The effects of teacher and peer support on college students’ L2 achievement and personal best: Chain mediating role of academic buoyancy and enjoyment

Grounded in the Second Language Emotions and Positive Psychology Model (L2EPP), this study examines the predictive effects of teacher and peer support on university students’ L2 achievement and personal best, and tests the chain mediating roles of academic buoyancy and enjoyment. A total of 421 non-English major college students participated in the study by completing standardized self-report scales. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), using Amos 26, was used to test the proposed mediating relationships. The findings show that: 1) Teacher support and peer support do not directly predict personal best and L2 achievement. 2) Teacher support and peer support positively predict personal best indirectly through academic buoyancy. 3) Teacher support positively predict personal best and L2 achievement indirectly through enjoyment. 4) Teacher and peer support can exert a chain mediation effect on L2 achievement and personal best via academic buoyancy and enjoyment. These results suggest that fostering teacher and peer support may enhance students’ academic buoyancy and enjoyment, which in turn may lead to higher L2 achievement and personal best. Therefore, targeted interventions aimed at strengthening supportive classroom interactions and promoting positive emotional experiences are recommended to optimize language learning effectiveness.