An Intervention Program To Improve Writing Self-Efficacy In Second Language Among Immigrant-Adolescents

Orit Zipora Martinotti ,
Vasile Chiş

Abstract

This paper focuses on the investigation of the writing self-efficacy beliefs of immigrant adolescent-students who learn the target country language as a second language (L2). The empirical literature illustrates that, when learning L2, writing is the most complex and challenging for the students and the last skill that they master. However, high writing self-efficacy beliefs in L2 and the instruction of writing strategies in L2, have been found to improve the writing performance. The present study mainly aimed to explore the effect of a writing intervention program on the self-efficacy beliefs of immigrant adolescent-students. The proposed intervention program included explicit instruction of writing an argumentative essay by a teacher qualified to teach L2, as well as practicing the strategy through writing assignments. The research participants were 30 immigrant adolescent-students, living at the center of Israel, who learn Hebrew as L2 in classes designated for learning Hebrew, called in Hebrew “Ulpan”. The research method was quantitative and the data were collected by a structured questionnaire pre and post the writing intervention program. The findings indicated a considerable improvement in the self-efficacy beliefs in essay writing, manifested in dimensions examined both separately and together. This paper presents an initial study in Israel that points a spotlight on the writing self-efficacy beliefs of “Ulpan” students. Its findings indicate two main challenges in L2 teaching pedagogy: developing a systemic awareness of improving L2 writing through the instruction of writing strategies and training L2 teachers in writing instruction by suitable writing strategies.

Keywords: Self-efficacywriting skillimmigrant-adolescentssecond language teaching

Introduction

This paper presents a stage of a wider doctoral thesis, aiming to explore the effect of a pedagogical intervention program on the second language (L2) writing skills of immigrant adolescent-students. These students have immigrated to the target country, Israel, and are learning the Hebrew language as L2 in designated classes for Hebrew teaching, called in Hebrew “Hebrew Ulpan ”, or in short “ Ulpan ” (Aviad, 2007). The students are required to use writing already from the beginning of their learning in school and in the Ulpan (Shalom, 2016).

The empirical stage on which this paper focuses, engages in the level of L2 writing self-efficacy beliefs of the immigrant-adolescents. Their writing self-efficacy beliefs were examined pre and post attending the intervention program that consisted of inculcating an argumentative essay writing strategy and practicing it by means of writing assignments. This approach was adopted since the implementation of learning strategies in writing had been shown to enhance the students’ self-efficacy beliefs regarding the acquisition of writing skills in L2 (Kim et al., 2015; Wilby, 2019). Moreover, studies indicate that writing self-efficacy beliefs in L2, predict the writing performance in L2 (e.g., Hetthong & Teo, 2013; Teng et al., 2018).

Theoretical Background

Writing in L2 is considered the most challenging and complex skill for students (Allen & Corder, 1974; Kustati & Yuhardi, 2014; Manchón, 2017; Mohammad & Hazarika, 2016; Zabihi, 2018), as it is in the students’ mother tongue (L1) (Irawati, 2015; Lichtinger & Kaplan, 2016; Santangelo et al., 2007). Furthermore, writing is the last language skill which L2 learners master (Williams, 2012). Writing in L2 intensifies the students’ writing challenges, since additional difficulties are added to their difficulties in L1 writing, harming the quality of their writing, such as: inability to generate ideas for writing in L2 (Hyland, 1996); lack of writing approach in L2, limited capabilities in L2, low self-efficacy and motivation, no proactive planning (Dastjerdi & Samian, 2011; Erkan & Saban, 2011; Hammad, 2016); lack of grammatical-linguistic ability (Ghabool et al., 2012); lack of exposure to effective writing strategies (Hamzah & Abdullah, 2009); and emotional discomfort (Hammad, 2016).

At school, students extensively engage in writing throughout the school day (Feder & Majnemer, 2007). Shalom (2016) argues that immigrant adolescent-students are required to write in L2 already at the beginning of their learning in the Ulpan classes and in their lessons at school, as math classes. Furthermore, Golan and Amir (2017) underscore the importance of writing skill in the process of the students’ L2 learning, in order to attain academic success at school.

Writing self-efficacy beliefs relate to the way individuals perceive their ability to plan and perform writing assignments successfully (Bandura, 1982; Zimmerman & Bandura, 1994). It also refers to people’s perception of their ability to use the set of skills necessary for performing various writing assignments (Pajares & Johnson, 1996). Moreover, according to Bandura (1995), writing self-efficacy beliefs are not static and their sources can be affected and developed.

Writing self-efficacy beliefs in L2 were found as predictors of L2 writing performance (Hetthong & Teo, 2013; Teng et al., 2018; Troia et al., 2013). According to Zabihi (2018), a high level of writing self-efficacy beliefs, made writers display greater enthusiasm while writing in L2. This was manifested by perseverance in the performance of the writing assignments, extensive efforts invested throughout the assignment, as well as flexibility in overcoming obstacles while completing the writing assignment. Similarly, Hetthong and Teo (2013) found a relationship between students’ high writing self-efficacy beliefs and their writing performance in L2. This relationship was demonstrated on both the paragraph level and in the sub-skills, such as vocabulary, grammar, spelling and punctuation.

