Search

Grit--the ability to maintain effort and interest for long-term goals--is argued to be an important individual factor for achievement, especially in the face of obstacles. However, little research has examined the possible fluctuations of effort and interest and how challenges may trigger the changes of effort and interest. In this study, we measured a teacher's grit at the beginning of an online course during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we focused on the changes in a teacher's effort and interest throughout the course. In this case study, we unpacked the explanations of possible changes in grit via process tracing. Despite the fact that the teacher scored high on the grit scale, we found that the sudden shift from in-person to online teaching had put much pressure and demand on the teacher. The new teaching challenge influenced the teacher's self-evaluation of her teaching performance and students' engagement, which led to changes in effort and interest. Therefore, we argue that one's average grit (e.g., measured by grit scale) cannot be the representation of their ability to maintain interest and effort on different occasions due to the influence of different situational causes or pressure. Specifically, during the course, the teacher's effort and interest underwent changes on four occasions, characterized by four distinct dynamic patterns in terms of the interaction of high and low interest and effort. The four emerging patterns of L2 teacher effort and interest indicate that the construct of grit could be explained in terms of four dynamic clusters or archetypes. This study provides implications for understanding the complex dynamic nature of grit, which can be further explored through cluster analytic approaches in future studies.

Background/Aims: Recent research on mindsets has shifted from understanding its homogenous role on performance to understanding how classroom environments explain its heterogeneous effects (i.e., Mindsets x Context hypothesis). Does the macro context (e.g., societal level of student mindsets) also help explain its heterogeneous effects? And does this interaction effect also apply to understanding students' well-being? To address these questions, we examined whether and how the role of students' mindsets in performance (math, science, reading) and well-being (meaning in life, positive affect, life satisfaction) depends on the societal-mindset norms (i.e., Mindsets × Societal Norm effect). Sample/Methods: We analysed a global data set (n = 612,004 adolescents in 78 societies) using multilevel analysis. The societal norm of student mindsets was the average score derived from students within each society. Results: Growth mindsets positively and weakly predicted all performance outcomes (rs = 0.192, 0.210, 0.224), but the associations were significantly stronger in societies with growth-mindset norms. In contrast, the associations between growth mindsets and psychological well-being were very weak and inconsistent (rs = -0.066, 0.003, 0.008). Importantly, the association was negative in societies with fixed-mindset norms but positive in societies with growth-mindset norms. Conclusions: These findings challenge the idea that growth mindsets have ubiquitous positive effects in all societies. Growth mindsets might be ineffective or even detrimental in societies with fixed-mindset norms because such societal norms could suppress the potential of students with growth mindsets and undermines their well-being. Researchers should take societal norms into consideration in their efforts to understand and foster students' growth.

Language mindsets and second language motivational self system (L2MSS) are two important motivational frameworks in understanding second language (L2) engagement. We argue that whether and how mindsets predict academic engagement can be explained by L2MSS components (ideal L2 self, ought-to L2 self, and learning experience). Using a multi-stage cluster sampling method, we collected survey data from 384 English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners in Iran. Results of structural equation modelling showed that growth mindsets predicted academic engagement via ideal L2 self, but not via ought-to L2 self. Moreover, the association between mindsets and academic engagement was moderated by learning experience. Mindsets positively predicted engagement only for learners who had more favourable learning experiences. We discussed theoretical implications for integrating L2MSS and mindsets theories to better understand learners' engagement, and highlighted that promoting growth mindsets should be combined with positive learning experiences.

This study examined the effects of praise for intelligence and praise for effort on Iranian EFL learners' language mindsets, perceived communication competence, speaking anxiety, and willingness to communicate (WTC). The students in three English classes (N = 63, all junior high school students) in a private language institute filled in self-report scales on language mindsets, perceived communication competence, speaking anxiety, and WTC, and then were assigned to praise for effort, praise for intelligence, and control conditions for 14 classroom communication sessions. They answered the same scales in the last session of the experiment. The results of quantitative analysis indicated that praise for effort enhanced learners' growth mindsets, communicative competence, and WTC, and decreased their speaking anxiety. In contrast, praise for intelligence and no praise decreased students' growth mindsets. Praise for intelligence further decreased students' WTC and increased their speaking anxiety. Follow-up qualitative data gathered by interviews with 12 students further suggested that praise for effort facilitated learners' WTC by increasing their growth mindsets and lowering their speaking anxiety. Finally, we discussed practical implications for how language teachers enhance students' success in classroom communication.

It is possible that individuals do not endorse a general mindset or theory of intelligence and that their mindset is specific to particular domains. There is currently a dearth of evidence to support this possibility. It is also not known how these two types of mindset influence learning behaviors and outcomes. This study investigates the roles of generic mindsets (i.e. beliefs about general ability) and domain-specific mindsets (i.e. beliefs about domain-specific abilities) in students' learning of graphic design principles. Pre-service teachers (n = 107) played an online assessment game in which they designed three posters. For each poster, they had three chances to seek critical (i.e. constructive) feedback and one chance to revise their posters. Students' poster performance was measured by the game, whereas their learning of graphic design principles was measured by a post-test. Results show that critical feedback-seeking moderated the relation between generic and domain-specific growth mindsets. Critical feedback-seeking improved learning outcomes only when students endorsed a weak fixed generic mindset. Theoretical implications suggest that generic and domain-specific mindsets are distinct psychological constructs, and that generic mindsets seem to be more important than domain-specific mindsets in predicting learning of graphic design principles.

