New Wine in New Bottles? Domain-Specific Language Learning Grit in Comparison to Domain-General Grit

• In Event: The Contextual Specification of Grit: A Critical Reflection on Domain-General Grit and Proposals for Domain-Specific Grit

Abstract

Domain-general Grit, a trait variable encompassing perseverance and passion for long-term goals, has been praised in popular media with some even touting its predictive ability to be superior to other known indicators (Duckworth, 2013), such as Conscientiousness and Cognitive Ability. Strong statements regarding Grit has led to some controversy, with several studies questioning to what extent Grit can be regarded as a predictor above and beyond Cognitive Ability (Ponnock et al., 2020) and whether Grit can truly be distinguished from the personality trait of Conscientiousness (Ponnock et al., 2020) or whether it is not an ‘old wine in a new bottle’.

In contrast, the field of second language (L2) learning research may have elegantly side-stepped the criticisms of Grit, by developing a domain-specific version of Grit, namely L2 Grit. L2 Grit can be defined as a perseverance and long-term interest to learn the target language (Teimouri et al., 2022). Thus far, L2 Grit has been increasingly popular as a predictor in applied linguistics studies and has proven to be a moderate predictor of language learning outcomes such as academic achievement in the foreign language class (Teimouri et al., 2022) and perceived proficiency in the target language (Li & Yang, 2023).

In comparing L2 Grit and domain-general Grit, recent studies have argued for the use of L2 Grit as a predictor variable, as opposed to domain-general Grit, if language learning outcomes are concerned, as it is the stronger predictor (Li & Yang, 2023). However, the criticisms often lobbied at domain-general Grit, in that it may be considerably less useful as a predictor in comparison to Cognitive Ability and indistinctive from Conscientiousness, have not yet been investigated with regards to L2 Grit.

As such, this study investigated whether the most common criticisms of domain-general Grit can be applied to L2 Grit with data from 182 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) adult students enrolled in private language schools. Through the use of multiple regression with dominance analysis, we examined to what extent L2 Grit, Grit, Conscientiousness, and Cognitive Ability predicted language learning success in terms of academic achievement and self-perceived achievement, as well as language learning motivation and engagement. We therefore examined not only what the unique contribution is of L2 Grit, but also where it ranked as a predictor of language learning outcomes.

L2 Grit was the dominant predictor of L2 academic achievement, L2 engagement, and L2 motivation. L2 Grit outperformed domain-general Grit in all models tested. Methodological concerns regarding domain-general Grit and Conscientiousness did not apply to L2 Grit. Cognitive Ability was an important predictor of L2 learning, but was mostly outperformed by L2 Grit. This study advocates for the use of L2 Grit above that of domain-general Grit in L2 learning research. As such, we conclude that L2 Grit is not susceptible to the criticisms of its predecessor and can indeed be considered as new wine in new bottles.

Authors

• Elouise Botes, University of Luxembourg

• Mostafa Azari Noughabi, Hakim Sabzevari University

• Seyed Mohammad Reza Amirian, Hakim Sabzevari University

• Samuel Greiff, University of Luxembourg