The purpose of this study is to examine the concept of grit, self-efficacy, and flow, the affective factors of Korean learners in Asia, and subfactors and also verify correlation among those three factors. To address the goal, a survey was carried out to 917 Korean learners having Chinese, Kyrgyzstani, or Thai nationality, and their responses were collected as data. Among them, 752 learners’ data were utilized for statistical analysis. The contents and results gained in this study are as written below:
First, according to the results of examining the subfactors of Korean learners’ grit, self-efficacy, and learning flow based on factor analysis, as grit’s subfactors, two factors, ‘consistency of interest’ and ‘perseverance of effort’, were extracted, and as self-efficacy’s subfactors, three factors, ‘self-confidence’, ‘self-regulatory efficacy’, and ‘task difficulty preference’, were drawn. Also, flow was analyzed to be a single factor.
Second, according to the results of examining the mean difference of Korean learners’ grit, self-efficacy, and learning flow in terms of demographic characteristics, various aspects were found. First of all, as far as their gender was concerned, mean difference found in most of the subfactors was not significant. Regarding their major, non-Korean majors indicated a significantly higher mean than Korean majors in all the subfactors. Also, when their nationality was concerned, Kyrgyzstani learners showed a higher mean mostly. Regarding their grade, freshmen’s mean was found to be the highest in all the subfactors.
Third, according to the results of examining path analysis and mediation analysis, while grit’s subfactors influence learning flow in Korean learners, self-efficacy’s mediating effects were observed. At this time, consistency of interest influences learning flow with the mediation of self-confidence, and perseverance of effort has influence on learning flow with the mediation of self-regulatory efficacy and task difficulty preference. The mediating effects of self-confidence were found to be very subtle. Therefore, to improve learning flow in Korean learners, it will be needed to focus more on enhancing perseverance of effort, self-regulatory efficacy, and task difficulty increase.
Fourth, to elevate learners’ grit and self-efficacy in the field of Korean education, teachers may employ various strategies. Above all, teachers can encourage learners to be interested in their goals and improve their grit by raising their awareness of goals and optimistic thinking. Also, it is possible to elevate self-efficacy by providing learners with successful and vicarious experiences, encouragement, and support. To implement the above strategies effectively, it is more important to form trust and bond between the teacher and learners than anything else.
Through the discussion above, this researcher has investigated the theoretical background of grit, self-efficacy, and flow which have been dealt with relatively less often in the area of Korean education so far and found correlation among the factors and then learned that the factors consisting of Korean learners’ inner world are not just motivation or anxiety. Moreover, this study is significant in that it has examined how grit, the task-related general concept, influences the special area of Korean learning.