Kieliin oppimiseen liittyvät asenteet ja niiden yhteys vieraan kielen opetuksessa koettuun ahdistukseen korkeakoulutuksessa

Mindsets, implicit theories about the fixed or malleable nature of human attributes, represent a popular strand of research in educational sciences and psychology. Studies have increasingly focused on domains of academic intelligence, such as mathematics and physics and, more recently, on second language learning. However, the most popular instrument for measuring language mindsets among university students, the Language Mindsets Inventory (LMI), has not been validated outside North America and Asia. Moreover, little is known about the orientation of students’ language mindsets outside those contexts. Theory also predicts that fixed mindsets about second language ability result in increased foreign language classroom anxiety (FLCA), a key affective variable in the field of second language acquisition (SLA). However, existing research findings are mixed and require clarification with further research. These research gaps were addressed through two quantitative studies using a dataset collected from over 300 participants enrolled on L2 language courses at a large Finnish university. In Study I, confirmatory factor analysis and hierarchical factor analysis were used to verify the factor structure of the Language Mindsets Inventory in this novel setting. Participants’ language mindsets were then compared to their beliefs about the nature of intelligence and giftedness. Study II used linear regression analyses to assess how language mindsets, alone and in combination with age, proficiency and gender, predicted respondents’ foreign language classroom anxiety. The findings of Study I largely mirrored those of previous research in North America. That is, the LMI reflected six latent constructs: entity (fixed-mindset) beliefs about general language ability, entity beliefs about second language ability, entity beliefs about an age-sensitive critical period for language learning, and the three corresponding sets of incremental (growth-mindset) beliefs. These factors were only moderately intercorrelated. The findings also indicated that the participants, on average, held a growth mindset about language learning and were more growth oriented about language ability than intelligence or giftedness. Study II found that language mindsets were small but statistically significant predictors of foreign language classroom anxiety, with entity beliefs about second language ability and entity beliefs about a critical period exerting the strongest effect. In turn, gender was the only background variable found to associate with FLCA, with women statistically significantly more anxious than men about language learning. In the final multiple linear regression analysis, gender combined with entity beliefs about L2 learning and entity beliefs about a critical period to moderately predict the variance in respondents’ FLCA. The results help confirm the validity of the LMI for assessing students’ language mindsets in a novel context: Finnish higher education. Moreover, they suggest that approaches combining responses to the six LMI factors into one or two composite scores may be inappropriate and risk missing more nuanced insights into the different aspects of language mindsets. The results of Study II partially confirm the theoretical link between language mindsets and FLCA, although the small effect size indicates that mindsets may be only one of many factors impacting this form of anxiety, which is more in line with the mainstream SLA literature. The findings offer useful information for language mindset scholars wishing to utilise the Language Mindsets Inventory in their research. Moreover, the results help language educators gauge the likely orientation of their students’ language mindsets, the extent of their foreign language classroom anxiety, and the need for possible interventions. Keywords: language mindsets; foreign language classroom anxiety; entity beliefs; incremental beliefs; intelligence; giftedness; validity; second language acquisition; higher education