Exploring the motivational mechanisms of growth beliefs on perseverance among EFL students: The role of ideal and ought-to L2 selves

Abstract

Perseverance of effort is essential for success in learning a second language (L2). While past research has examined how motivational beliefs (e.g., growth mindset) influence L2 learners’ perseverance, their generalizability and underlying motivational mechanisms remain unclear. This study investigated the relationship between growth language mindsets and perseverance of efforts in L2 learning, as well as whether this relationship can be explained by the ideal L2 self and ought-to L2 self. A cohort of 740 EFL students from four universities in China completed a questionnaire. The results revealed that EFL learners with higher levels of growth language mindsets showed greater levels of perseverance in language learning. Furthermore, mediation analysis indicated that growth language mindsets indirectly predicted perseverance through both the ideal L2 self and the ought-to L2 self. These results suggested that the motivational mechanisms associated with growth language mindsets are complex, involving both ideal and ought-to images of the L2 self, which in turn could contribute to sustaining perseverance in L2 learning. Theoretical and practical implications for researchers and language teachers are discussed in light of these findings.