The relationships between the growth mindset, writing feedback literacy, and feedback engagement of undergraduate students in L1 Chinese writing learning

Abstract

While the body of research on student feedback literacy in the field of education is growing, the association of such literacy with feedback engagement in L1 writing education remains relatively unexplored. Moreover, the potential relationship of a growth mindset, which serves as a motivational factor, with student feedback literacy has yet to be thoroughly investigated. Considering these gaps, the present study aimed to explore the relationships between a growth mindset, student writing feedback literacy, and feedback engagement. A sample of 236 sophomore English major students from a Chinese university was recruited. Employing path analysis, the study revealed that having a growth mindset was positively associated with all five features of student writing feedback literacy: appreciating feedback, acknowledging different feedback sources, making judgments, managing affect, and taking action. Moreover, the study revealed a nuanced relationship between students’ writing feedback literacy and their feedback engagement, with different features of writing feedback literacy having differential associations with distinct dimensions of feedback engagement. The study contributes to the literature in three ways. First, it expands our knowledge of the relationship between student feedback literacy and feedback engagement by delving deeper into the one-to-one association between different features of writing feedback literacy and various dimensions of feedback engagement. Second, it advances our understanding of how a growth mindset is related to shaping students’ writing feedback literacy. Finally, it provides evidence supporting the construct validity of the student writing feedback literacy scale in L1 writing learning.