Self-guides, enjoyment, gender, and achievement: a survey of Chinese EFL high school students

Abstract

This study examines the potential roles of self-guides (ideal L2 self/outght-to L2 self), enjoyment, and gender in language achievement. A total of 727 Chinese high school students participated in this study and data were collected through a questionnaire survey. Path analysis showed that ideal self was positively related to both enjoyment and language performance with enjoyment mediating the relation in between. In contrast, ought-to L2 self was found to be unrelated to language enjoyment and negatively related to language performance. Independent t-test revealed that female students had higher levels of ideal L2 self and language enjoyment than male students. The comparison of the model across gender suggested that gender moderated the direct and indirect path from ideal self to language performance and the path from enjoyment to language performance. The pedagogical implications were discussed.