Examining Longitudinal and Concurrent Links Between Writing Motivation and Writing Quality in Middle School

Abstract

Research shows that writing motivation decreases throughout schooling and predicts writing performance. However, this evidence comes primarily from cross-sectional studies. Here, we adopted a longitudinal approach to (a) examine the development of attitudes toward writing, writing self-efficacy domains, and motives to write from Grade 6 to 7, and (b) test their longitudinal and concurrent contribution to the quality of opinion essay in Grade 7, after controlling for quality in Grade 6. For that, 112 Portuguese students completed motivation-related questionnaires and composed two opinion essays in Grade 6 and 1 year later, in Grade 7. Findings showed that, while attitudes and all motives to write declined, self-efficacy did not. Additionally, opinion essay quality in Grade 7 was associated with essay quality in Grade 6 as well as with self-efficacy for self-regulation and intrinsic motives in Grade 7. In other words, current motivational beliefs seem more important to students’ writing quality than their past beliefs. This conclusion means that, in order to fostering students’ writing performance, middle-grade teachers should nurture their positive beliefs about writing by placing a higher value on writing motivation in the classroom.

The role of writing motives in the interplay between implicit theories, achievement goals, self-efficacy, and writing performance

“…Finally, in line with theoretical SDT assumptions ( Ryan and Deci, 2000b , 2020 ) and empirical evidence of prior studies ( De Smedt et al, 2016 , 2018b ; Rasteiro and Limpo, 2022 ), students’ autonomous writing motivation was positively related to students’ argumentative writing performance. Furthermore, autonomous writing motivation mediated the positive relation between mastery goals and writing performance.…”

“…Next to replication studies on the effect of explicit writing instruction and collaborative writing on students' self-efficacy for regulation, we call for more in-depth research to uncover how exactly students benefit from these instructional practices in terms of their self-efficacy for regulation (e.g., exploring which key ingredients of explicit writing instruction and collaborative writing are essential in nurturing students' selfefficacy for regulation). Finally, in line with theoretical SDT assumptions Deci, 2000b, 2020) and empirical evidence of prior studies (De Smedt et al, 2016, 2018bRasteiro and Limpo, 2022), students' autonomous writing motivation was positively related to students' argumentative writing performance. Furthermore, autonomous writing motivation mediated the positive relation between mastery goals and writing performance.…”

“…In line with the core hypotheses of SDT Deci, 2000b, 2020) and based on prior empirical writing research studies (De Smedt et al, 2016, 2018bRasteiro and Limpo, 2022), we expect autonomous writing motives to be positively related to writing performance, while controlled writing motives will be negatively associated with writing performance.…”

“…While autonomously motivated writers personally endorse the value of writing or inherently enjoy writing, controlled motivated writers are driven by externally or internally imposed rewards and punishments. In line with the core hypotheses of SDT, studies in the field of writing research showed that autonomously motivated students write texts of higher quality compared to texts produced by more controlled motivated students (De Smedt et al, 2016, 2018bRasteiro and Limpo, 2022). Despite this empirical evidence on the relations between writing motives and performance, research on writing motives and how these relate to other motivational writing constructs, is still scarce within the writing research field.…”

Dialogic literary argumentation and close reading: effects on high school students’ literature-related argumentative writing and motivational beliefs

“…Even though we considered genre specificity in writing self-efficacy, the extant literature of self-efficacy suggests that self-efficacy as a three-dimensional construct: conventions (i.e., transcribing ideas into writing), ideation (i.e., generating good ideas), and self-regulation (i.e., managing the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral aspects of writing; Rasteiro and Limpo, 2023 ). Future research can be done to further examine whether the links between writer beliefs, writing self-efficacy, and argumentative writing performance would vary by sub-dimensions of self-efficacy.…”