Promoting Students’ Emotional, Behavioral, and Cognitive Engagement in EFL Classrooms: Do Grit and Well-Being Matter?

Building upon positive psychology (PP), the study probed the interplay between two positive psychological resources, namely grit and well-being, and student engagement. To do so, using a convenience sampling strategy, a total of 259 English students were chosen from three state universities. To glean the needed data, three self-report measures (L2 Grit Scale, Student Well-Being Questionnaire, L2 Engagement Scale) were distributed virtually among the participants. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was conducted to assess the correlation between the constructs, followed by regression analysis to evaluate the predictive role of grit and well-being on students’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement. The outcomes indicated significant positive correlations between grit, well-being, and all three facets of engagement. The outcomes also revealed that grit and well-being jointly predicted substantial portions of variance in English as a foreign language (EFL) students’ cognitive, emotional, and behavioral engagement. The study offers practical insights for language teachers and teacher educators, recommending the incorporation of efficient strategies to develop positive psychological resources among language learners.