Whispers of Words: The Poetic Weaving of Reader Identity in the Hearts of Iranian EFL Learners

Adel, Seyyed Mohammad Reza; Bayat, Zahra

doi:10.22080/iselt.2025.30066.1127

Whispers of Words: The Poetic Weaving of Reader Identity in the Hearts of Iranian EFL Learners

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

¹ Department of English, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Mashhad, Iran

² Department of Literature and Humanities, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran

10.22080/iselt.2025.30066.1127

Abstract

Reading comprehension is increasingly understood as a complex construct that requires recognition of Reader Identity (RI), the way students view themselves as readers. This study examines how the notion of reading comprehension has evolved from being viewed as a straightforward skill to a multifaceted construct closely related to RI, which reflects how students perceive themselves as readers. The overall aim of this study was to investigate RI using a mixed methods approach. In this research journey, a total of 284 Iranian EFL students participated in the study and were tested using both a standard questionnaire and an interview. Further analysis yielded eight distinct themes related to RI: Reading Enjoyment, Reading Preferences, Reading Environment, Reading Content, Reading Self-Perception, Reading Challenges, Reading Motivation, and Reading Strategies. No significant gender differences were found; however, there were strong correlations between Reading Efficacy and Reading Enjoyment. Interestingly, the Reading Environment correlated most strongly with Reading Enjoyment.

Keywords

Main Subjects

Copyright © 2025 The Author(s). Published by the Faculty of Persian Literature and Foreign Languages at the University of Mazandaran. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) license.

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