Session Information
31 ONLINE 26 A, On the various components of language learning: Arenas, approaches, actors
Paper Session
MeetingID: 824 2354 5871 Code: V5ZTwY
Contribution
Learning a foreign language in a formal setting is a complex process which is believed to be supported by particular individual characteristics, including positive personality dispositions such as grit (MacIntyre, 2016). This non-cognitive personality trait composed of perseverance of effort and long-term consistency of interests facilitates investing energy over extended periods of time and achieving long-term goals despite failures, challenges and obstacles (Duckworth et al., 2007).
Grit has been found to be of domain-specific rather than generic nature (Cormier et al., 2019; Sudina et al., 2020; Teimouri et al., 2020). It affects academic performance (Eskreis-Winkler et al., 2014), self-efficacy (Wolters & Hussain, 2015), academic self-regulation (Wolters & Hussain, 2015), and academic engagement (Datu et al., 2016). In the field of second language acquisition, grit is considered as an influential personality factor affecting language learning. Some studies indicated its positive impact on L2 attainment in the context of face-to-face classes (Kramer et al., 2017; Wei et al., 2019), but little is known about its determinants, or its role in the context of remote learning.
This preregistered comprehensive questionnaire study, framed in the positive psychology perspective, examines the extent to which grit’s components are determined by growth mindset, curiosity, resilience, and autonomy. These predictors seem to be import in remote learning settings which require students to regularly construct knowledge on their own. The study also investigates how grit and its predictors affect the effectiveness of online L2 learning, providing answers to the following questions:
RQ1: Which of the psychological dispositions: i) growth language mindset, ii) curiosity, iii) resilience, iv) autonomy, and v) readiness for online learning has the strongest influence on each of L2 grit’s components?
RQ2: To what extent do L2 grit’s components mediate the influence of each of these factors on the effectiveness of L2 learning in online contexts?
Method
We used validated scales with acceptable to high reliability (Cronbach’s α from .75 to .89) such as: L2 grit scale (Teimouri et al., 2020), Language Mindsets Inventory (Lou & Noels, 2017), Curiosity and Exploration Inventory-II (Kashdan et al., 2009), Autonomy scale from the Basic Psychological Need Satisfaction and Frustration Scale (Chen et al., 2015), as well as a custom-made brand-new scale of readiness for online learning measuring its two dimensions: i) self-directed learning, and ii) online learning motivation.
Expected Outcomes
Multiple linear regression models basing on responses of N=611 participants from 60 countries demonstrate different predictors of L2 grit’s components. Perseverance of effort is determined by autonomy, motivation for remote learning, and self-directed learning, whereas consistency of interests depends on curiosity, autonomy, and motivation for remote learning. Both models are significant, predicting respectively 50% of variance in perseverance of effort (F6,203=36.48, p<.001, ηp²=.52 [.43;.57]) and 26% of variance in consistency of interests (F6,203=13.63, p<.001, ηp²=.29 [.18;.35]). L2 grit as a holistic construct in turn is the sole significant direct predictor of satisfaction with online learning. The study sheds light on our understanding of the role of learners’ L2 grit and its components in online-learning scenarios, as well as their predictors in both remote and on-site conditions. The results of the study can provide practical guidelines for more effective delivery of remote courses and better language learning outcomes. They also bring an important insight for language teachers and learners, encouraging them to enhance positive characteristics make language learning a pleasurable, passionate, and successful endeavour
References
Chen, B. et al. (2015). Basic psychological need satisfaction, need frustration, and need strength across four cultures. Motivation and Emotion, 39, 216-236. Cormier, D. L., Dunn, J. G. H., & Causgrove Dunn, J. (2019). Examining the domain specificity of grit. Personality and Individual Differences, 139, 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2018.11.026 Datu, J.A.D., Valdez, J.P.M., & King, R.B. (2016). The successful life of gritty students: Grit leads to optimal educational and well-being outcomes in a collectivist context. In King, R.B., & A.B.I. Bernardo (Eds.), The Psychology of Asian Learners: A Festschrift in Honor of David Watkins (pp. 503–516). Singapore: Springer Asia. Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M.D., & Kelly, D.R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101. Eskreis-Winkler, L., Duckworth, A.L., Shulman, E.P., Beal, S. (2014). The grit effect: Predicting retention in the military, the workplace, school and marriage. Frontiers in Psychology, 5, 36. Kashdan, T.,B. Gallagher, M.W., Silvia, P.J., Winterstein, B.P., Breen, W.E., Terhar, D., Steger, M.F. (2009). The curiosity and exploration inventory-II: Development, factor structure, and psychometrics. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 987-989 Kramer, B., McLean, S., Shepherd Martin, E.S. (2017). Student grittiness: A pilot study investigating scholarly persistence in EFL classrooms. Journal of Osaka Jogakuin College, 47, 25–41. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10775/3498 (accessed April 2020). Lou, N. M., Noels, K. (2017). Measuring language mindsets and modeling their relations with goal orientations and emotional and behavioral responses in failure situations. The Modern Language Journal, 101, 214–243. MacIntyre, P.D. (2016). So far so good: an overview of positive psychology and its contributions to SLA. In D. Gabryś-Barker and D. Gałajda (eds.), Positive Psychology Perspectives on Foreign Language Learning and Teaching (pp. 3–20). New York, NY: Springer). Sudina, E., Brown, J., Datzman, B., Oki, Y., Song, K., Cavanaugh, R., Thiruchelvam, B., Plonsky, L. (2020). Language-specific grit: exploring psychometric properties, predictive validity, and differences across contexts. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching. DOI: 10.1080/17501229.2020.1802468 Teimouri, Y., Plonsky, L., Tabandeh, F. (2020). L2 grit: Passion and perseverance for second-language learning. Language Teaching Research. DOI: 10.1177/1362168820921895 Wei, H., Gao, K., Wang, W. (2019). Understanding the relationship between grit and foreign language performance among middle school students: The roles of foreign language enjoyment and classroom environment. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1508. Wolters, C. A., Hussain, M. (2015). Investigating grit and its relations with college students’ self-regulated learning and academic achievement. Metacognition and Learning, 10, 293–311.
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