The relationship between grit and L2 willingness to communicate among Chinese undergraduate students
The contributions of foreign language enjoyment and anxiety
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22233909 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Gengchun Li (0009-0006-8153-4427, Taizhou University, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2025 |
| Volume | 12 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Publication date | 2025-04-16 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Humanities and Social Sciences Communications (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2662-9992 • E-ISSN: 2662-9992 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1057/s41599-025-04862-4 |
| OpenAlex | W4409504748 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 50 |
Despite having received more than a decade of English education, many Chinese undergraduate students still face the problem of acquiring communicative competence in English. It has been convincingly argued that the willingness to communicate (WTC) in a second language (L2) is one of the determinants of one’s communicative competence in that language. Therefore, in recent years, the WTC among L2 learners across different cultural and educational contexts has attracted increasing attention from the academic community. A variety of motivational, emotional, and situational factors have been scrutinized for their direct and indirect effects on L2 WTC. However, the personality factor of grit in shaping L2 WTC has been insufficiently investigated, and the possible mediating effects of L2 emotions (e.g., foreign language enjoyment and anxiety) have been relatively under-explored. Based on a sample of 820 Chinese undergraduate English majors, this study investigated the influence of the two dimensions of grit, i.e., perseverance of effort (PE) and consistency of interest (CI), on two types of L2 WTC, i.e., meaning-focused and form-focused L2 WTC; and explored the possible mediating effects of foreign language anxiety (FLA) and three sources of foreign language enjoyment (i.e., FLE-private, FLE-atmosphere, and FLE-teacher) in their relationship. It was found that: (1) PE significantly positively predicted meaning-focused and form-focused L2 WTC; (2) FLE-private, FLE-atmosphere, and FLA partially mediated the relationship between PE and meaning-focused/form-focused L2 WTC; (3) FLA exerted a masking effect in the relationship between CI and meaning-focused L2 WTC, while fully mediating the relationship between CI and form-focused L2 WTC. The results of this study can provide implications for the cultivation of L2 WTC among Chinese undergraduate English majors
Anxiety · Foreign language · Foreign language anxiety · Grit · Linguistics · Mathematics education · Willingness to communicate · Education and Learning Interventions · Grit, Self-Efficacy, and Motivation · Philosophy · Psychology · Psychosocial Factors Impacting Youth · Social Psychology
Understanding trait emotional intelligence and L2 willingness to communicate
Mediating role of students’ self-assessment in the relationships among EFL students’ L2 grit, motivation, and willingness to communicate
Grit, future selves, and intended learning effort as predictors of L2 achievement
The effect of foreign language enjoyment on the willingness to communicate of non-English majors
L2 grit
Trait Emotional Intelligence and Classroom Emotions
Emotions that facilitate language learning
Self-efficacy
Self-efficacy and educational development
Understanding the Relationship Between Grit and Foreign Language Performance Among Middle School Students
Researching and Practicing Positive Psychology in Second/Foreign Language Learning and Teaching
Grit and language learning
Classroom environment and willingness to communicate in English
How true is grit? Assessing its relations to high school and college students’ personality characteristics, self-regulation, engagement, and achievement.
Statistical notes for clinical researchers
Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety
The Control-Value Theory of Achievement Emotions
Detecting and Deterring Insufficient Effort Responding to Surveys
Affective variables and informal digital learning of English
Teacher support, grit and L2 willingness to communicate
L2 grit and pragmatic comprehension among Chinese postgraduate learners
Grit, emotions, and their effects on ethnic minority students’ English language learning achievements
Affective variables and willingness to communicate of EFL learners in in-class, out-of-class, and digital contexts
Understanding Chinese high school students’ Foreign Language Enjoyment
Ideal L2 self and willingness to communicate
Revalidation of the L2-Grit scale
The role of grit and classroom enjoyment in EFL learners’ willingness to communicate
Grit
Much ado about grit
Introducing positive psychology to SLA
Conceptualizing Willingness to Communicate in a L2
Willingness to Communicate in English
Personality, Attitudes, and Affect as Predictors of Second Language Communication
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 4 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2026 (2) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |