VALIDATION OF SELF-EFFICACY FOR SELF-REGULATION OF ACADEMIC WRITING SCALE: AN EFA AND CFA WITH MEASUREMENT INVARIANCE

Abstract

Academic writing plays a vital role in academic success of students. Studies showed that self-efficacy is predictive of actual performance. Among several instruments of self-efficacy, an effort was made to develop an instrument specifically focusing on self-efficacy for self-regulation of academic writing (SSAW). Present study aimed to validate the SSAW scale (English version) to check its psychometric properties at higher education level in Pakistani context. A sample of 313 Pakistani university students responded to an online survey. The age of respondents ranges from 18 to 54 (M=25.02, SD=5.62). Exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and measurement invariance were conducted to check validity of the SSAW scale. The SSAW scale is positively correlated with a sub-scale of Writing Self-efficacy Scale and General Self-Efficacy Scale, thus showing evidence of convergent validity. It is also correlated positively, but weaker with Rosenberg self-esteem scale, thus showing evidence of divergent validity. The external validation is satisfactory while the findings for internal validation allow further examination of the factor structure. The measurement invariance revealed no substantial disagreements between the fully constrained and unconstrained models. Findings suggest that SSAW scale may provide an opportunity to methodically assess and streamline writing interventions to properly support students in one of their most difficult area/subjects.