36.2361, Reviews: Mindsets in Language Education: Adrian Leis, Åsta Haukås, Nigel Mantou Lou, Sachiko Nakamura (eds.) (2025)

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Subject: 36.2361, Reviews: Mindsets in Language Education: Adrian Leis, Åsta Haukås, Nigel Mantou Lou, Sachiko Nakamura (eds.) (2025)

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Date: 06-Aug-2025
From: Vida Kashanian [Vida28000 at gmail.com]
Subject: Applied Linguistics: Adrian Leis, Åsta Haukås, Nigel Mantou Lou, Sachiko Nakamura (eds.) (2025)


Book announced at https://linguistlist.org/issues/36-264

Title: Mindsets in Language Education
Series Title: Psychology of Language Learning and Teaching
Publication Year: 2025

Publisher: Multilingual Matters
           http://www.multilingual-matters.com/
Book URL:
https://www.multilingual-matters.com/page/detail/?K=9781800418301

Editor(s): Adrian Leis, Åsta Haukås, Nigel Mantou Lou, Sachiko
Nakamura

Reviewer: Vida Kashanian

SUMMARY
Mindsets in Language Education addresses the significance of mindset
theory, particularly development and fixed mindsets, as outlined by
Dweck (2006), on the learning experiences of language students and
their educators. Language Learners’ mindsets, language instructors’
mindsets, and intervention investigations aimed at mental growth
within educational environments encompass the theme sections of the
published volume.
A History and Definition of Mindsets
The first pages of this book explore the relationship between mindsets
and language learning, emphasizing the concept of learned
helplessness. It refers to studies conducted by psychologist Martin
Seligman and associates, who show how students’ experiences of failure
can have a big influence on their learning. Participants in the study
were given controlled risks and monitored for indications of learned
helplessness, a state in which initial challenges resulted in
passivity and a loss of control over the outcomes. Dweck (1999)
explains two different theories of intelligence: the entity hypothesis
holds that intelligence is fixed and unchanging, which makes people
shy away from challenges out of a fear of failure. The incremental
hypothesis, on the other hand, sees barriers as chances for
development and asserts that abilities can be changed with practice
and effort. The book emphasizes how difficult it can be to distinguish
between two viewpoints, as individuals may have varying levels of
support for both. With the aim of promoting resilience and active
learning, it emphasizes how crucial it is to develop a growth mindset,
especially in educational settings. The book concerns a misconception
about the concept of a growth mindset, warning against a simplistic
interpretation that values effort without strategy. It claims that
using practical strategies, remaining persistent, and looking back on
prior experiences are all parts of a true growth mindset. Along with
the notion of intentional practice, which includes continuous
evaluation and customized advice to improve performance, the vital
role of mentoring and supportive criticism is also emphasized. This
comprehensive approach guarantees that people prioritize meaningful
learning and self-improvement in addition to prolonged effort.
(Ericsson & Pool, 2016, LeHann,1996). Language learners’ motivation
and language acquisition behaviors are significantly affected by their
mental representations. Mercer and Ryan (2010) make a significant
contribution to this issue by contrasting the perspectives of
English-speaking university students in Australia and Japan. According
to their findings, Japanese students frequently employ a more
consistent approach to learning a new language. Australian pupils, on
the other hand, demonstrate more variation in their mindsets.
Subsequent research has explored mindsets as an essential factor in
boosting student engagement in language learning, including studies by
Mercer and Ryan as well as others like Leis (2014) and Lee & Wilson
(2017).
Teachers have a significant impact on the ways their pupils acquire
knowledge, especially on their views about their own potential and
skills. According to research, a teacher’s fixed mindset--the belief
that students' abilities are unchanging-- can hinder opportunities for
people from various backgrounds, especially those who have financial
problems financially. Such a mindset restricts the potential for
learning among students (Patrick & Joshi, 2019). For instance,
teachers create a more positive atmosphere when they notice and
promote growth mindsets that consider ability as something that can be
developed. This is illustrated by techniques where teachers support
students by praising their work, rather than just their innate
abilities. Students’ self-image and willingness to take on challenges
can be greatly influenced by such types of support, and this will
eventually enhance their academic achievement. Teachers need to
undertake professional development in order to establish these
mindsets. The discrepancy between teaching methods and student
potential can be bridged through supplying educators with training
that highlights the worth of adopting a growth mindset. This
modification not only allows more authority but also enriches their
students educational experience, empowering resiliency and an
enthusiasm for learning. In general, promoting a fair and successful
learning environment demands an awareness of attention to teachers’
mindsets. We can develop educational environments that encourage
resilience and flexibility by promoting growth mindsets in both
teachers and students.
Part 1, this section deals with how various mindsets, especially
dynamic and stable mindsets, affect language learning from different
viewpoints:
Teng and Mizumoto (p.17) outline the establishment of a development
mindset scale tailored to vocabulary learning, supplying tools to
evaluate learners’ views of their potential to perform better. The
concept of a growth mindset, as proposed by Dweck (1999), is essential
to understanding how beliefs shape mindsets and behaviors in a variety
of learning circumstances, including acquiring a new language. While
individuals with a growth mindset believe that dedication and
persistence can result in progress, those with a fixed mindset often
blame their learning failures on a lack of innate ability. This
distinction is especially important for learners of English as a
