Children's argument writing, interest and self-efficacy: an intervention study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine how a combination of motivational and instructional variables can be best utilized in an intervention program to improve students' emotional and cognitive experiences during argument writing. One hundred and seventy-seven students at the junior intermediate level participated. The study involved a pre-test, intervention, post-test design with two forms of intervention. The basic program given to all students included instructions on argument writing and incorporated strong motivational features. The second form of intervention provided students with an additional motivational component consisting of extended collaborative writing activities. In addition, we examined the relation between students' general interest in writing and their genre-specific liking and self-efficacy of writing. More specifically, we focused on the relation between interest and self-efficacy, two motivational factors relevant to writing: an Interest, Liking and Self-efficacy Questionnaire was administered pre- and post-intervention. The intervention programs resulted in a significant overall improvement in the quality of children's argument writing. The collaborative writing experience was especially effective for boys. The responses to the questionnaires indicated that children's genre-specific liking and self-efficacy of writing are closely associated and that both of these factors are also associated with their general interest in writing.