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Exploring EFL learner resilience and examining its association with L2 buoyancy and language achievement

  • Elham Hedeshi and Afsaneh Ghanizadeh ORCID logo EMAIL logo
Published/Copyright: December 27, 2024
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Applied Linguistics Review
From the journal Applied Linguistics Review Volume 16 Issue 4

Abstract

This study aimed at exploring EFL learners’ resilience. To do so, the current study developed and validated a scale measuring EFL learners’ resilience according to the qualitative triangulated phase of this study. The procedure of the present mixed-methods research is as follows: QUAL → quan. In the qualitative phase of this study, 29 EFL learners contributed by participating in semi-structured interviews, open-ended questions, and research journals. The model conceptualized the determinants of EFL learners’ L2 resilience, including personal, metacognitive, and contextual factors, each associated with several sub-factors. Based on the model derived from qualitative analysis, the L2 resilience scale, comprising 21 items. It was then distributed among 321 EFL learners and validated via Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). It was revealed that all items demonstrated satisfactory factor loading. Furthermore, the association of learner resilience scale (LRS) with two other closely-related constructs – buoyancy and achievement – was assessed in this research.

Keywords: buoyancy; contextual resilience; EFL learners’ resilience; language achievement; metacognitive resilience; personal resilience
Corresponding author: Afsaneh Ghanizadeh, Imam Reza University, Mashhad, 9138833186, Iran, E-mail:

  1. Research ethics: This study was approved by the research ethics committee [BLINDED] involving the formal consents of all participants.

  2. Informed consent: The formal informed consents were obtained from all participants prior to their participation in the study.

  3. Author contributions: Author E.H wrote the first draft of the study and collected the data. Author A.G. conceptualized and supervised the study, revised and edited the drafts, and conducted statistical analyses.

  4. Conflict of interest: The authors state that they do not have any conflict of interests.

  5. Research funding: No funding was available for the present study.

  6. Data availability: Data is available on Mendeley Data, doi: 10.17632/2tszc4gvps.1.

  7. Use of artificial intelligence statement: AI was not used in any stage of manuscript writing and editing.

  8. Preregistration: This study is not preregistered.

Appendix

L2 Resilience scale

1 = strongly disagree, 2 = agree, 3 = Somewhat agree, 4 = Neither agree nor disagree, 5 = somewhat disagree, 6 = disagree, 7 = strongly disagree.

Items 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
1. I am persistent in mastering a foreign language
2. I can adapt to new challenges I may face when learning a language
3. Help-seeking is one strategy I would take when I am learning a foreign language
4. I would set goals for myself to improve my foreign language
5. It is difficult for me to come through setbacks in the process of learning a foreign language
6. Giving a timely hand to my friends whenever they encounter difficulties is something I frequently do
7. In difficult situations in the process of learning English, I am aware of my thoughts
8. I will give up easily if anything goes wrong in the L2 learning process
9. The rapport with my teachers in learning a language can help me to a great extent to improve
10. I would put all my efforts to stop negative thinking in the process of learning a language
11. Whenever I encounter difficulties in learning L2, I get disappointed
12. Collaboration and cooperation with my classmates are two important factors I would try to fulfill foreign language learning tasks
13. Whenever I encounter any problems in the process of learning a foreign language, I would try hard to find a solution for that problem
14. To me, family support plays a very important role in the process of learning a foreign language
15. When I study a foreign language, I am eager to get more information about the culture of that language
16. Planning is one strategy I use to get better at learning a foreign language
17. My classmates are great sources for me in case of difficulties in the process of learning a foreign language
18. I can evaluate myself in the process of learning a foreign language
19. When I am learning a foreign language, I can cope with my stress
20. Intercultural communication is something that happens to me in learning a foreign language
21. In the process of learning a foreign language, I can get a lot of positive energy

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Received: 2024-04-15
Accepted: 2024-12-03
Published Online: 2024-12-27
Published in Print: 2025-07-28

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

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https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2024-0133
Keywords for this article
buoyancy; contextual resilience; EFL learners’ resilience; language achievement; metacognitive resilience; personal resilience

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Review Article
  3. The application of social network analysis in applied linguistics research: a systematic review
  4. Research Articles
  5. The neoliberal coloniality of EMI in Hong Kong higher education: insights from online stancetaking
  6. Unpacking fluid linguistic landscape in a community coffeehouse in Hangzhou, East China: an everyday life perspective
  7. Translanguaging in public and digital spaces: integrating telecollaboration to linguistic landscapes studies
  8. Investigating the relationships of writing behaviours to linguistic complexity and accuracy in independent and integrated writing task performance
  9. Exploring unobserved heterogeneity of speech fluency and its dynamic interactions with emotions
  10. Modality of input and factors affecting incidental vocabulary learning: reading, listening, and viewing with captions
  11. Blurred lines of participation: nexus analytical tools for reflecting on the roles of researchers and participants in change-oriented research projects
  12. The contribution of second language writers’ translanguaging ability to their information-based academic writing ability
  13. Translanguaging in the linguistic landscape: creative scripts in Yi ethnicity students’ handwritten signs
  14. Playing with funds of difficult knowledge: interactional insights for heritage language education
  15. Creating a meaningful summative assessment in a Chinese immersion context: a translanguaging perspective
  16. Transnational media and English spread in the Expanding Circle: Hollywood’s predominance, language accommodation, and English as an additional language in cinema, television, and video on demand
  17. Translingual practices for critical language awareness in English as an additional language writing education
  18. Multilingualism, translanguaging, and education in the Vaupés, Northwest Amazonia: dynamics of language use, and language loss
  19. Moderation of teacher-student rapport in the link between smartphone addiction and foreign language burnout and its gender difference
  20. The impact of divergent language policies on teachers’ language attitudes and proficiency in two multilingual education settings
  21. Exploring EFL learner resilience and examining its association with L2 buoyancy and language achievement
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