The Role of Growth Mindset on the Relationships between Students’ Perceptions of English Language Teachers’ Feedback and Their ESL Learning Performance

The importance of growth mindset and teachers’ feedback has been widely recognised to improve the English language performance of students; however, the impact of growth mindset as a mediator is least explored. Therefore, the study aimed to empirically analyse the interrelationships between growth mindset and teachers’ feedback levels on secondary school students’ English as a Second Language (ESL) performance and to study the mediation effects of growth mindset in the relationships. The research model examined growth mindset along with four types of feedback. The levels of feedback include task, process, self-regulation and self-based feedback that teachers provide to improve the ESL performance of students. Survey questionnaires were administered to 301 secondary school students in Class 9 from two private schools in India. The data were analysed using PLS-SEM 4.0 software. The results indicated that the direct effect of feedback that emphasised process and self-regulation fosters a growth mindset in ESL students. Feedback levels focused on task, process, self-regulation, and growth mindset significantly impact ESL performance. Moreover, growth mindset mediated the relationships between process and self-regulation-focused feedback and ESL performance. However, no evidence supports the relationship between self-focused feedback, growth mindset, and ESL performance. The study concludes with implications and directions for future research.