Perceived social support, academic buoyancy, and L2 willingness to communicate among Chinese EFL undergraduates: a structural equation modeling study

Willingness to communicate (WTC) stands as a critical factor influencing learners' practical use of a second language (L2). To date, few studies have systematically analyzed the psychological pathways between contextual social support and L2 WTC, with insufficient attention paid to learners' adaptive capabilities. This study explored how perceived social support from teachers, parents, and peers correlates with learners' L2 communicative willingness and examined the mediating function of academic buoyancy in this relationship.

Using a sample of 369 first-year non-English-major undergraduates in eastern China, structural equation modeling (SEM) alongside 5,000 bootstrap resamples was conducted to analyze the structural relationships among social support sources, academic buoyancy, and L2 WTC.

Results indicated that all three forms of social support were positively associated with both academic buoyancy and WTC. Among these, teacher support showed the strongest standardized association with WTC, followed by peer and parent support. Academic buoyancy was found to partially mediate the associations between each source of social support and WTC, with teacher support showing the largest indirect effect (15.32%).

These findings contribute to WTC literature by positioning academic buoyancy as an important adaptive psychological factor that links contextual support to communicative readiness. The results further highlight the differentiated functions of teacher, peer, and parent support within Chinese EFL contexts. Corresponding pedagogical implications are proposed to establish supportive, resilience-oriented language learning environments.