College of Languages and Translation
The paper titled "The predictive role of L2 learners' resilience in language classroom engagement" by Arwa Alahmari and Fakieh Alrabai explores the relationship between resilience among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners and their classroom engagement, particularly focusing on behavioral, emotional, cognitive, and agentic dimensions. This quantitative study, involving 123 Saudi female university students majoring in English, investigates how resilience predicts overall classroom engagement.
The researchers utilized a comprehensive questionnaire incorporating items adapted from established resilience and engagement scales. The data analysis involved descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, and multiple regression analyses using Jamovi software. The reliability of the instruments was established through Cronbach's alpha, demonstrating good internal consistency across scales.
Findings indicated that participants demonstrated moderate levels of both resilience and engagement, with notably higher resilience scores linked to motivation and persistence in academic improvement. Behavioral and cognitive engagements were higher compared to emotional and agentic engagements. Notably, a strong, positive correlation was found between resilience and overall engagement. Specifically, resilience showed significant predictive power, accounting for around 30% of the variance in overall engagement.
The discussion emphasized that higher resilience contributes significantly to more active engagement in language learning contexts, aligning with the principles of positive psychology. This correlation underscores the importance of developing resilience in learners to improve their classroom engagement, motivation, and ultimately their language learning outcomes. However, emotional and agentic engagements showed comparatively lower levels, possibly due to the timing of the data collection at the beginning of the academic term when learners had not yet fully adapted to classroom environments.
This study contributes uniquely by directly exploring resilience as an independent predictor of engagement in language learning, filling a gap in existing literature which typically addresses these constructs indirectly or alongside other variables. The researchers suggest practical classroom strategies, such as fostering teacher support and peer connectedness, to enhance student resilience and thus their engagement. Limitations include the cross-sectional and self-reported nature of the data, recommending future longitudinal and experimental studies for better generalizability and causality.