Open AccessThe foreign language effect on the self-serving bias: A field experiment in the high school classroom
Author(s) -
Joeri van Hugten,
A. van Witteloostuijn
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0192143
Subject(s) - foreign language , first language , psychology , field (mathematics) , neuroscience of multilingualism , process (computing) , second language , mathematics education , computer science , linguistics , mathematics , philosophy , neuroscience , pure mathematics , operating system
The rise of bilingual education triggers an important question: which language is preferred for a particular school activity? Our field experiment ( n = 120) shows that students (aged 13–15) who process feedback in non-native English have greater self-serving bias than students who process feedback in their native Dutch. By contrast, literature on the foreign-language emotionality effect suggests a weaker self-serving bias in the non-native language, so our result adds nuance to that literature. The result is important to schools as it suggests that teachers may be able to reduce students’ defensiveness and demotivation by communicating negative feedback in the native language, and teachers may be able to increase students’ confidence and motivation by communicating positive feedback in the foreign language.