On Domain-Specific Conceptualization and Measurement of Grit in L2 Learning

Abstract

As a personality trait, second language (L2) grit—a combination of perseverance and passion for L2 learning—has recently been proposed as a meaningful predictor of learners’ motivational behavior and L2 achievement. The results of a growing body of empirical studies carried out in various L2 contexts have substantiated the power of L2 grit in predicting L2 success. In this paper, we contend that grit and its potential effects on L2 outcomes should be conceptualized and measured in a domain-specific fashion. We argue that a domain-specific measure of grit enhances its predictive and construct validity and better captures its differential effects in various domains and across languages. We then briefly review the findings of existing grit research in L2 contexts with respect to their domain-general versus domain-specific conceptualization of grit. Finally, we conclude the paper by discussing several issues raised against domain-general grit and discuss their potential relevance to domain-specific grit research in the context of L2 learning.

Validation of L2 grit among Chinese EFL high school students and its enduring effect on achievements: A bifactor model approach

“…In addition, they found that the perseverance of effort exhibited the strongest relation with academic achievement followed by overall grit and consistency of interest. Although it seems that the role of domain-general grit in general academic achievement is well-established, we cannot simply assume that these findings can be applied to a domain-specific language learning field ( Teimouri et al, 2021 ), which warrants research into how grit affect language learning.…”

“…Language learning is a lengthy process that needs persistence and perseverance on the part of language learners ( MacIntyre and Khajavy, 2021 ). Thus, it is reasonable to assume that grit – the passion and perseverance for long-term goals–can be an important contributor to motivational behavior and language achievement ( Teimouri et al, 2021 ). However, much recent research that examined grit using a domain-general scale has yielded inconsistent findings ( Yamashita, 2018 ; Robins, 2019, Unpublished doctoral dissertation 1 ; Khajavy, 2021 ; Liu and Wang, 2021 ; Thorsen et al, 2021 ; Khajavy and Aghaee, 2022 ).…”

“…Given this, it is not surprising that there is an exponential growth in grit research in language learning domain. As noted by Teimouri et al (2021) , it may be the individual difference factor that received the most widely research attention in language learning field in recent years. Adopting the general grit scale, recent empirical research revealed that grit can be a crucial predictor of language learning outcomes such as motivation, emotions, willingness to communicate, and language achievement (e.g., Khajavy et al, 2021 ; Lan et al, 2021 ; Li and Dewaele, 2021 ; Liu and Wang, 2021 ).…”

“…Adopting the general grit scale, recent empirical research revealed that grit can be a crucial predictor of language learning outcomes such as motivation, emotions, willingness to communicate, and language achievement (e.g., Khajavy et al, 2021 ; Lan et al, 2021 ; Li and Dewaele, 2021 ; Liu and Wang, 2021 ). However, using the domain-general scale in a domain-specific field can bias the construct validity and predictive validity ( Teimouri et al, 2021 ). One, for example, can be a gritty person regarding overall learning except for foreign language learning simply due to its lengthy process of memorizing a large amount of vocabulary and grammar.…”

“…One, for example, can be a gritty person regarding overall learning except for foreign language learning simply due to its lengthy process of memorizing a large amount of vocabulary and grammar. That is, similar to anxiety, grit has the feature of domain-specificity ( Schmidt et al, 2017 ; Cormier et al, 2019 ; Teimouri et al, 2021 ).…”