The Effects of Positive Self-evaluation on Senior High School Students’ English Writing Performance and Writing Self-efficacy

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of positive self-evaluation used as an intervention to cultivate students’ English writing self-efficacy and improve their writing performance. Multiple sources of data were collected from 90 students of grade 10 at a high school in Beijing, including the pretest and posttest writings, writing self-efficacy questionnaires, interviews, and follow-up questionnaires over one semester. Data analyses showed that the experimental group excelled the control group in writing performance and became more confident in writing at the end of positive self-evaluation practices. This study also found that writing self-efficacy and writing performance were positively related. The students with high writing self-efficacy tended to perform better in their writing than those with low writing self-efficacy.