As a personality trait, ‘grit’ has been defined as a combination of perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Past research in social psychology has found grit as an important predictor of success across different populations in various academic and non-academic areas. Since successful mastery of a second language (L2) is highly dependent on learners’ sustained effort, the notion of grit and its relationship to language achievement gains immediate relevance in second language acquisition (SLA). The present study introduces the notion of grit and examines its relationship with motivational behaviors and language achievement in a sample of English as a foreign language learners ( n = 191). Toward these ends, a language-specific grit scale was developed and validated to measure L2 learners’ grit. L2 grit was found to be positively related to students’ language learning motivation and achievement above and beyond domain-general grit. Taken together, and consistent with results of past research in social psychology, we propose that L2 grit be considered among other more established individual differences associated with L2 development.

This study has aimed to investigate language learners’ emotional experiences through the lens of L2 future self-guides. To that end, the L2 motivational self system was chosen as the theoretical framework to relate learners’ emotions to their L2 selves. However, due to inconsistent results of past research concerning the motivational role of the ought-to L2 self, a revision of the model is proposed, discussed theoretically, and tested empirically. The results revealed a trichotomous model of L2 selves—ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self/own, and ought-to L2 self/others—with distinct motivational profiles. Furthermore, different types of L2 self-discrepancies were found to result in different emotional reactions on the part of L2 learners. Overall, the study provides a clearer picture of L2 learners’ emotions and their motivation in second language acquisition.

Second language (L2) anxiety has been the object of constant empirical and theoretical attention for several decades. As a matter of both theoretical and practical interest, much of the research in this domain has examined the relationship between anxiety and L2 achievement. The present study meta-analyzes this body of research. Following a comprehensive search, a sample of 97 reports were identified, contributing a total of 105 independent samples (N = 19,933) from 23 countries. In the aggregate, the 216 effect sizes (i.e., correlations) reported in the primary studies yielded a mean of r = −.36 for the relationship between L2 anxiety and language achievement. Moderator analyses revealed effects sizes to vary across different types of language achievement measures, educational levels, target languages, and anxiety types. Overall, this study provides firm evidence for both the negative role of L2 anxiety in L2 learning and the moderating effects of a number of (non)linguistic variables. We discuss the findings in the context of theoretical and practical concerns, and we provide direction for future research.

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The study aimed to identify different second language (L2) learner motivational types drawing on the framework of the L2 motivational self system. A total of 1,278 secondary school students learning English in Iran completed a questionnaire survey. Cluster analysis yielded five different groups based on the strength of different variables within their motivational configurations. Further analyses revealed that the motivational groups have different motivational, emotional, and linguistic characteristics. In the second part of the study, the sample was divided into promotion‐focus and prevention‐focus groups based on the self‐regulatory focus theory. Partial correlation analysis showed that while the ideal L2 self and instrumentality promotion were associated with motivated learning behavior for both the promotion‐focus and prevention‐focus groups, only the ought‐to L2 self and instrumentality prevention were associated with motivated behavior for the prevention‐focus group. The study highlights the importance of considering motivational types in L2 motivation research.