Investigating The Mediating Effects Of L2 Motivational Self System On The Relationship Between Foreign Language Enjoyment And Foreign Language Achievement

As the advent and flowering of positive psychology have been widely recognized,there is a clearly affective turn in the field of foreign language teaching.From the perspective of positive psychology,the study takes 508 non-English majors as the research participants and adopts a mixed-methods approach to investigate the mechanisms among foreign language enjoyment(FLE),L2 motivational system(L2MSS),and achievement based on broaden-build theory and control-value theory,aiming to shed light on college English teaching.The results are as follows.(1)The overall profile of FLE of non-English majors is relatively high,among which the level of FLE-Teacher is the highest,followed by the level of FLE-Atmosphere,and the level of FLE-Private is the lowest.Non-English majors also have higher levels of L2 MSS,among which the level of ideal L2 self is the highest,followed by the level of L2 learning experience,and the level of ought-to L2 self is the lowest.(2)There exists a significant positive correlation among FLE,self-perceived English achievement,and actual English achievement.Additionally,there is a significant correlation among L2 MSS,self-perceived English achievement,and actual English achievement,among which the strongest correlation is found for L2 learning experience,the second strongest for ideal L2 self,and the weakest for ought-to L2 self which is negatively correlated with English achievement.(3)There is a partial mediating effect of L2 MSS between FLE and English achievement.The strongest mediating effect is found for L2 learning experience,followed by ought-to L2 self,and the least mediating effect is found for ideal L2 self.Theoretically,the study investigates the mechanisms among FLE and L2 MSS on English achievement,thus further expanding control-value theory.Pedagogically,the study offers a new perspective for emotional intervention and the improvement of L2 motivation in English class at tertiary level.