Keywords
mediation
moderation
multilevel
self-efficacy
How to Cite
Number of views: 2
Number of downloads: 4
Abstract
Growth mindset has been a hot topic in English as a second or foreign language (L2) research. Despite its popularity, a growth mindset is not always found to benefit L2 learning achievement. A major reason for this complexity has been ascribed to the interference of other variables. The current study focused on the interplay between self-efficacy and growth mindset in impacting L2 (English) learning achievement. Specifically, the study tested three forms of interaction: competition, mediation, and moderation. Participants included 367 second-year students from a Chinese university who were recruited through convenient sampling. The results of structural equation modeling after controlling for variances at the teacher level showed that: (1) self-efficacy played a dominant role in predicting English achievement (confirming competition); (2) self-efficacy did not mediate the relationship between growth mindset and English achievement (disconfirming mediation), and (3) growth mindset amplified the relationship between self-efficacy and English achievement (confirming moderation). Findings from the interaction analyses suggest that growth mindset serves as an amplifier strengthening the association between self-efficacy and English achievement. Therefore, instruction should not only focus on fostering self-efficacy but also on boosting a growth mindset to optimize learning efficiency.
Funding
This work was supported by a grant from the National Social Science Fund of China (No. 24BYY131)
References
Afari, E., Ward, G., & Khine, M. S. (2012). Global self-esteem and self-efficacy correlates: Relation of academic achievement and self-esteem among Emirati students. International Education Studies, 5(2), 49-57.
Anam, S., & Stracke, E. (2016). Language learning strategies of Indonesian primary school students: In relation to self-efficacy beliefs. System, 60, 1-10.
Bai, B., Guo, W., & Wang, C. (2024). Relationships between struggling EFL writers’ motivation, self-regulated learning (SRL), and writing competence in Hong Kong primary schools. Applied Linguistics Review, 15(1), 135-159.
Bai, B., & Wang, J. (2023). The role of growth mindset, self-efficacy and intrinsic value in self-regulated learning and English language learning achievements. Language Teaching Research, 27(1), 207-228.
Bandura, A. (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. Freeman.
Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122-147.
Bedford, S. (2017). Growth mindset and motivation: A study into secondary school science learning. Research Papers in Education, 32(4), 424-443.
Berg, M. (2021). Revisiting mindset theory: Insights from EFL students in Japanese higher education. The University of Liverpool.
Bernardo, A. B. (2023). Growth mindset and reading proficiency of ESL learners: Examining the role of students’ socioeconomic status using PISA 2018 Philippine data. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 38, 675-693.
Bernardo, A. B., Cai, Y., & King, R. B. (2021). Society‐level social axiom moderates the association between growth mindset and achievement across cultures. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 1166-1184.
Blackwell, L. S., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Dweck, C. S. (2007). Implicit theories of intelligence predict achievement across an adolescent transition: A longitudinal study and an intervention. Child Development, 78(1), 246-263.
Brandisauskiene, A., Buksnyte-Marmiene, L., Cesnaviciene, J., Daugirdiene, A., Kemeryte-Ivanauskiene, E., & Nedzinskaite-Maciuniene, R. (2021). Connection between teacher support and student’s achievement: Could growth mindset be the moderator? Sustainability, 13(24), 1-14.
Burgoyne, A. P., Hambrick, D. Z., & Macnamara, B. N. (2020). How firm are the foundations of mind-set theory? The claims appear stronger than the evidence. Psychological Science, 31(3), 258-267.
Burnette, J. L., Billingsley, J., Banks, G. C., Knouse, L. E., Hoyt, C. L., Pollack, J. M., & Simon, S. (2023). A systematic review and meta-analysis of growth mindset interventions: For whom, how, and why might such interventions work? Psychological Bulletin, 149(3-4), 174-205.
Burnette, J. L., O’Boyle, E. H., VanEpps, E. M., Pollack, J. M., & Finkel, E. J. (2013). Mind-sets matter: A meta-analytic review of implicit theories and self-regulation. Psychological Bulletin, 139(3), 655-701.
Byrne, B. M. (2010). Structural equation modeling with AMOS: Basic concepts, applications, and programming. Routledge.
Cai, Y. (2023). Accounting for interaction in language test validation: Applying the competition-mediation-moderation (CMM) approach to enhance the transparency of test score interpretation. Language Testing and Assessment, 2, 48-64.
