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Effects of Writing Self-Efficacy

Writing Self-Efficacy
Jennifer Mendoza
Paper #2 Draft #2
October 1, 2014
LBS Writing in Education
California State University Dominguez Hills

Effects of Writing Self-Efficacy

Effects of Writing Self-Efficacy
Writing Self-Efficacy
High self-efficacy is essential in order for people to ultimately be successful in
accomplishing their goals. A goal for educators could be to become better writers since writing is
a vital skill that has to be taught. In order for writing to be successively taught, educators have to
possess high self-efficacy so that they can model this for their students. Writing, like any other
task, is affected by peoples self- efficacy. Therefore, educators should be especially conscious of
how their own self efficacy affects their teaching. Lavelle discusses her research that relates selfefficacy to actual writing performance, which relates to my writing experience.
In the first place, Lavelles main focus in the article was to prove the connection between
teachers self- efficacy and their writing. Lavelle (2006) examined the connection between the
low self-efficacy scores obtained to teachers actual writing and determined whether they were
deep or surface writers. Sixty four teachers were given a homework assignment in which they
selected a topic that was covered in the reading and wrote a five to ten page paper. After the
essays were scored as being deep or surface, the results indicated that low self-efficacy was
connected to poor writing, and deep writing obtained high holistic scores.
Additionally, the study conducted provided logical information that proved to have some
weaknesses and strengths. One of the weaknesses involved the fact that the essays were rated
using a scale of only one to three. This would not really be indicative of the extent to which the
writer successfully addressed the criteria. Also, Lavelle (2006) noted that there was a rating of
deep and superficial writing that was based on four categories, which proved to be a strength of
the research. The results of the study were accurate especially since a persons lack of confidence
towards writing can definitely negatively influence the outcome of their writing quality.
Moreover, my writing performance correlates with the results of the research since my

Effects of Writing Self-Efficacy

self-efficacy affects my writing. My past experiences have shaped my current high self- efficacy.
During my middle and high school years, my self- efficacy was high because I was under an
erroneous impression that I wrote well. When I was in sixth grade, I was in a chaotic
environment where teacher expectations were very low. This caused me to become complacent
with my writing and not look at it critically. Since there was little to no criticism on the work I
turned in, I thought that my writing had no major issues worth noting. This same scenario
repeated itself in my high school English classes, so I made no changes in my writing style. In
my college English 101 class, this drastically changed once I received my first C on my
research paper. My main issues involved not only grammar but also the content itself. I had not
revised the essay fully, so the final draft that I turned in was really my first draft. As a result, my
self-efficacy lowered for I had become aware that my writing was not the quality that I thought it
was. I was able to figure out the changes that I needed to make in order to be successful in the
class. After I completed the course, I obtained an A, and this in turn helped my self-efficacy. In
2006, Lavelle stated that critique is particularly unpleasant when the writer has low self-efficacy.
This is accurate because once I began the course of English 350 my writing self- efficacy was
shattered. I had for the first time failed an assignment, and I was very disappointed. The major
comment that stood out the most to me was the statement that I did not know what a sentence
was. This comment was a rude awakening for me. It made me conscious of the importance of
following writing conventions and the purpose that they served. I was ultimately able to obtain
an A, and this greatly influenced my current high self-efficacy.
I am now aware that the reason why I wrote the way I did was because I did not wholly
understand the purpose for following the writing conventions. The lack of criticism caused me to
continuously make the same mistakes. My college composition courses gave me the insight that I
needed in order to make changes to my writing and understand why I needed to do so.

Effects of Writing Self-Efficacy

References
Lavelle, E. (2006). Teachers self-efficacy for writing. Electronic Journal of Research in
Educational Psychology, 4(1), 73-84.