Increasing Chinese EFL Learners’ Grit: The Role of Teacher Respect and Support

Abstract

Owing to the pivotal role of grit in scholastic success, factors that help learners become gritty are worth to be studied. Accordingly, this research sought to inspect the impact of teacher respect and teacher support on Chinese EFL learners’ grit. In doing so, three reliable measures of the variables were sent to 613 Chinese EFL learners. Using Spearman correlation tests, strong connections were discovered between teacher respect, teacher support, and Chinese EFL learners’ grit. Multiple regression analysis was then performed to inspect the role of teacher respect and teacher support in increasing Chinese EFL learners’ grit. As a result, both teacher respect and teacher support were found to be highly influential in increased learner grit. The limitations and implications are discussed.

Social relationships and grit in English as a foreign language learning among high school students: A three-wave longitudinal study

“…However, only Time 2 teacher-student relationship was positively and significantly associated with Time 3 subsequent grit. The findings echoed previous studies ( Hejazi and Sadoughi, 2022 ; Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ). When students have positive interpersonal relationships in EFL learning, they may involve in a friendly learning climate and benefit from other’s support and care, which not only helps them relieve anxiety and pressure in learning English ( Piechurska-Kuciel, 2011 ; Hung, 2020 ) but also inspires them to stick to their learning goals ( Harter, 1996 ).…”

“…As mentioned above, the social relationships, including the teacher-student and peer relationships and learners’ grit, are closely intertwined within the EFL context. Most existing studies have focused on directional associations from social relationships (i.e., the teacher-student relationship, peer relationship, or both) to EFL learners’ grit ( Hejazi and Sadoughi, 2022 ; Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ). In contrast, limited studies were conducted to examine the effect of grit on perceived social relationships and the reciprocal associations between grit and social relationships in the EFL context.…”

“…The current study addressed this issue and used a longitudinal cross-lagged design to seek the reciprocal relationships between social relationships (teacher-student and peer relationships) and grit in the EFL learning context. Unlike the existing studies (e.g., Hejazi and Sadoughi, 2022 ; Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ) that only focused on one specific interpersonal relationship: the teacher-student relationship or peer relationships within the learning environment, we highlighted them synchronously because both types of interpersonal relationships exist concurrently during language learning. In addition, given that gender plays an essential effect in EFL learning ( Sunderland, 1992 ; Ma et al, 2017 ; Bataineh et al, 2018 ; Namaziandost and Çakmak, 2020 ; Van Ha et al, 2021 ), we also investigated whether the relations between social relationships (teacher-student relationship and peer relationships) and grit within the EFL learning context differ by gender.…”

“…That is, students’ context-related personality traits can be shaped within the specific learning environment. In the EFL learning context, bonding with significant others has been noted as essential in promoting grit ( Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ). Positive interpersonal interactions with teachers in the EFL context can lead to high motivation and positive emotions with more willingness to engage in language learning ( Gan, 2021 ; Karimi and Fallah, 2021 ; Pishghadam et al, 2021 ; Sadoughi and Hejazi, 2021 , 2022 ).…”

“…Positive interpersonal interactions with teachers in the EFL context can lead to high motivation and positive emotions with more willingness to engage in language learning ( Gan, 2021 ; Karimi and Fallah, 2021 ; Pishghadam et al, 2021 ; Sadoughi and Hejazi, 2021 , 2022 ). Such relations can become protective factors in response to adversities and enable students to remain persistent in learning settings, promoting gritty features in EFL learning ( Shen and Guo, 2022 ; Yuan, 2022 ). Numerous studies have shown that the teacher-student relationship is of great value in influencing EFL learners’ grit.…”