A serial mediation model testing associations between teacher–student relationship, resilience, autonomous learning and academic performance in the Chinese EFL context

The current study investigated the relationship between students’ perceived teacher–student relationship (SPTSR) and their performance in English via multiple mediation effects of resilience and autonomous learning in the Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) context. The participants were 15,184 eighth-graders from China. Results of the multilevel mediation model revealed that after controlling for students’ gender, socioeconomic status (SES), and school type, the positive association between SPTSR and students’ academic outcomes in English was partially and serially mediated by the resilience and autonomous learning. The current study sheds new light on the crucial mediating roles of resilience and autonomous learning in improving EFL learners’ English proficiency. We recommend that English language teachers establish a friendly and equal classroom climate, which may enhance students’ resilience to cope with learning setbacks. Such positive beliefs help stimulate students’ autonomy in English language learning, which in turn promotes performance in learning English.