Psychological capital and (AI-mediated) informal digital learning of Spanish as an L3
The role of out-of-class emotion profiles
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 24236554 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jingyu Zhu (0000-0001-8824-2474, Universitat Autonòma de Barcelona), Quan (0009-0000-8094-931X, Xi'an Jiaotong University), Miao Yu (0000-0002-7625-6315, Jilin International Studies University), Zongtuo Liu (0009-0004-4209-5244, University College London) |
| Year | 2026 |
| Pages | 1-20 |
| Publication date | 2026-10-21 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0143-4632 • E-ISSN: 1747-7557 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01434632.2026.2751009 |
| OpenAlex | W7223175893 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 63 |
Informal digital learning gives learners substantial autonomy, yet less is known about how psychological resources and configurations of out-of-class emotions are related to engagement in languages other than English and in AI-mediated environments. Drawing on self-determination theory, this study examined the associations among psychological capital (PsyCap), out-of-class emotion profiles, informal digital learning of Spanish (IDLS), and AI-IDLS. Participants were 381 university learners in China studying Spanish as L3. Questionnaire data were analysed using regression, latent profile analysis, and profile-based path models. PsyCap was positively associated with both IDLS and AI-IDLS. Three emotion profiles were identified, namely positive-dominant, high-intensity mixed-emotion, and boredom-dominant. Higher PsyCap was associated with a greater likelihood of positive-dominant membership and a lower likelihood of boredom-dominant membership. The positive-dominant profile showed no indirect association between PsyCap and either outcome, whereas the boredom-dominant profile statistically accounted for part of the associations between PsyCap and both IDLS and AI-IDLS. These findings show that emotional configurations are related to informal digital engagement in different ways and highlight the value of considering emotions jointly. The study extends PsyCap and (AI-Mediated) informal digital language learning research to L3 Spanish.
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| Highly cited | No |
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