Where do Language Mindsets Come from? An Ecological Perspective on EFL Students' Mindsets About L2 Writing.

Autor: Shirvan ME; Department of Foreign Languages, University of Bojnord, Bojnord, Iran. elahishmajid@gmail.com., Lou NM; Department of Psychology, Centre for Youth and Society, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada., Taherian T; Department of English Language, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran.
Jazyk: angličtina
Zdroj: Journal of psycholinguistic research [J Psycholinguist Res] 2021 Oct; Vol. 50 (5), pp. 1065-1086. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 Jul 16.
DOI: 10.1007/s10936-021-09787-y
Abstrakt: Although recent research suggests that language mindsets (i.e., fundamentalbeliefs aboutthe fixedness and malleability of language learning ability) are important for L2 learners' motivation and learning behaviors, much research has focused on quantitative approaches and static individual differences, with little emphasis on its student-centered and ecologically-relevant phenomena. The aim of this study was to take an ecological perspective to understand the development of mindsets about L2 writingand their relevance tomotivation. Based on an analysis of in-depth interviewswith six (two males, four females) adult EFL learners in Iran, we identified that several eco-systemic factors underlie the emergence, complexity, and dynamics of the learners' mindsets regarding the skill of L2 writing. Students emphasize that teachers (microsystem) play a central role in constructingtheir mindsets about L2 writing. In addition, their previous learning experiences, including teachers, parents, and high-stake exams (mesosystem), the institutional policies that emphasize English oral skills and neglect writing skills (exosystem), and the mainstream culture in favor of a natural talent for writing skills (macrosystem) also contributed to the emergence of learners' mindsets. Moreover, the results highlighted the domain-specific and dynamic nature of language mindsets, such that learners considered their mindsets about L2 writing skills differently from other skills (e.g., speaking) and that their mindsets changed in different stages of the learning processes. We show that the ecological approach can unpack the complex-dynamic and multifaceted nature of mindsets, providing theoretical and pedagogical implications for fostering growth mindsets and improving learners' L2 writing motivation.
(© 2021. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)
Databáze: MEDLINE
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