Cai, Y., & Kunnan, A. J. (2020). Mapping the EFLuctuating effect of strategy use ability on English reading performance for nursing students: A multi-layered moderation analysis approach. Language Testing, 37(2), 280-304.
Cai, Y., & Lin, J. (2024). The moderation of culture dimensions on the relationships between expectancy-value factors and reading achievement. Learning and Individual Differences, 102542.
Cai, Y., & Xing, K. (2023). Examining the mediation of engagement between self-efficacy and language achievement. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1-13.
Cho, E., Toste, J. R., Lee, M., & Ju, U. (2019). Motivational predictors of struggling readers’ reading comprehension: The effects of mindset, achievement goals, and engagement. Reading and Writing, 32(5), 1219-1242.
Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences. Erlbaum.
Diseth, Å., Meland, E., & Breidablik, H. J. (2014). Self-beliefs among students: Grade level and gender differences in self-esteem, self-efficacy and implicit theories of intelligence. Learning and Individual Differences, 35, 1-8.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random House.
Dweck, C. S. (2017). The journey to children’s mindsets—and beyond. Child Development Perspectives, 11(2), 139-144.
Dweck, C. S., & Yeager, D. S. (2019). Mindsets: A view from two eras. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14(3), 481-496.
Elias, S. M., & MacDonald, S. (2007). Using past performance, proxy efficacy, and academic self‐efficacy to predict college performance. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37(11), 2518-2531.
Giladi, A., Koslowsky, M., & Davidovitch, N. (2022). Effort as a mediator of the relationship between English learning self-efficacy and reading comprehension performance in the EFL field: A longitudinal study. International Journal of Higher Education, 11(1), 114-125.
Goetze, J., & Driver, M. (2022). Is learning really just believing? A meta-analysis of self-efficacy and achievement in SLA. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 12(2), 233-259.
Guo, W., Bai, B., Zang, F., & Want, T. (2023). Influences of motivation and grit on students’ self-regulated learning and English learning achievement: A comparison between male and female students. System, 114, 103018.
Harris, J. (2022). Measuring listening and speaking self-efficacy in EFL contexts: The development of the Communicative SE Questionnaire. Language Teaching Research.
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
Hejazi, S. Y., Sadoughi, M., & Datu, J. A. D. (2024). The relative importance of growth teaching mindset, emotions, and self‐efficacy in teachers’ grit. International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 35(3).
Honicke, T., & Broadbent, J. (2016). The influence of academic self-efficacy on academic performance: A systematic review. Educational Research Review, 17, 63-84.
Horst, P. (1941). The role of predictor variables which are independent of the criterion. Social Science Research Council, 48(4), 431-436.
Hsieh, P. P. H., & Kang, H. S. (2010). Attribution and self‐efficacy and their interrelationship in the Korean EFL context. Language Learning, 60(3), 606-627.
Hu, X., Sidhu, G. K., & Lu, X. (2022). Relationship between growth mindset and English language performance among Chinese EFL University students: The mediating roles of grit and foreign language enjoyment. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 935506.
Huang, Z., Wei, X., Lu, R., & Shi, J. (2022). Whether and how can a growth mindset intervention help students in a non-western culture? Evidence from a field experiment in China. Educational Psychology, 42(7), 913-929.
Jin, Y., Jie, W., & Wang, W. (2022). A study linking CET-4 & CET-6 to The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) and the China’s Standards of English Language Ability. Foreign Languages World, 209(2), 24-32.
Jiang, Y., Tian, L., & Lou, N. M. (2024). From growth mindset to positive outcomes in L2 learning: Examining the mediating roles of autonomous motivation and engagement. System, 127, 103519.
Kenny, D. A. (2015). Moderation analysis. https://davidakenny.net/webinars/Moderation/Power/Power.html
Khajavy, G. H., MacIntyre, P. D., & Hariri, J. (2021). A closer look at grit and language mindset as predictors of foreign language achievement. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 43(2), 379-402.
Khajavy, G. H., Pourtahmasb, F., & Li, C. (2022). Examining the domain-specificity of language mindset: A case of EFL reading comprehension. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 16(3), 208-220.
