Abstract
Little research has been done on whether instructional efforts focusing on self-efficacy will improve writing performance and change the dynamic relationship between self-efficacy and writing performance. The present study aimed to address this gap by utilizing a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design to examine 50 Chinese undergraduates’ self-efficacy for writing from sources and performance over a 10-week long integrated course in EFL context. Working within the framework of social cognitive theory, a self-report questionnaire was constructed to measure the dimensions of self-efficacy for writing from sources, with defining elements of cognitive process (transformation and language control), metacognitive process (self-regulatory strategy (SRS)) and motivation. Results showed that participants’ performance, transformation and language control improved significantly but SRS and motivation remained stable. In addition, there were consistent correlations among motivation, SRS, transformation and language control over the course, and performance score was moderately correlated with self-efficacy at the posttest. These results suggested that the key transforming process provided EFL learners with mastery experiences in an effective observable modelling setting, which facilitated their performance and beliefs in the transforming ability of writing from sources, impacted their language learning positively, and regulated their writing and reading concurrently. • Instructional efforts improved self-efficacy for writing from sources. • The cognitive dimension of transforming process of discourse synthesis was vital. • Stable meta-cognition and motivation with enhanced cognition boosted performance. • Transformation-centered writing was a useful task for language learning.
Published Version
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