Abstract:

This study explored the relationships between personality traits, loneliness, and university students’ EFL achievement. In particular, this study investigated what personality traits are related significantly to EFL learning results, how loneliness is related to EFL achievement, and what personality traits are significantly related to loneliness. A sample consisting of 137 freshman students from two universities in Taiwan participated in this study. The participants’ personality traits were measured by the modified version (Chiao, 2002) of Big Five Inventory (John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991). UCLA Loneliness Scale (Version 3) (Russell, 1996) was used to assess the subjects’ degree of loneliness. Their EFL achievement was based on the scores obtained from the University Entrance English Proficiency Test. Statistical results showed that extraversion is the only personality trait found to be positively linked to EFL achievement. The other four personality traits, including agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness, were not found to be significantly related to EFL achievement. Statistical results also revealed that loneliness was found to be significantly related to EFL. Lonely students tend to achieve poorer EFL results. In addition, loneliness was also found to have significant negative relationships with three personality traits including extraversion, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. That is, students who scored lower on these three personality traits feel lonelier than those who scored higher. However, there is a significant positive relationship between loneliness and the neurotic personality trait. That is neurotic students tend to feel lonelier. Taken together the research findings, this study would help contribute to the understanding of personality, loneliness, and EFL achievement in university students. The findings of this study may permit a better-focused research in the area of psycholinguistic studies. It is hoped that increasing and extensive knowledge about the dynamics of personality traits, loneliness, and students’ EFL achievement will offer useful information to educational policymakers, university students themselves, and foreign language lecturers.

Keywords:

Personality traits, loneliness, EFL achievement, co-relational study.