Lee, H., Lee, J. H., & Scarcella, R. C. (2023). Influencing language mindsets and English writing competence through an EAP program: A longitudinal study with latent transition analysis. Language Teaching Research.
Leith, S. A., Ward, C. L., Giacomin, M., Landau, E. S., Ehrlinger, J., & Wilson, A. E. (2014). Changing theories of change: Strategic shifting in implicit theory endorsement. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 107(4), 597-620.
Li, B., Ma, L., & Zhang, L. J. (2024). A new look at language mindset, achievement goals and L2 emotions: the case of Chinese university students. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 46(8), 2140-2156.
Li, Y., & Bates, T. C. (2019). You can’t change your basic ability, but you work at things, and that’s how we get hard things done: Testing the role of growth mindset on response to setbacks, educational attainment, and cognitive ability. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 148(9), 1640-1655.
Li, Y., & Bates, T. C. (2020). Testing the association of growth mindset and grades across a challenging transition: Is growth mindset associated with grades? Intelligence, 81, 101471.
Lou, N. M. (2025). Sustaining growth needs contextual supports: The mind-set x ecological system approach to motivation. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 15(2), 401-426.
Lou, N. M., Chaffee, K. E., & Noels, K. A. (2022). Growth, fixed, and mixed mindsets: Mindset system profiles in foreign language learners and their role in engagement and achievement. Studies in Second Language Acquisition, 44(3), 607-632.
Lou, N. M., & Noels, K. A. (2017). Measuring language mindsets and modeling their relations with goal orientations and emotional and behavioral responses in failure situations. Modern Language Journal, 101(1), 214-243.
Lou, N. M., & Noels, K. A. (2019). Promoting growth in foreign and second language education: A research agenda for mindsets in language learning and teaching. System, 86, 102126.
Lou, N. M., & Noels, K. A. (2020). Mindsets matter for linguistic minority students: Growth mindsets foster greater perceived proficiency, especially for newcomers. Modern Language Journal, 104(4), 739-756.
Lou, N. M., & Zarrinabadi, N. (2022). Mindsets. In S. Li, P. Hiver, & M. Papi (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of second language acquisition and individual differences (pp. 128-144). Routledge.
Macnamara, B. N., & Burgoyne, A. P. (2023). Do growth mindset interventions impact students’ academic achievement? A systematic review and meta-analysis with recommendations for best practices. Psychological Bulletin, 149(3-4), 133-173.
Maddux, J. E., & Kleiman, E. M. (2016). Self‐efficacy: A foundational concept for positive clinical psychology. In A. M. Wood & J. Johnson (Eds.), The Wiley handbook of positive clinical psychology (pp. 89-101). John Wiley & Sons.
Mills, N., Pajares, F., & Herron, C. (2007). Self‐efficacy of college intermediate French students: Relation to achievement and motivation. Language Learning, 57(3), 417-442.
Mohammadzadeh M., A. (2025). Profiling language teachers’ implicit theories of the future: Future mindsets as predictors of language teachers’ emotions. Language Teaching Futures, 1(1), 6-22.
Muthén, L. K., & Muthén, B. O. (1998-2023). Mplus user’s guide (8th ed.). Muthén & Muthén. National College English Testing Committee. (2016). CET-4 & CET-6 Test Syllabus (2016 edition). https://cet.neea.edu.cn/html1/folder/16113/1588-1.htm
Ng, B. (2018). The neuroscience of growth mindset and intrinsic motivation. Brain Sciences, 8(2), 20.
OECD. (2019). PISA 2018 Results (Volume III): What school life means for students’ lives. OECD.
Payne, S. C., Youngcourt, S. S., & Beaubien, J. M. (2007). A meta-analytic examination of the goal orientation nomological net. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(1), 128-150.
Quinto, E. J. M., Castillo, J. C. D., & Lucero, R. D. (2021). Influence of student engagement on EFL writing of Filipino ESL Students: The moderating role of academic mindsets. Korean Journal of English Language and Linguistics, 21, 856-869.
Rhew, E., Piro, J. S., Goolkasian, P., & Cosentino, P. (2018). The effects of a growth mindset on self-efficacy and motivation. Cogent Education, 5(1), 1492337.
Sadoughi, M., Hejazi, S. Y., & Lou, N. M. (2022). How do growth mindsets contribute to academic engagement in L2 classes? The mediating and moderating roles of the L2 motivational self system. Social Psychology of Education, 26(1).
