Academic enjoyment, behavioral engagement, self-concept, organizational strategy and achievement in EFL setting: A multiple mediation analysis

Abstract

Motivated by the positive psychology movement in the English as Foreign Language (EFL), existing studies have demonstrated that subject-related enjoyment has a positive correlation with academic achievement. However, quite a few studieshave examined why academic enjoyment can predict positive academic achievement. This study aimed to investigate whether behavioral engagement, self-concept, and organizational strategy mediated relations between academic enjoyment and achievement in EFL setting. 528 Chinese secondary school students (Male: N = 280; Female: N = 248) participated in the survey and completed the questionnaires on EFL-related enjoyment, behavioral engagement, self-concept, organizational strategy, and academic performance. Structural equation model (SEM) analyses showed that students’ academic enjoyment positively predicted their English achievement. Academic engagement, self-concept, and organizational strategy had parallel multiple mediating effects between academic enjoyment and English achievement. Multi-group SEM analysis demonstrated that the model had invariance across genders, indicating that the model is applicable to both male and female students. Limitations and implications are discussed.

Unpacking the relationships between emotions and achievement of EFL learners in China: Engagement as a mediator

“…Based on the findings, it can be inferred that when learners engage in foreign language classroom activities and put effort into language learning, they are more likely to score high on tests. This outcome supports those results that L2 engagement, whether it was treated as a multidimensional concept or a single dimension, had a positive and predictive impact on L2 achievement ( Masgoret and Gardner, 2003 ; Eren and Rakıcıoğlu-Söylemez, 2020 ; Khajavy, 2021 ; Feng and Hong, 2022 ; Kang and Wu, 2022 ). From a broader perspective, the role of engagement as a critical contributor to learning and academic success was further confirmed, corroborating the findings of the existing literature ( Klem and Connell, 2004 ; Reeve and Lee, 2014 ; Wang and Fredricks, 2014 ).…”

“…The findings partly correspond to Feng and Hong (2022) , which reported the mediating role of behavioral engagement between FLE, FLCA, and self-reported achievement, with a larger mediating effect size of engagement between FLE and SRA. Moreover, these results were partly consistent with Kang and Wu (2022) which revealed the mediating role of behavioral engagement between learners’ academic enjoyment and their English achievement. Likewise, the finding that L2 engagement as a mediator between L2 enjoyment and L2 reading comprehension was reported in Khajavy (2021) study.…”

“…The results demonstrated that behavioral engagement mediated the relationship between FLE and self-reported achievement, as well as between FLCA and self-reported achievement. The mediating role of behavioral engagement was also confirmed in Kang and Wu (2022) study, which investigated whether behavioral engagement mediated the academic enjoyment and English achievement of Chinese EFL learners. Therefore, the mediating role of engagement between various emotions and achievement needs further exploration.…”

“…L2 engagement is defined as the extent to which a language learner is involved in doing a language learning task ( Hiver et al, 2021b ). Studies have connected engagement to foreign language classroom environment ( Sulis and Philp, 2021 ; Mohammad Hosseini et al, 2022 ), learning and communication mode ( Carver et al, 2021 ), learner-related variables ( Mercer and Dörnyei, 2020 ; Dewale and Li, 2021 ; Guo, 2021 ; Derakhshan et al, 2022 ; Zhao and Yang, 2022 ), and foreign language achievement ( Masgoret and Gardner, 2003 ; Eren and Rakıcıoğlu-Söylemez, 2020 ; Kang and Wu, 2022 ). Nevertheless, the sources and effects of this important construct in foreign language learning still have not been explicated in depth.…”

Foreign Language Learning Boredom, Academic Engagement, and Achievement: A Mediation Model

“…Meanwhile, cognitive engagement deals with students' investment in thoughtfulness and willingness to comprehend complex concepts and master difficult skills. These three dimensions of academic engagement were closely related to academic outcomes (Kang & Wu, 2022;Lei et al, 2018), interactive behaviours (Dao & Sato, 2021), and self-regulated learning (Li & Lajoie, 2021). Therefore, it can be inferred that academic engagement would influence students' learning strategies, interpersonal relationships, and academic outcomes.…”