Your new experience awaits. Try the new design now and help us make it even better

ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Educ.

Sec. Language, Culture and Diversity

Volume 10 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/feduc.2025.1614742

The Effect of Foreign Language Enjoyment on the Willingness to Communicate of Non-English Majors: The Mediating Role of L2 Grit and Academic Buoyancy

Provisionally accepted
Chun  BaiChun BaiJiaying  HuJiaying Hu*
  • Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

Foreign language enjoyment (FLE) has emerged as a significant factor influencing learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) given its critical role in shaping communicative behaviors in language learning. However, the relationship between second/foreign language (L2) grit, academic buoyancy, FLE and WTC remains under-explored. To address this research gap, this study surveyed 486 Chinese non-English majors studying English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) to examine the effect of FLE on WTC, as well as the mediating effects of L2 grit and academic buoyancy. The research findings revealed medium levels of L2 grit and WTC, and high levels of FLE and academic buoyancy. The results of the Pearson correlation analysis revealed significant correlations between WTC and FLE, L2 grit and academic buoyancy (p<.01). Regression analysis confirmed that FLE and academic buoyancy were significant predictors of WTC, whereas L2 grit was not. Mediation analysis identified academic buoyancy as a mediator, establishing the pathway "FLE - Academic buoyancy - WTC" for the effect of FLE on WTC. These findings could provide practical guidance for cultivating and enhancing the WTC of non-English majors in L2 learning.

Keywords: Willingness to communicate, Foreign language enjoyment, Academic buoyancy, grit, mediation effect

Received: 20 Jun 2025; Accepted: 14 Aug 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Bai and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence: Jiaying Hu, Northeast Agricultural University, Harbin, China

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.