Record Detail

The purpose of the study is to explore thestructural relationships among second language (L2) pro-ficiency and the constructs of L2 learners’ resilience,motivation, and demotivation. A total of 869 undergraduatestudents in South Korea participated in the study. The datawere analyzed by means of factor analysis, correlations,and structural equation modeling (SEM). The factor anal-ysis identified seven resilience factors (life satisfaction,sociability, communicative efficacy, self-composure,strategic competence, metacognitive adaptation, and real-istic optimism), six motivation factors (ought-to L2 self,ideal L2 self, instrumental motivation, parental support,academic motivation, awareness of importance), and sixdemotivation factors (negative perception of English-speaking countries, compulsory EFL learning, perceivedinappropriateness of textbooks or tasks, low self-esteem,unsupportive learning environment, unsupportive teach-ers). The SEM corroborated that resilience, L2 learningmotivation, and L2 learning demotivation contribute to L2proficiency. L2 learning demotivation had more explana-tory power for L2 proficiency than did L2 learning moti-vation. Resilience had both a direct and an indirect effecton L2 proficiency via L2 learning demotivation. Thefindings suggest that teachers should equip learners withstrategies to manage adversity in L2 learning