Writing Persistence: Investigating the Interplay between Saudi EFL Profiles of Grit, Buoyancy and Self-efficacy and their Impact on Writing Achievement and Working Memory Functions

Abstract

Good grades and innate talent alone cannot adequately capture how individuals maintain effort and remain motivated, especially when confronted with difficulties. Within the context of language learning specifically, optimal functioning is often embedded in learner positive adaptation and abilities to overcome language learning difficulties (Chu, Yan, Wang, & Liu, 2024; Shin & Kim, 2017). In this regard, concepts centred around optimal functioning are widely considered significant predictors of general language learning outcomes (Yun, Hiver, & Al-Hoorie, 2018; Alhadabi & Karpinski, 2020; Teimouri, Plonsky and Tabandeh, 2020). Yet, research investigating these concepts at a skill level, especially L2 writing is mostly scarce. The available literature so far provided mixed findings concerning the definitions and structures of notions such as academic persistence (DiNapoli, 2023), grit (Clark & Malecki, 2019; Datu, Yuen, & Chen, 2018b; Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007), and buoyancy (Martin, 2013; Sudina & Plonsky, 2021), typically relying on quantitative measures only. Nonetheless, recent evidence affirmed the cognitive-affective dimension to the study of academic optimal functioning (Chu et al., 2024; Luthans, Luthans, & Chaffin, 2019).

This mixed-methods study aimed to challenge the ambiguities surrounding concepts embedded within learner optimal functioning to overcome language learning difficulties. Drawing on the Psychological Capital (PsyCap) that supports the cognitive-affective dimension involved in optimal functioning, this thesis was guided by four research questions to identify learner archetypes of grit, buoyancy and self-efficacy in terms of writing performance and performance in working memory (WM) tasks of 60 first-year female English major undergraduates in Saudi Arabia. Specifically, it examined the impact of the identified learner profiles of grit, buoyancy and self-efficacy on their writing scores and performance in WM tasks, and how these profiles shaped learners’ understandings and experiences of the examined constructs. To this end, the thesis utilised self-report questionnaires, Cloze tests, working memory tasks, and interviews. Accordingly, the data were analysed using cluster analysis to detect naturally existing groups within the data based on similarities among groups relevant to the measured variables together with analysing salient themes. The cluster analysis revealed four learn profiles based on differences in writing scores, consisting of high or low across grit, buoyancy and self-efficacy, high in grit but low in other variables, and high in grit but relatively moderate across the other variables. Nonetheless, in terms of performance in WM, all the identified profiles, did not manifest statistically significant mean differences in relation to their performance in WM tasks. The findings of the interviews revealed that the cluster profiles exhibited different understandings of academic persistence in writing as members belonging to the High clusters expressed more diverse understandings compared to the restricted understandings of participants in the low cluster. The findings further suggest that the identified clusters perceived grit in relation to determination while buoyancy was seen relative to proactive coping. Findings further imply that self-efficacy is essential for understanding the relationship between L2 academic persistence and writing achievement. Specifically, members within the High clusters demonstrated high writing scores and displayed positive fluctuations in their efficacy beliefs.

Taken together, the results supported the need to recognise learner inherent characteristics in the study of academic persistence, as well as understand learners’ perceptions of persistence in writing. The cluster-centred approach combined with qualitative evidence offered insights into the cognitive-affective dimension of academic persistence constructs, challenging the prevailing focus on mainly testing correlations. By recognising the central role of the learner learning strategies within the framework of psychological capital, future L2 research can interrogate whether learner psychological resources and learning strategies can contribute to the multi-factorial system of academic persistence; L2 teachers and educators can potentially better promote learner optimal functioning by capitalising on learner resources and learning strategies.