WRITING

SELF-EFFICACY

Gabriela Martinez

LBS 355-4

2 pages

Writing Self-Efficacy

Paper #2 Draft #3

WRITING
2

SELF-EFFICACY

Writing Self-Efficacy
Writing is pleasant for some people, but for others, it is the cause of anxiety. In Lavelles
(2006) study, she found that writing self-efficacy is directly related to writing performance. Have
you ever felt confident about doing something and as a result, had an outstanding outcome?
Somebody who combines knowledge and self-confidence on any subject, including writing, will
have a positive result. Wouldnt writing about your own experience or a subject you understand
be easier? For this purpose, I am using Lavelles (2006) findings, about the relationship between
writing and self-confidence, but also I am going to mention some weaknesses this study might
present, and how knowledge of my own writing self-efficacy can benefit me as a teacher, how I
will apply this knowledge to my future students.
For this study, Lavelle (2006) found that there are two types of writers, deep writing is a
more in-depth analysis or reflecting writing, and surface writing is shallow and reportorial.
Lavelle (2006) used three methods for this study: 1) The Low Self-Efficacy Scale designed by
Lavelle that measures the amount of low writing self-efficacy; 2) A deep and surface rubric for
writing; and 3) A holistic rubric, grading students from 1-3, with 3 being the best. The study
performed with a group of sixty four teachers, forty seven women and seventeen men; they were
given a homework project and some of the topics were cognition, self-regulation, and
motivation. A Likert scale was used for Lavelles (2006) Low Self-Efficacy Scale, and the
writing samples were graded by two graduate students.
There are some weaknesses to the study; the first weakness I noticed in this study is that
the teachers being evaluated had different levels of writing and expressive abilities. Additionally,
the length of the paper that the participants of the study had to write was between five and ten
pages, and more experienced teachers had more input to write about. Therefore, this disparity of

WRITING
3

SELF-EFFICACY

experience in the participants could easily skew the results of Lavelles study. Another
discrepancy for the study was that the results were graded by graduate students rather than more
trained professors. The results of Lavelles study do not provide enough proof to support the
claim that writing self-efficacy connects to writing performance.
Lavelle (2006) mentioned that there are many teachers that cant write at all because they
have low writing self-efficacy; she also mentioned that writers become more engaged if the topic
involves their own experience, or if the topic is similar to previous experiences. I think it is true,
that when writers write about their own experiences, it is easier to create positive feelings. These
positive feelings about writing lead to stronger writing and higher writing self-efficacy.
I feel that I have low writing self-efficacy, but if I write about events that happen to me,
or events I witnessed, or even if I am familiar with the topic, it is a little less painful to write
about. For example, last semester, one of my classes was family and community history; my first
assignment was to write about my familys history. Since the first source was me for this
assignment, and the professor said that when writing about personal experiences, there are no
wrong facts, the essay was very easy for me to develop. It takes a lot of energy for me to write
because English is my second language, and I know I make a lot of mistakes; I take each writing
assignment as a challenging experience. I think that I will definitely use my own experience to
help my students succeed in their writing. Writing self-efficacy will help me help my students
because I believe students deserve to get the best education in life and I will do my best to teach
them to have high writing self-efficacy.
In conclusion, Lavelles (2006) study proved that the relationship of writing selfefficacy and performance lead to the possibility of more in deep writing. I will use self-efficacy
for my own benefit, and for my students benefit, as well.

WRITING
4

SELF-EFFICACY

References
Lavelle, E. (2006). Techers Self-Efficacy for writing. Electronic Journal Research in
Educational Psychology, 4(1), 73-84.