The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator

IntroductionAn increasing body of research has explored the predictive effect of personality traits and affective factors on EFL learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC). However, more is needed to know about how the sub-facets of individual personality traits influence WTC in the classroom contex...

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Main Authors: Jin Zhao, Kaining Guan, Yu Feng, Ziqing Liu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Frontiers Media S.A. 2024-11-01
Series:Frontiers in Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1473649/full
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author Jin Zhao
Kaining Guan
Yu Feng
Ziqing Liu
author_facet Jin Zhao
Kaining Guan
Yu Feng
Ziqing Liu
author_sort Jin Zhao
collection DOAJ
description IntroductionAn increasing body of research has explored the predictive effect of personality traits and affective factors on EFL learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC). However, more is needed to know about how the sub-facets of individual personality traits influence WTC in the classroom context. Therefore, drawing on positive psychology, this study aims to bridge this gap by examining these roles in a mediation model of WTC incorporating FLE and conscientiousness.MethodsTo this end, 244 Chinese EFL undergraduates from two distinct universities participated in an online survey, completing a composite questionnaire of the three constructs. The bootstrapping technique was employed to test the proposed relationships.ResultsThe findings indicated a positive correlation between both FLE and conscientiousness with WTC. Additionally, conscientiousness significantly mediated the relationship between FLE and WTC, supporting a partial mediation effect. Also, FLE had a direct influence on conscientiousness. These results may have some notable implications for EFL educators.DiscussionThe adoption of a holistic approach that emphasizes affective factors alongside acknowledging individual differences among learners could enhance students’ willingness to communicate in English.
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spelling doaj-art-c97ca4e5af8d4aa48c8dd0397c6cbb8c2025-08-20T02:14:53ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Education2504-284X2024-11-01910.3389/feduc.2024.14736491473649The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediatorJin Zhao0Kaining Guan1Yu Feng2Ziqing Liu3School of Education, City University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, ChinaSchool of Education, City University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, ChinaFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, City University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, ChinaFaculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, City University of Macau, Macau, Macao SAR, ChinaIntroductionAn increasing body of research has explored the predictive effect of personality traits and affective factors on EFL learners’ willingness to communicate (WTC). However, more is needed to know about how the sub-facets of individual personality traits influence WTC in the classroom context. Therefore, drawing on positive psychology, this study aims to bridge this gap by examining these roles in a mediation model of WTC incorporating FLE and conscientiousness.MethodsTo this end, 244 Chinese EFL undergraduates from two distinct universities participated in an online survey, completing a composite questionnaire of the three constructs. The bootstrapping technique was employed to test the proposed relationships.ResultsThe findings indicated a positive correlation between both FLE and conscientiousness with WTC. Additionally, conscientiousness significantly mediated the relationship between FLE and WTC, supporting a partial mediation effect. Also, FLE had a direct influence on conscientiousness. These results may have some notable implications for EFL educators.DiscussionThe adoption of a holistic approach that emphasizes affective factors alongside acknowledging individual differences among learners could enhance students’ willingness to communicate in English.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1473649/fullwillingness to communicateforeign language enjoymentconscientiousnesspersonality traitsEnglish as a foreign language
spellingShingle Jin Zhao
Kaining Guan
Yu Feng
Ziqing Liu
The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator
Frontiers in Education
willingness to communicate
foreign language enjoyment
conscientiousness
personality traits
English as a foreign language
title The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator
title_full The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator
title_fullStr The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator
title_full_unstemmed The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator
title_short The effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL students: conscientiousness as a mediator
title_sort effect of foreign language enjoyment on willingness to communicate among chinese efl students conscientiousness as a mediator
topic willingness to communicate
foreign language enjoyment
conscientiousness
personality traits
English as a foreign language
url https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/feduc.2024.1473649/full
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