difference between attitude toward learning English and gender factor.

Discussion
Being influenced by such factors as gender, field and year of study, and environment, a strong relationship between attitude and learning has been reported in the literature. This study set out with the aim of investigating attitudes of undergraduate male and female EFL students of the University of Kashan, hypothesizing that there is a significant difference between the two groups. Qualitative

R E T R A C T E D
analysis of this study showed that the participants, both males and females, have had positive emotional, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward learning English. Another important finding was that the female students' attitudes are significantly different from the male students'. The differences are in the form that although male students showed a higher mean in BAA, in the cognitive and emotional attitudes the female group recorded more positive attitude than male toward learning English.
These findings contradict with the reports given by Abidin et al. (2012), who studied behavioral, cognitive, and emotional attitudes of Secondary School Students toward learning English language. They found that their participants have a negative attitude in all three aspects of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional toward learning English just in line with Shams (2008)  This study produced results which corroborate the findings of a great deal of previous works. For example, Al-Mamun et al. (2012) included in their research that the respondents have positive attitudes toward English language reporting they like English language and they like those who speak English. They were of the opinion that those who speak English create good impression. Another study which has been conducted by Yu (2010), considering attitude as a component of motivation in language learning, he focused on attitude as a key factor in different varieties of English (world Englishes, China English, and English as an International language). In his study, Yu investigated the attitudes of Chinese college students toward English, and the results showed positive attitudes toward all varieties of English regardless of the subjects' gender.
However, comparing female and male students, Abidin et al. (2012) revealed the attitudes of female students toward English are slightly higher than that of male ones, which is in line with that in the current study and İnal et al.'s (2005). In contrast, some studies based on gender differences such as Fakeye (2010) are in contrast to our study, which showed that students' attitude is not genderrelated. Thus, they reported no statistically significant difference in the attitudes of male and female students.

Conclusion
This essay has argued that attitude is factored in learning a target language, investigating male and female EFL learners' attitudes toward learning English and the differences in attitudes made by these two groups. The qualitative information helped us to understand that both the male and female participants have positive emotional, behavioral, and cognitive attitudes toward English learning. This may lead to conclude that they are well aware of the importance of English and learn it as an essential subject. It was also found that there is a significant difference between males' and females' attitudes. The mean of behavioral attitude among male students was higher. That is why females may reflect their positive behavioral attitude such as enthusiasm for selecting and reading English books or even speaking English less than males. In addition, females showed a higher mean in cognitive and emotional aspects of attitude. That is, what females think of learning a language is indicated in their receiving and understanding of the process of language learning-cognitivism aspect and in affective teacher-student interaction-humanistic aspect. Therefore, attitude as a fundamental component can improve language learning or on the other side obstacle it.
The current findings contribute to and have implications for a variety of different areas, such as affective variables in Second Language (L2) learners, language attitude research, EFL learners, and English education policies and practices in Iran. First, this study adds to the research on learners' attitudes toward English and the growing body of studies on the spread of EFL.
Second, this study provides insights into how Iranian EFL students perceive various aspects of English. By providing insights into attitudes of Iranian EFL learners toward the English language, R E T R A C T E D 1. Female

Attitudes toward English Language Learning
To what extent do you agree with the following items? The following items ask about your attitudes toward learning the English language. Remember, there is no right or wrong answers; just answer as accurately as possible. Please read the statements below carefully and tick the appropriate choices that reflect your attitudes and perceptions toward English language. Use the scale below to answer the questionnaire items: 1 = Strongly Disagree, 2 = Disagree, 3 = Neutral, 4 = Agree, 5 = Strongly Agree.