Self-Efficacy Beliefs and the Effect of Metacognitive Strategy Training on EFL Student Writing Performance: An Experimental Study

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the mediational influence of writing self-efficacy and its relationship to the effect of metacognitive strategy training on Moroccan EFL student-writers’ argumentative essay-writing performance. To this end, the study involved three distinct groups: two experimental groups categorized by their levels of perceived writing self-efficacy (high or low), and a control group. The two experimental groups received a treatment that consisted of metacognitive strategy training in the planning of an argumentative essay, while the control group received no intervention. The statistical results of the study showed that the two experimental groups displayed more improvement on the post-test than did the control group, whose performance remained invariable. Also, the experimental group with higher initial self-efficacy levels demonstrated more substantial enhancement in performance compared to the group with lower self-efficacy. This finding revealed that the level of self-efficacy seemed to influence mediationally the student-writers’ writing performance. Interestingly, more than half of the second experimental group showed improvement on the post-test. Adopting the repeated measures method, the re-administration of the self-efficacy questionnaire to this group displayed that more than half developed their self-efficacy over the treatment period. This finding accounted for the improvement of their performance. It also corroborated the mediational role of self-efficacy. These findings collectively highlight the impact of students' confidence in their writing abilities on their overall writing performance. The results emphasize that writing self-efficacy can either facilitate or hinder students' writing progress, underscoring the importance of nurturing self-belief to foster effective writing development.