Why have I failed? Why have I passed? A comparison of students’ causal attributions in second language acquisition (A1–B2 levels)

Background Previous literature highlights the importance of causal attributions in achievement and motivation. However, the studies about causal attributions in second language acquisition (SLA) are limited and scarce. Aims This study was designed to determine the frequency of successful and unsuccessful activities per English level and to compare the causal attributions (explanations of outcomes) on successful and failure authentic tasks undertaken in the context of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) acquisition in an Official School of Languages (OSL). Sample To this aim, 407 native Spanish students from levels A1 (n = 111), A2 (n = 113), B1 (n = 98), and B2 (n = 85) in OSL part…