Associations between EFL students’ L2 grit, boredom coping strategies, and emotion regulation strategies: a structural equation modeling approach

ABSTRACT

This study intended to explore the relations between 259 Turkish EFL students’ L2 grit (i.e. the persistence of effort and consistency of interest) and boredom coping strategies (i.e. cognitive approach, behavioural approach, cognitive avoidance, and behavioural avoidance) as well as the moderating role of their emotion regulation strategies, viz., reappraisal and suppression. The results of the structural equation modelling (SEM) indicated strong correlations between L2 grit and boredom coping strategies as well as emotional regulation and boredom coping strategies. Moreover, the correlation between L2 grit and emotional regulation was found moderately strong. Although L2 grit was entirely a strong predictor of boredom coping strategies, it was indicated to be a stronger predictor of cognitive approach to cope with boredom. Additionally, the results showed that L2 grit was a significant predictor of boredom coping strategies, whereas emotion regulation did not significantly moderate this prediction. Pedagogical implications are discussed regarding the significance of grit in L2 contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• L2 grit
• boredom coping strategies
• emotion regulation strategies

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful for the insightful comments suggested by the editor and the anonymous reviewers.

Authors’ contribution

All authors have materially participated in the research and article preparation. Additionally, all authors have approved the final article.

Consent to participate

Informed consent to participate was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Consent for publication

Informed consent for publication was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Data availability statement

The datasets generated and analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).