Mental toughness and learner autonomy among ELT undergraduates: Dimensions and associations

Learner autonomy and mental toughness have both received substantial research attention, but in separate domains. Taking charge of one's own learning and maintaining personal agency to convert potential into performance involve overlapping regulatory processes, yet no study has examined their relationship in language learning contexts. This study addresses this gap through a two-phase quantitative design with Turkish ELT undergraduates. In Phase 1 (n=216), both instruments were adapted and validated through exploratory factor analysis. In Phase 2 (n=230), confirmatory factor analysis verified construct validity before correlational and regression analyses were conducted. Results revealed a moderate positive correlation between mental toughness and learner autonomy (r=.366, p<.001). The Mental Toughness Scales yielded three dimensions: Comprehensive Control, Motivation Control, and Dysfunctional Cognitions. Of these, Motivation Control was the sole consistent predictor of learner autonomy, emerging as the strongest predictor of total autonomy (β=.48) and all four subdimensions. These findings suggest that autonomous learning depends less on whether learners are initially motivated than on their ability to sustain motivation when external support is limited and to generate new incentives when initial interest fades. For language teacher education, this suggests focusing not only on whether students are motivated but on developing their capacity to maintain motivation independently—through strategies such as sub-goal setting, self-reward, and goal-oriented self-talk. This capacity may be as important as fostering motivation itself.