Introduction: Positive psychology has been a buzzword in language learning and teaching practices recently. Among different concepts, grit, a tendency to maintain stamina to tackle long-term challenges, has received significant but inadequate consideration. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the role of grit in learning English as a foreign language (EFL) by Iranian, Turkish, and Iraqi learners. Methodology: Using a non-experimental and descriptive design, the present study explored three cohorts from Iranian, Turkish, and Iraqi learning contexts to compare EFL learners’ grit to examine whether language played a role in their perseverance of effort combined with passion. A total of 684 EFL learners participated in the study from three different cultures. The data for the study were collected via Google form employing the domain-specific L2 grit scale designed by Teimouri et al. (2020). Results: The findings revealed that Persian learners’ grit in language learning was higher than the other two groups in terms of proficiency level. Moreover, regardless of the EFL learners’ first language, learners at advanced levels had the highest mean, followed by the intermediate and elementary groups. However, there was no significant interaction between the first language and proficiency. Conclusion: In conclusion, grit can act as a strong predictor of EFL learners’ achievement as their level of English proficiency increases. The findings could benefit material developers and teachers and help them consider grit as a predictor of achievement for EFL learners.
This research investigated the relationship between reading maturity, reading strategy use, and gender with Iranian EFL undergraduates’ reading comprehension. The results revealed that the most preferred strategies were cognitive in nature. Moreover, the Iranian EFL undergraduates were intellectually enriched by most of what they read and enjoy reading materials that teach them the things that they did not know before. Also, it was found that the most observable effect of gender was on interpreting the text while reading, followed by reading the text again when some parts are difficult to understand. In both of these cognitive strategies, females outperformed the male students in using these two strategies. Furthermore, no correlation was observed between the most applicable reading strategy (b6: I read the text again when some parts are difficult to understand) and reading comprehension. What’s more, there was no correlation between reading maturity and reading comprehension. However, it was proved that there was a significant correlation between gender and reading comprehension. Reading maturity and the most applicable reading comprehension strategy (b6) had no significant correlation with reading comprehension as shown by the multiple regression results while gender revealed such a correlation. There was no significant correlation between the most applicable reading strategy (b6) and reading maturity. Furthermore, there was no relationship between gender and the mentioned reading maturity subgroups (c, d, e, and g) but gender correlated between subgroups f and h. At last, it was found that there was no relationship between gender and the most applicable reading strategy.
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