Perceived Competence

The present study aimed to investigate the attitudes and perceived nature of thinking and understanding towards intercultural communicative competence (ICC) among International English major students. Accordingly, this study employed the paradigm of a sequential mixed-method research, in which it comprised a qualitative phase followed by a quantitative phase. The participants of the first phase of the study were 30 undergraduate English major students in their third year at Isfahan Islamic Azad University in Iran; and the participants of the second phase of the study included 30 international ESL students in their first year at Gonzaga University (GU), in Washington, U.S. The analysis of narratives in the first phase of the study indicated that the participants had diverse attitudes towards intercultural encounters. The results of the statistical analyses of the second phase of the study showed that the most important individual difference variables directly influencing students’ intercultural communicative competence were their communication apprehension and their perceived communicative competence. This study also showed that students’ self-image as communicators were of utmost importance: if students believe they are good communicators in English, theyare more likely to be self-confident and are more likely to take part in intercultural encounters. Thus, instructors should help students achieve a realistic self-image about their performance in English and support them if they lack self-confidence.  

Academic writing is a major concern for many university students. Despite extensive literature on students’ academic writing, little attention has been focused on students’ writing experience and practice in higher education. To fill this gap, the present study compared actual and perceived academic writing competence of postgraduate students who were enrolled in English for Academic Purposes (EAP, hereafter) courses. First, measures of actual and perceived academic writing competence were developed and validated in Phase 1, using a separate sample of EAP postgraduate students ( n = 391) in Ilam province, Iran. Phase 2 examined postgraduate students’ academic writing competence perceptions and the ways through which their perceptions might have differed from their actual academic performance. Then the developed measures of actual and perceived academic writing competence, which exhibited acceptable reliability and good model-data fit, were distributed among a sample of 210 EAP postgraduate students from nine different academic fields. The results of data analysis revealed significant differences in perceptions and actual academic practices of students across different academic fields of study.

The current study aimed at predicting the need for achievement and responsibility among students based on their perceived competence and novelty-seeking. The population consisted of all the 987 students of Islamic Azad University in Gachsaran, Iran, and, based on Cochrane’s formula, a sample of 350 students was assessed using random cluster sampling. The study was practical and used a correlational design. The measures comprised the Herman’s Achievement Motivation Test, the Responsibility Questionnaire, the Perceived Competence Scale, the Conner-Davidson Resilience Scale, and the Cloninger’s Temperament and Character Inventory. Data from Pearson’s correlation coefficients and multivariable regression analyses showed that perceived competence and novelty-seeking could both meaningfully predict the need for achievement. Novelty-seeking was also a meaningful predictor of responsibility. However, perceived competence did not predict responsibility. The independent variables also, directly and indirectly, predicted the level of responsibility through the need for achievement, novelty-seeking, and perceived competence. Keywords: Need for achievement; Novelty-seeking; Perceived competence; Responsibility.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the causal pattern of perceived competence on psychological capital mediated by the academic emotions of 10th grade male high school students in Tehran. Methodology: The research method was applied in terms of purpose, quantitative approach, cross-sectional in terms of data collection time and correlational in terms of research method. The statistical population of this study consisted of all tenth grade male students of the second year of high school in Tehran in the academic year 2019-20, from which 510 people were selected by multi-stage cluster random sampling. In this study, the tools of perceived competence (De Perna and Elliott, 2000), psychological capital (Lutans, 2011) and academic excitement (Pekrun, et al., 2005) were used, all of which had acceptable validity and reliability. SPSS-V23 and Amos-V8.8 software were used to analyze the data. Structural equation modeling was also used to answer the research hypotheses. Findings: The research findings showed that the model has a good fit. The results showed that perceived competence has an effect on psychological capital in students. Academic excitement affects the psychological capital of students. Perceived competence also affects psychological capital through the mediation of academic emotions. Conclusion: Therefore, it can be said that increasing psychological capital and perceived competence can improve the academic excitement in students.

Buying online is a trend especially for young customers aged less than 30 years old. A lot of studies have been conducted to investigate this phenomenon but hitherto no cohesive model has been established. Therefore, the present study is meant to investigate online shopping factors that contribute to customers’ purchase decision. Five factors were identified to have potential influence on online purchase decision and one factor is expected to be a mediator to affect the relationship. From 384 data collected from online customers who visited popular online shopping sites, it was found that all five factors (perceived convenience, perceived risk, perceived competence, perceived benevolence, and perceived integrity) lead to trust and at the same time trust acts as a quasi mediator to affect the relationship between these factors and online purchase decision. The findings provide the actively sought after evidence to support the claims on the role of these factors in affecting online purchase decision. Online businesses should incorporate the findings in order to facilitate customers’ decision making process while visiting their websites. The websites must contain or portray all the elements as found in this study.

With day-increasing emphasis on communication as the chief objective of second language learning, willingness to communicate (hereafter WTC) has come into focus by many researchers, teachers, and foreign language institutes. Previous studies show that WTC is highly correlated with the two variables of perceived competence and communication apprehension. This study aimed to investigate the difference in WTC between male and female English major students at Khorasgan University, Iran. Firstly, 55 English major students were asked to respond to three questionnaires on WTC, perceived competence and communication apprehension. The data was analyzed using independent sample t-test. The results showed no significant difference between male and female students in WTC, perceived competence and communication apprehension. The results related to the effect of language proficiency on WTC, perceived competence, and communication apprehensions were also analyzed using one way ANOVA. The results showed no significant differences between the three different groups of students with different levels of language proficiency in their WTC, perceived competence, and communication apprehension