Resilience in language classrooms: Exploring individual antecedents and consequences

Abstract

Learning a second language (L2) is a prolonged process and it is full of challenges. Resilience is an important capacity to help learners to deal with challenging situations and cope with daily setbacks and struggles. This study examined the antecedents and consequences of resilience in language learning contexts. The participants of the study were 300 Iranian EFL learners at a state university (63.3% females). The participants answered a self-report questionnaire of their resilience, mindsets, psychological well-being, L2 selves, and perceived competence. The data were analyzed through structural equational modeling. The results showed that resilience was an important factor in predicting engagement (both in-class participation and effort) and well-being (high flourishing and positive affect, and low negative affect). That is, resilient learners are not only engaged learners, but also happy learners. The results also indicated that growth language mindsets and ideal L2 self independently predicted resilience and indirectly predicted engagement and well-being via resilience. These findings suggest that promoting resilience could be an important aspect of learners’ well-being and engagement in second language education.