Language learners' mindsets--their beliefs about whether language is a fixed aptitude that is immutable or a malleable capacity that can be developed--are associated with achievement goals, language-use anxiety, reappraisals of challenges, and persistence. This study integrates these mindset-related constructs to identify mindset-system profiles among foreign language learners. A latent profile analysis of 234 university students in foreign language courses revealed three distinct profiles. The fixed (21.8%) and growth (20.5%) profiles showed distinct and contrasting patterns of goals, reappraisals, anxiety, and persistence. However, most learners (57.7%) endorsed a mixed profile. Although mindsets alone did not predict grades, students in the growth profile were consistently most engaged and achieved the highest grades, suggesting that mindsets function as a system, in concert with related factors. This person-centered approach enhances our understanding of the complexity and functions of the mindset system, as well as the motivation of learners with mixed mindsets.

We argue that growth (vs. fixed) mindsets are important for positive emotions and self-development because growth mindsets can foster adaptability, referring to the ability to adjust oneself in different circumstances. This study examines the role of mindsets in adaptability and whether adaptability, in turn, predicts learning emotions (anxiety and enjoyment), self-concept, and self-efficacy. The data were collected through self-report questionnaires from 211 (141 females and 70 males, M[subscript age] = 17.2 years, SD[subscript age] = 6.8) Iranian intermediate language learners. The path analysis results showed that fixed mindsets negatively predicted anxiety, enjoyment, self-concept, and self-efficacy through the mediation of adaptability, whereas growth mindsets positively predicted enjoyment, self-concept, and self-efficacy and negatively predicted anxiety through adaptability. The results held even after accounting for ideal L2 self and perceived competence. These findings highlight that growth mindset is an essential factor for developing positive learning emotions and self in foreign language classrooms.

Evidence generally supports a positive association between growth mindset and academic outcomes, even if the experimental evidence for growth mindset interventions is somewhat more tenuous. From an applied perspective, the concept of growth mindsets has grown in popularity with a proliferation of materials readily available to teachers and school administrators. The purpose of this multi-method study was to explore elementary students' (ages 6-12) understanding of growth mindset messaging created by their school and teachers, and its association with students' emotions. The results showed that students were positively impacted by the growth mindset messaging, both in school and when facing challenges outside of school. Their emotions were largely positive, with the exception of frustration, which participants associated equally with a growth and a fixed mindset. Results are discussed in relation to mindset theory broadly as well as in regards to school-and teacher-initiated mindset messages.

Internalizing Western culture can facilitate English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) learners' motivation to learn and confidence to use English. However, the role of heritage cultural internalization and the interactive impact of Western and heritage cultural internalizations on English learning are unclear. We surveyed 172 EFL students from Macao and found that those who internalized Western culture to a greater extent indeed held more a positive view towards English learning and were more autonomous learners, which in turn predicted their confidence in using English. However, for those who internalized Western culture to a lesser extent, internalizing Chinese culture was also linked to positive attitudes and English use confidence. These findings suggest that a strong heritage cultural orientation is also important for EFL learners' English language development, especially among those do not embrace Western culture. This research suggests that language researchers and teachers should pay attention to learners' orientations towards not only the target culture but also their heritage culture.

Although the effectiveness and experiences of computer-based examinations is a widely investigated area of research, the question of whether and how computer-based assessment limits or heightens the experience of negative test emotions remains largely unexamined. Drawing from the control-value theory of achievement emotions, we investigated undergraduate students' emotions during an authentic, course-based assessment in a computer-based testing environment, as well as predictors and outcomes associated with their emotions. We found that students (N = 74) in a computer-based testing environment reported lower levels of negative emotions than their typical negative test emotions. Females and males performed equally in the examination, yet females reported higher retrospective negative emotions. Consistently, females reported higher levels of typical test-taking anxiety in prior examinations, but they reported lower anxiety in a computer-based environment. Finally, although typical and retrospective emotions were correlated, only retrospective emotions were associated with examination performance. We discuss the importance of testing environments and time-frames in understanding how to support students' emotions in testing with particular emphasis on implications for online assessment.

Recent research conceptualizes language mindsets as a 'lens' through which learners view language challenges as either deficits of aptitude (i.e. entity beliefs) or opportunities to improve (i.e. incremental beliefs). Extending this meaning-system approach in an intercultural context, we proposed that language mindsets influence migrants' experience of intercultural interaction and cultural adaptation through language-based rejection sensitivity (RS) (i.e. the tendency to anxiously expect rejection from native speakers due to a lack of language proficiency). Two studies of 292 English-as-a-second-language speakers in Canada demonstrated that those who held or were primed with entity beliefs (vs. incremental beliefs) reported stronger language-based RS, which in turn predicted more intergroup anxiety towards members of the target language community, less perceived connectedness with the host country, and worse cross-cultural adaptation. These effects persisted after controlling for perceived language competence and length of residence, thereby highlighting the unique importance of language mindsets in predicting intercultural communication and cross-cultural adaptation. Migrants' settlement programmes that promote incremental beliefs may thereby lessen concern about social rejection and reduce their anxiety when using a second language.