The impacts of self-efficacy on undergraduate students’ perceived task value and task performance of L1 Chinese integrated writing : a mixed-method research

Abstract

While integrated writing (IW) has received extensive research attention, students’ self-efficacy beliefs in IW learning remain under explored, particularly in first-language (L1) IW instruction. With a sample of 239 first-year undergraduate students at a Chinese university, this study investigated students’ L1 Chinese IW self-efficacy beliefs, as well as their impacts on perceived task value and IW performance. Exploratory factor analyses identified five sub-dimensions of IW self-efficacy: ideation, conventions, source use, negative emotion control, and concentration. Notably, source use was a unique sub-dimension for IW self-efficacy. Negative emotion control and concentration were separated from the self-regulation construct in Bruning et al. (2013). Latent profile analysis categorized students into three groups based on their diverse levels of IW self-efficacy: moderate-, moderate-high-, and high-efficacious students. Students’ IW self-efficacy levels had a positive association with their perceived IW task value; however, the relationship between self-efficacy and IW performance was insignificant. Nine representative students, three from each group, were invited for the follow-up semi-structured interviews, and their responses provided complementary information for the quantitative analyses results. Pedagogical suggestions on L1 IW instruction were provided based on the findings.