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

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 ۳۸۴ 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 L۲ achievement. Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we explored links among grit, five predictors of grit, and L۲ 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 L۲ achievement to a large extend and mediated the influence of the five predictive factors on L۲ achievement. Grit, thus, constitutes a predictor of L۲ 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:

Big five personality , Grit , L۲ achievement , Predictors of grit