Exploring Grit and Big Five Personality as Predictors of Foreign Language Achievement

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Department of English language and literature, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

Abstract

This study examines grit— trait-level perseverance and prolonged passion for primary goals—in a foreign language learning context. The participants of this study were 384 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners from different academic majors studying at Yazd University. They had enrolled in General English (GE) courses. A questionnaire and an inventory were administered to assess their grit and a set of five assumed predictors, respectively. This investigation sought two main objectives: to examine (a) the relationships between grit and big five personality traits, and (b) the roles of grit and big five personality traits as predictors of L2 achievement. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we explored links among grit, five predictors of grit, and L2 achievement. The results indicated that three variables of big five personality traits (conscientiousness, extraversion, and openness to experience or intellect) are important predictors of grit in language learning. Furthermore, grit as a novel construct considerably predicted L2 achievement to a large extend and mediated the influence of the five predictive factors on L2 achievement. Grit, thus, constitutes a predictor of L2 learning and acts as an essential yet under-investigated role for success in language learning that is conceptually and empirically different from existing constructs.

Keywords

Applied Linguistics Inquiry
Volume 1, Issue 1 - Serial Number 1
March 2023
Pages 142-170

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History

  • Receive Date: 14 June 2022
  • Revise Date: 14 October 2022
  • Accept Date: 21 February 2023

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