ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Psychol.
Sec. Positive Psychology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1621340
This article is part of the Research TopicEntrepreneurial Psychological Capital and Emotional IntelligenceView all articles
The Mediating Role of Psychological Capital in the Relationship between EFL Learners' L2 Grit and L2 WTC
Provisionally accepted
- 1Bengbu Medical College, Bengbu, China
- 2Department of English Language, College of Arts, Al-Jouf University, Saudi Arabia, Sakaka, Saudi Arabia
- 3Department of English Language and Literature, Hakim Sabzevari University, Sabzevar, Iran, Sabzevar, Iran
- 4Department of English Language and Literature, Al-Zahra University, Tehran, Iran, Tehran, Iran
- 5School of Basic Courses, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China, Bengbu, China
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The key role of L2 grit has been acknowledged in English as a foreign language (EFL) learners' linguistic and psychological development. However, there is still debate regarding the role of L2 grit in enhancing EFL learners' willingness to communicate (WTC) in L2. Furthermore, due to the novelty of the concept of psychological capital (PsyCap) in the field of foreign language education, little is known about its mediating role in the relationship between L2 grit and WTC. Therefore, the current study used valid, online questionnaires and employed structural equation modelling (SEM) to test whether Chinese EFL learners' (N = 664) PsyCap can mediate the relationship between their domain-specific grit and WTC. The results indicated that Chinese EFL learners' PsyCap partially mediated the relationship between L2 grit and WTC. Therefore, L2 grit impacted EFL learners' WTC in L2 both directly and indirectly through their positive psychological resources such as optimism, resilience, efficacy, and hope. The findings highlight the criticality of positive psychological states in language classroom settings where EFL learners can enhance their tendency to communicate in L2 with higher levels of perseverance of effort and consistency of interest.
Keywords: L2 grit, Psychological Capital, L2 WTC, Structural Equation Modeling, EFL learners
Received: 30 Apr 2025; Accepted: 23 Jun 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Alruwaili, Azari Noughabi, Ghasemi and Zhen. 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: Changhui Zhen, School of Basic Courses, Bengbu Medical University, Bengbu, China, Bengbu, China
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