Interplay between students’ language mindsets, episodic memory, resilience and academic achievement in a disadvantaged multicultural, secondary school

Thesis

This dissertation investigates the relationship between language mindset, resilience, and past language classroom experiences, and their impact on academic outcomes in MFL (modern foreign language) learning among secondary school students in the UK. The study involved 81 Year 11 participants, using a mixed-methods approach. Surveys looked at students' language mindsets, resilience levels and episodic memories while focus groups provided feedback related to the surveys and shared deeper insights into their classroom experiences. The findings indicate a significant correlation between growth mindset, positive episodic memories and academic performance in MFL subjects. Conversely, results show a negative correlation between resilience and fixed mindset suggesting that students with low expectations and rigid beliefs achieve less. Moreover, some elements of the growth mindset appear to significantly impact attainment, whereas the fixed mindset shows no significant correlation. This research contributes to the literature by highlighting the importance of con-textual language learning through positive episodic memory strategies accompanied by constructive feedback to foster a growth mindset.

Authors: Radu, S

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-vmwmjzz5e
• Type of award: MSc taught course
• Level of award: Masters
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: questionaries; ALSLA; focus groups; interplay between students’ language mindsets; disadvantaged secondary school; quantitative search; resilience and academic achievement; qualitative methods; ALSLA2024; multicultural secondary school; episodic memory
• Subjects: Memory; Applied linguistics; Quantitative research; Academic achievement; Poor children; Qualitative research; Focus groups; Education, Secondary; Multicultural education