Mindset profiles and their relationship with self-regulated learning strategy use and English learning achievement: The predictive role of environmental factors

Abstract

This study employed a person-centered approach to examining language mindset profiles among Hong Kong primary school students learning English as a foreign language (EFL). A total of 685 Grade 4–5 students completed measures of the growth mindset and fixed mindset toward English learning. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was adopted and four distinct mindset profiles were identified: growth profile, mixed profile, slightly-fixed profile, and fixed profile. These profiles differed in their patterns of the growth and fixed mindset beliefs. Differences across the profiles were then examined in terms of English learning achievement, self-regulated learning (SRL) strategy use, and perceptions of environmental influences on mindset development. Results showed the growth profile had the highest achievement and strategy use, while the fixed profile had the lowest. The mixed profile and the slightly-fixed profile fell between the growth and fixed profiles. The profiles also differed in the students' perceptions of cultural values, community influences, parental practices, and teachers’ practices related to mindsets. Overall, the findings provide insights into the complex and multidimensional nature of language mindsets, and how mindset profiles may relate to learning processes, outcomes, and environmental factors within an EFL context.