Ideal L2 self and willingness to communicate: A moderated mediation model of shyness and grit

The aim of this study is to deepen our understanding of psychological processes involved in learning an additional language, particularly the associations between ideal L2 self and L2 willingness to communicate (L2 WTC). For this purpose, a moderated mediation model is proposed that incorporates grit and psychological shyness. Drawing on the L2 Motivational Self System framework, this study proposes that ideal L2 self would be positively related to L2 WTC and that grit would mediate the association between the two constructs. We also posit that this mediated association would be moderated by psychological shyness. The data for this multi-university study were collected across three cities in China from 842 (N = 842) undergraduate students majoring in Business English and English for Educational Purposes. Robust analytical techniques were employed to analyze the data. The findings suggested that ideal L2 self was positively related to L2 WTC and that grit mediated the relationship between these two constructs. Additionally, the link between ideal L2 self and grit was found to be moderated by psychological shyness. Furthermore, the strength of this mediated effect increased alongside the level of shyness. These findings hold some notable pedagogical implications.