foreign language (EFL), who frequently struggle with the assumption
that they are “born language learners.” Nakamura and Leis examine the
link between feelings, aims, and beliefs in language learning and
illustrate how emotions impact learners' willingness and attitude
(36). Apple, Hill, Fallout, and Shimo compare the motivations and
mindsets of STEM and non-STEM Japanese EFL university students,
underlining the differences in perspectives on language learning
challenges (53). Khajavy and Vaziri indicate that students’
perceptions of their teacher’s goals can be influential in shaping
their language mindsets(p.81). Sundqvist provides a case study of an
eighty-year-old who chose a growth mindset for language learning in
his older years (p.98). Overall, this part illustrates various ways in
which mindset affects learning outcomes, motivation, and feelings of
engagement in different age groups and educational settings.
Part 2 switches to teachers, providing tangible proof of how attitudes
toward teachers contribute to professional identity and teaching
methodology. Provide a variety of perspectives on the development,
strategies, and attitudes of English as a Foreign Language (EFL)
teachers. The first chapter, using a case study methodology, explores
how pre-service teachers’ mindsets influence their teaching strategies
and the classroom resources that they use. Pre-service teachers’
beliefs about their mindsets and how they determine their
effectiveness as teachers are discussed in this section. Next study,
the Mindset and Professional Identity of an ELF Teacher Educator. This
autobiographical study looks at the professional development and
emotional experience of a teacher educator getting a PhD. The fourth
chapter of this part addresses the viewpoints of experienced language
teachers on their ongoing professional growth and how it impacts their
teaching strategies. The last section presents a mixed-method study of
the mindsets of Chinese secondary school English teachers,
particularly emphasizing teachers’ anxieties and worries about their
career growth. In general, Part 2 highlights the wide range of
teachers' mindsets and the way these mindsets affect learning and
professional opportunities in the language teaching field.
Part 3 is about intervention studies relating to mindsets in language
education, highlighting the impact of positive mindsets on both
learning and teaching. What follows is a brief description of each
study. In her book "Developing a Growth Mindset Toward Language
Learning,” Claudia W. Tapia Castillo explores techniques for
establishing a growth mindset that increases inspiration and
involvement in language learning . Andy Van Loon and Nigel Mathews
Lev’s research “Learning How to Learn Leads to the Belief One Can
Learn”, investigates how teaching intellectual skills can motivate
students to feel confident in their potential to learn. Maribel A.
Ramirez, Emilia Garcia, and Isabel Tejada-Suarez discuss the
characteristics and techniques of language teachers that foster and
promote a growth mindset among students. Possible future studies and
educational studies to improve mindset theories in language teaching
are presented in Future Directions of Mindsets in Language Instruction
by Audin Lee, Aida Halim, Seiko Nakamura, and Nihel Mathews Lev.
Overall, this part concentrates on the significance of mindset is in
designing effective language teaching and learning techniques.
EVALUATION
Integrating mindset theory into the features of language teaching and
learning, this volume provides a significant advance in the field of
applied linguistics. The authors’ attention to methodological
diversity, which is being increasingly widely supported in SLA
studies, is demonstrated by the incorporation of numerous kinds of
approaches, ranging from narrative qualitative studies to empirical
evaluations (Mackey & Gass, 2015).
Regarding the growing interest in teacher feelings and satisfaction as
a component of educational improvement, the book’s concern for student
and teacher mindsets is particularly useful nowadays (Korthagen,2004).
In addition, the book strengthens the association between the field of
educational psychology and classroom language instruction by firmly
establishing the subjects it covers within psychological perspectives.
However, a possible drawback is the fact that different sections have
different levels of accessibility; some are extremely technical and
might make it challenging for novice readers who are not proficient
researchers. The advantage it offers for teacher educators could
perhaps have been increased even more by a concluding chapter that
outlines the real-world consequences of all three chapters. Despite
this, Mindsets in Language Education continues to be an essential
resource for scholars, curriculum developers, and language educators.
It promotes educational methods that foster student autonomy and
resilience, along with its reflection on latent beliefs-- two crucial
goals in mindset theory-- and language teaching(Dornyei,2009).
REFERENCES
Borg, S. (2003). Teacher cognition in language teaching: A review of
research on what language teachers think, know, believe, and do.
Language Teaching, 36(2), 81–109.
https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444803001903
Dörnyei, Z. (2009). The psychology of second language acquisition.
Oxford University Press.
Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Random
House.
Korthagen, F. A. J. (2004). In search of the essence of a good
teacher: Towards a more holistic approach in teacher education.
Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(1), 77–97.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2003.10.002
Leis, A., Haukås, Á., Lou, N. M., & Nakamura, S. (Eds.). (2022).
Mindsets in language education. Multilingual Matters.
Mackey, A., & Gass, S. M. (2015). Second language research:
Methodology and design (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Mercer, S., & Dörnyei, Z. (2020). Engaging language learners in
contemporary classrooms. Cambridge University Press.
ABOUT THE REVIEWER
Vida. Kashanian is a PhD student in Azad University of Iran, Bonab
Branch. Her research interests lie in the language teachers’ mindsets
and emotional strategies used by teachers in educational settings.



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