Sisk, V. F., Burgoyne, A. P., Sun, J., Butler, J. L., & Macnamara, B. N. (2018). To what extent and under which circumstances are growth mind-sets important to academic achievement? Two meta-analyses. Psychological Science, 29(4), 549-571.
Soland, J., & Sandilos, L. E. (2020). English language learners, self-efficacy, and the achievement gap: Understanding the relationship between academic and social-emotional growth. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk, 26(1), 20-44.
Sun, K. L. (2018). Brief report: The role of mathematics teaching in fostering student growth mindset. Journal for Research in Mathematics Education, 49(3), 330-335.
Sun, T., Wang, C., & Kim S. Y. (2021). Psychometric properties of an English Writing Self-efficacy scale: Aspects of construct validity. Reading and Writing, 35(1), 743-766.
Tipton, E., Bryan, C., Murray, J., McDaniel, M. A., Schneider, B., & Yeager, D. S. (2023). Why meta-analyses of growth mindset and other interventions should follow best practices for examining heterogeneity: Commentary on Macnamara and Burgoyne (2023) and Burnette et al. (2023). Psychological Bulletin, 149(3-4), 229-241.
Wang, C., Kim, D.-H., Bong, M., & Ahn, H. S. (2013). Examining measurement properties of an English self-efficacy scale for English language learners in Korea. International Journal of Educational Research, 59, 24-34.
Wang, C., & Sun, T. (2020). Relationship between self-efficacy and language proficiency: A meta-analysis. System, 95, 102366.
Wang, Y., & Sun, X. (2025). Growth mindset in Chinese culture: A meta-analysis. Social Psychology of Education, 28(1), 24.
Wasylkiw, L., Hanson, S., Lynch, L. M., Vaillancourt, E., & Wilson, C. (2020). Predicting undergraduate student outcomes: Competing or complementary roles of self-esteem, self-compassion, self-efficacy, and mindsets? Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 50(2), 1-14.
Xu, J., & Wang, Y. (2022). The differential mediating roles of ideal and ought-to EFL writing selves between growth mindsets and self-regulated writing strategies. System, 110, 102900.
Yabukoshi, T. (2021). Self-regulation and self-efficacy for the improvement of listening proficiency outside the classroom. The Language Learning Journal, 49(1), 27-40.
Yan, Z., King, R. B., & Haw, J. Y. (2021). Formative assessment, growth mindset, and achievement: Examining their relations in the East and the West. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, 28(5-6), 676-702.
Yao, Y., Guo, N. S., Wang, W., & Yu, J. (2021). Measuring Chinese junior high school students’ language mindsets: What can we learn from young EFL learners’ beliefs in their language ability? System, 101, 102577.
Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindsets that promote resilience: When students believe that personal characteristics can be developed. Educational Psychologist, 47(4), 302-314.
Yeager, D. S., & Dweck, C. S. (2020). What can be learned from growth mindset controversies? American Psychologist, 75(9), 1269-1284.
Zarrinabadi, N. (2025). Why the futures of language education must be examined. Language Teaching Futures, 1(1), 15.
Zarrinabadi, N., Rezazadeh, M., & Chehrazi, A. (2021). The links between grammar learning strategies and language mindsets among EFL and L3 learners: Examining the role of gender. International Journal of Multilingualism, 20(2), 347-364.
Zarrinabadi, N., Rezazadeh, M., Karimi, M., & Lou, N. M. (2022). Why do growth mindsets make you feel better about learning and your selves? The mediating role of adaptability. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 16(3), 249-264.
Zhang, L. J., Fathi, J., Mohammad Hosseini, H., Derakhshesh, A., & Mehraein, S. (2025). Investigating the role of ideal L2 writing self, writing growth mindset, and writing enjoyment in L2 writing self-efficacy: A mediation model. Applied Linguistics Review.
Zhang, L. J., Fathi, J., & Rezaei, N. (2024). Exploring the interplay of growth mindset, mindfulness, and L2 self-efficacy in second language achievement: A mixed-methods study. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching.
Zhang, X., Ardasheva, Y., & Austin, B. W. (2020). Self-efficacy and English public speaking performance: A mixed method approach. English for Specific Purposes, 59, 1-16.
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Yuyang Cai
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.