Students commonly believe that they can’t learn a language because they lack natural talent. In the first of a two-part article, Marcin Lewandowski explores how using the growth mindset can counter this claim.
Students often believe that the reason why they can’t learn a language is because, unlike their peers, they don’t have the ‘knack’ for languages. They may therefore give up easily and not try. Or, as may be the case with learners who believe they have the talent, they may avoid stretching tasks that may show them up as not good enough. These learners plateau early and fossilize before reaching their potential.
The green-eyed monster
Have you ever felt envious of a friend or a colleague communicating effortlessly in another language? At this point you also may have jumped to a conclusion that she ‘obviously’ has a good ‘ear’ for languages because how can you learn a language so well if you don’t have some kind of innate ability. Anyway, you’ve tried so you know!
Our success in accomplishing a personal, educational or professional goal such as learning a language depends, to a large extent, on our belief in our own talents and abilities. We have to believe that we’ve got what it takes to complete the task successfully.
What do you believe?
Carol Dweck (2006), a Stanford professor and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, describes two types of individuals. Those who believe that intelligence, talent and ability are innate and immutable (i.e. I was born with a certain amount and that’s that). And those who believe that qualities such as intelligence, talent and ability can change; they are mutable through application and adjustment. Dweck describes the former group as having a fixed mindset and the latter as having a growth mindset.
Mindset (growth or fixed), therefore, acts as a mental filter which determines your behaviours, outlooks and attitudes. Your mindset can have a limiting or enabling effect on your chances of reaching your potential. For example, if you believe you’re bad at maths, that you have a fixed ability at maths and if everyone around you believes this to be true, you’re less likely to do well in maths. Equally, if you believe you’re bad at learning languages, you’re less likely to be successful in learning them well. All that remains to do is to be envious of your friend’s God given talents!
However, not everyone will see it this way. In fact many of us, probably including our friend, the polyglot, would be incensed at the suggestion that our achievements are an outcome of a genetic lottery; that we somehow came to know the language without any hard work. We are more likely to believe that our abilities and talents are flexible and can be improved provided that enough effort has been put into developing them, that they have little or even nothing to do with genetic endowment.
The road
But how will these two mindsets manifest themselves in our learners? The road to mastering a new language is long, winding and full of obstacles. The mindset that our learners hold will determine how successful they’ll be at navigating it. We’ve all come across learners who give up at the first sign of struggle. Their fixed mindset causes them to display a helpless response: ‘English is stupid!’ or ’I’m not good at it. What’s the point’. The belief that they don’t have a talent for learning a language inhibits their progress and learning. It is also a self-fulfilling prophecy that places them on a vicious self-perpetuating circle where failure on a task or a test confirms this belief: ‘see I told you I was rubbish at English!’. This leads to less effort and further failures, and so on and so forth. To make things worse some teachers may also start to view such learners as ‘slackers’ and feel disinclined to offer them the support they need. As a result these learners may end up being demotivated and disinterested.
Other learners with a fixed mindset may be less conspicuous. They may be high performing learners who attribute their successes to inherent fixed qualities such as talent or intelligence. Such learners like to look good (academically speaking). These learners tend to view effort as evidence of a lack of ability or talent (clever people don’t have to work hard, right?) and may avoid challenging tasks for fear of being found out as not good enough (risk aversion). As a result they may plateau early and fossilize never realizing their full potential.
Then, there’s the learner who is seemingly uninhibited, happily participating in activities. This learner will have a go at the trickier tasks even if that means mistakes. In her eyes, mistakes are opportunities for feedback. Learners like this believe that we can become smarter and develop new abilities if we apply ourselves and persevere. Previous research has suggested that holding this belief enables pupils to work harder and achieve better results.
Thus, helping students to achieve the growth mindset will help encourage learning. Make sure you check out the second part of this article where I explore ideas of how to use the growth mindset in the language classroom