VietTESOL International Convention 2026

Mindset, implicit beliefs about the changeability of one's own ability, has been shown to predict adaptive or maladaptive responses to setbacks. In (English) language education, scant attention has been paid to teachers’ mindset despite its potential to unpack teachers’ motivational patterns while approaching instructional challenges, especially in in-transition contexts like Vietnam (i.e., shifting from teaching English as a foreign language to a second language). Positioned in the intersection of Dweck’s mindset theory, teacher cognition, and a dynamic-complex view of teacher belief systems, this qualitative study explored Vietnamese high school English teachers’ mindsets about their teaching ability and their influential factors. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with ten English teachers working in diverse high school contexts in Southern Vietnam. Data analysis revealed that while the teachers generally endorsed a growth mindset about their English teaching ability, believing that their teaching ability could improve through experience, self-study, reflection, professional development, collegial learning, and adaptation to students. However, this growth mindset was contextually and socioculturally conditioned and domain-specific. They viewed some components of teaching ability, such as lesson planning, pedagogical techniques, classroom management, and subject knowledge, as more improvable than others. Regarding different skills, teachers perceived their ability in teaching listening, speaking, pronunciation, and classroom interaction as more difficult to improve, attributing it to students’ characteristics. Teachers’ mindsets were also influenced by institutional and sociocultural conditions, including examination-oriented learning, curriculum-assessment mismatch, school resources, feedback culture, leadership, and the quality of professional development.