Transfer of reading attitude from L1 to L2 among Iranian EFL learners with reference to gender and language proficiency

This study aims at investigating the threshold hypothesis in relation to the transfer of reading attitude from L1 to L2 among Iranian EFL learners with reference to gender and language proficiency. To this end, 150 EFL students (74 males and 76 females) who had received formal instruction in English for two to four years with the mean age of 19 participated in the study. They took part in the Michigan Test of English Language Proficiency and completed two five-point Likert scale questionnaires: (a) L1 reading attitude questionnaire, as well as its translated version, and (b) L2 reading attitude questionnaire. Data were analyzed using Independent T-Test, Multiple Regression Analyses, and Two-Way ANOVA. The results showed that reading attitudes do transfer from L1 to L2; however, the student's L1 and L2 reading attitudes were different. The study also showed that higher L2 proficiency and gender are not statistically significant to play a role in the transfer of reading attitude from L1 to L2. Moreover, the findings indicate that the notion of Linguistic Threshold does not affect the transfer of reading attitude from L1 to L2 with reference to gender. The results are interpreted to have implications for syllabus designers and EFL practitioners.