When Weekly Vocabulary Assessment Becomes Effective: Repeated Low Performance, Peer Correction, and Learner Psychology Among Arab Students Reading English as a Foreign Language in Saudi Arabia
Abstract
Abstract
This study examined the psychological consequences of repeated low performance in weekly vocabulary dictation quizzes among Saudi EFL students enrolled in a university reading course at Qassim University. The study was based on the natural context of a classroom involving 52 undergraduate Saudi EFL students across a 14-week semester. Students completed 10 vocabulary dictation quizzes. Each quiz included 30-36 words from the reading passages. Students listened to the words, wrote them down, exchanged papers, started peer correction, marked the scores, and returned the papers back to their classmates. This recurring practice created a social and evaluative setting, in which lower-performing students might not only experience repeated low achievement but also directly observed the stronger performance of their peers. The study used self-efficacy theory and Control-Value Theory to investigate whether repeated low achievement reduced students' motivation, lowered self-efficacy, increased anxiety, fear of negative evaluation and embarrassment. The study also examined why some low scorers appeared discouraged whereas others remained resilient or even motivated by peer comparison. A sequential explanatory mixed-methods design was adopted, combining quiz-score records, a questionnaire, and semi-structured interviews. The results showed that low performance was widespread, with 31 students (59%) classified as low scorers. Questionnaire findings indicated low self-efficacy (M = 2.41) and motivation (M = 2.58), alongside high anxiety (M = 3.89), fear of negative evaluation (M = 3.76), and embarrassment (M = 3.81). Negative peer-comparison perceptions also predicted lower motivation and self-efficacy, suggesting that peer correction may function not only as a cognitive tool for lexical recall but also as an affective classroom experience with differentiated consequences. The study aimed to contribute to the literature on learner psychology and peer-mediated classroom assessment in Saudi EFL higher education.
Keywords
References
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.18860/ijazarabi.v9i4.42548
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