Exploring the Relationship Between Chinese EFL Students' Grit, Well-Being, and Classroom Enjoyment.

Peng Yang

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2021.762945

Abstract

It has been documented that grit plays an indispensable role in the process of language learning and teaching. It is postulated that gritty people are more able to become involved in classroom practice and remain motivated even in light of challenges; however, what remains vague is the interplay of grit, well-being, and classroom enjoyment. To this end, 335 male and female Chinese EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners who were studying English in 28 universities took part in this study. They completed three questionnaires including the grit scale questionnaire (Grit-S), foreign language enjoyment scale, and PERMA well-being scale. The Pearson coefficient of correlation was run to investigate the first research question of the study while, after checking the preliminary assumptions, for the second research question a multiple regression analysis was used. The findings of the study demonstrated that there is a positive relationship between learners' grit and enjoyment, and high degrees of enjoyment were interrelated to high degrees of grit. The findings of the study also signified that grit significantly predicted students' well-being and was also a predictor of classroom enjoyment. Finally, some implications and recommendations have been offered for language teaching stakeholders in educational settings.

Highlights

Considering the negative aspects is only half of the issue, so a new approach, positive psychology (PP) in educational settings, has grown throughout previous decades and is welcomed by scholars (Mercer et al, 2018; Chen and Padilla, 2019; De Ruiter et al, 2019; MacIntyre et al, 2019; Wang et al, 2021), and the eminence of affectivity in both second and foreign language instruction research has been at the center of attention of many researchers lately (Fathi and Derakhshan, 2019; Derakhshan, 2021; Pishghadam et al, 2021; Xie and Derakhshan, 2021; Yazdanmehr et al, 2021; Zeng, 2021)
The advent of foreign language enjoyment (Dewaele and MacIntyre, 2014) set the stage for employing PP in language learning, and other positive issues were identified in this line of research
It can be stated that people with a high degree of grit are supposed to be capable of increasing their capabilities since they have greater focus and are less dejected by problems and obstacles (Credé et al, 2017)

Summary

Introduction

The instructive research domain was preoccupied with inspecting negative emotions such as boredom, apprehension, stress, and foreign language classroom anxiety in classes (Horwitz et al, 1986; MacIntyre and Gardner, 1989; Shaw et al, 1996; Harris, 2000; Horwitz, 2000, 2001; Rodríguez and Abreu, 2003; Tran, 2012; Capone et al, 2019; Fathi and Derakhshan, 2019; Chen et al, 2021; Derakhshan et al, 2021). People who are pleased with their lives are more efficacious and more involved (Peterson et al, 2005) Those who described high levels of well-being encounter positive emotions more regularly through learning tasks, which are considered as an assessment and appraisal of the whole learning procedure (Jing and Yu, 2015; Yuting et al, 2020)

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Discussion

Conclusion