TUQA MOHAMMED HANNOON ,SEYYED AYATOLLAH RAZMJOO,RAHMAN SAHRAGARD ,MOHAMMED SABER KHAGHANINEJAD
DOI: https://doi.org/Although the literature on the relationship between identity processing styles and various language skills including reading, writing, and overall language proficiency in Iranian context is relatively rich, this research area suffers from parsimony with regard to Iraqi EFL learners. This study aimed to fill this gap by investigating the extent to which the identity processing styles’ components predict reading ability in the Iraqi context. To this end, a correlational design was employed. The participants included 200 (90 males and 110 females) Iraqi EFL learners who were already passing English course in different universities of Iraq. They were picked up via convenience sampling. The Identity Processing Styles Questionnaire and the Reading Section of Preliminary English Test (RPET) were used to collect the data. To analyze the data, regression analysis was used. According to the results, Problem-Based Thinking, Religious Thinking, and Negative and Positive Thinking could significantly predict reading ability in the Iraqi context. These four variables predicted 86.6 percent of reading ability. The results of the final step indicated that the highest prediction power belonged to Positive Thinking. This was followed by Negative Thinking which negatively contributed to reading ability, Religious Thinking, and Problem-Based Thinking. The results have some implications for Iraqi EFL teachers, learners, curriculum planners and teacher educators.
