Investigating the effect of EFL learners’ grit and growth mindset on their academic reading achievement
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Date
2020
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أم البواقي
Abstract
Positive psychology (PP) has been a question of great interest in a wide range of fields. Recently, it is receiving an increasing amount of attention in the literature on Second language learning (SLL). However, research on PP is still in its infancy within the field of second language acquisition (SLA). PP can be defined as "A science of positive subjective experience, positive individual traits, and positive institutions promises to improve quality of life and prevent the pathologies that arise when life is barren and meaningless" (Seligman &Csikszentmihalyi, 2000, p. 5). The present study has approached the positive individual traits: grit and growth mindset. A growing body of evidence has suggested that both grit and growth mindset are vital for academic achievement and educational attainment. Nevertheless, the contribution of both non-cognitive skills has received little attention within academic reading achievement. Therefore, this study has attempted to determine whether there exist any association between EFL learners' grit, growth mindset, and their academic reading achievement. To explore this research, a correlational research has been conducted at the Department of English at Larbi Ben M'Hidi University of Oum El Bouaghi. Two online Scales have been submitted to Master one EFL students: an 8-Item Short Grit Scale developed by Duckworth and Quinn (2009) and another 8-Item version of Mindset Scale published by Dweck (2000). Further, Master one official reading exam scores have been used to measure their academic reading achievement. At the end, the data obtained have been analyzed quantitatively using SPSS. Findings from the study have revealed that the overwhelming majority of Algerian EFL learners who have participated are gritty and have GM. Further, the findings have suggested that there is no significant correlation between EFL learners' grit and growth mindset, and their academic reading achievement. It is evidently clear from the findings that both traits: grit and growth mindset have no role in academic reading achievement. In general, therefore, it seems that the types of praise students receive from teachers and the way of perceiving themselves do not affect their academic reading achievement.
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Academic achievemen, Growth mindset