Teacher support as antecedent of students' academic achievement in EFL learning: Mediating role of academic buoyancy

Teachers’ academic support has been empirically shown to positively influence academic performance through both case studies and quantitative research. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship remain inadequately explored. This gap is particularly evident in the domain of teaching English as a foreign language (EFL), where the integration of positive psychology warrants investigation into how teachers’ academic support fosters students’ academic buoyancy, subsequently enhancing academic performance. To address this issue, the present study engaged 610 secondary school English learners (292 females, representing 47.5%) in a questionnaire survey. A structural equation modeling analysis was conducted, controlling for variables such as age, gender, and family resources. The findings reveal two key insights: first, both teachers’ academic support and academic buoyancy exert significant positive effects on academic performance; second, academic buoyancy serves as a partial mediator between classroom academic support and academic performance. These results underscore the importance of understanding the nuanced roles that teacher support and psychological factors play in educational outcomes. Implications, limitations and direction for further research are discussed.