Brown (2014) stipulates that in the process of L2 learning, strategies are conscious techniques that the learners use in order to solve problems they face while learning. According to Hamzah and Abdullah (2009), the lack of exposure to efficient writing strategies while learning L2, harms the students’ writing products. Furthermore, empirical applied studies (e.g., Arjmand, 2012; Manchón, 2011; Shafiee et al., 2013), illustrated that a continuous use of suitable writing strategies, helped L2 learners in overcoming their writing difficulties and learning to write independently and effectively. Yuan et al. (2018) maintain that learning strategies, including writing, should be inculcated to junior high and high school students only by teachers. Moreover, teachers should instruct the writing strategies in an explicit manner (Graham et al., 2013; Graham & Perin, 2007) and practice them in order to improve the students’ writing (Bean, 2011; Kellogg & Whiteford, 2009; MacArthur et al., 2015).

Problem Statement

The empirical literature illustrates the importance of nurturing the writing self-efficacy. However, studies indicate gaps that are associated with self-efficacy in each of the following aspects:

The relationship between writing self-efficacy beliefs, writing strategies and L2 writing performance has not been sufficiently investigated (Khosravi et al., 2017; Raoofi & Maroofi, 2017);

There are only a few studies that engage in the perception and development of self-efficacy among immigrants, including immigrant-adolescents (Amrani, 2017; Phan, 2013).

This gives rise to the need for exploring the relationship between writing self-efficacy beliefs and learning L2 writing strategies among immigrant-adolescents.

Research Questions

The research question that underpins this part of the study is: “To what extent does acquiring and practicing a learning strategy for essay writing, affect immigrant adolescent-students’ writing self-efficacy beliefs?”

It was hypothesized that there would be a positive relationship between attending the intervention program and the students’ writing self-efficacy beliefs. After completion of the intervention program, there will be an improvement in the scores of the writing self-efficacy beliefs in the dimensions: content, organization and language, examined both separately and combined together.

Purpose of the Study

The present study aims to explore the relationship between writing self-efficacy beliefs and learning writing strategies in L2 among immigrant adolescent-students in the Israeli context. In order to accomplish this goal, an intervention program for learning an essay writing strategy was implemented in Ulpan classes of Hebrew learning as L2 in Israel, during the first half of the academic year 2019-2020.

Research Methods

This research was designed as follows.

Research Population

The research population of the present study consisted of 30 immigrant adolescent-students (N=30), 17 males (56.7%) and 13 females (43.3%). These students were in the 7th – 11th grades and their age ranged between 12-17 years (M=14.39, SD-1.5). They learnt in Ulpan classes that belong to one Hebrew-learning school, and these classes were distributed in five different schools at the center of Israel.

The data for this part of the study were collected in 9.2019, before the students attended the intervention program, as well as half a year later, i.e., after completing their attendance at the writing intervention program.

Research Method and Instrument

The present study used the survey method, based on a quantitative questionnaire that examined the students’ writing self-efficacy beliefs. The questionnaire investigated the immigrant adolescent-students’ beliefs concerning their writing self-efficacy beliefs. It comprised eight close-ended items, each of them starting with the assertion: “I am certain that…”. The respondents had to place themselves on a scale, ranging between 0 (no chance) and 100 (completely certain). The research instrument is based on the questionnaire of Pajares et al. (1999), which was translated into Hebrew and adapted to the Israeli education system by Shir (2002) for the study that she conducted in Israel.

Procedure

In order to respond to the research question, the empirical procedure comprised four stages according to the following sequence. At the first stage, the research participants responded to the quantitative questionnaire in order to examine their writing self-efficacy beliefs. At the second stage, the students attended an intervention program, in which they learnt a strategy of writing an argumentative essay and practiced essay writing according to this writing strategy. The pedagogy of the writing strategy instruction was based on the rhetorical model “Argumentation and its establishment model” designed by Lichtinger (2008). At the third stage, upon completion of the intervention program, the questionnaire was administered in the same format as at the first stage, according to the method of Bandura (1997). At the end of the data collection stage, a statistical analysis was performed in accordance with the research hypotheses. First, the reliability of the questionnaire items was examined and the descriptive statistics indices were calculated. Then, the research hypotheses were examined and t-test was applied to determine the significance of the differences between the participants' results obtained pre and post the intervention phase.

Findings

For the purpose of examining the research hypotheses, a t-test for two collected data was performed. The independent variable was the writing intervention program and the dependent variables were the writing self-efficacy beliefs in the dimensions: content, organization and language, examined both separately and together.

Analysis of the text findings corroborated the research hypotheses. They demonstrated that:

  • the writing self-efficacy beliefs in the content dimension of the students, after their attendance at the intervention program (M=81.50, SD=7.67), were significantly higher (t(29)=13.18, p<.001), in comparison with their writing self-efficacy beliefs prior to their attendance at the intervention program (M=53.33, SD=12.13);

  • the writing self-efficacy beliefs in the organization dimension of the students, after their attendance at the intervention program (M=81.67, SD=6.59), were significantly higher (t(29)=11.48, p<.001), in comparison with their writing self-efficacy beliefs prior to their attendance at the intervention program (M=54.44, SD=14.26);

  • the writing self-efficacy beliefs in the language dimension of the students, after their attendance at the intervention program (M=82.22, SD=7.02), were significantly higher (t(29)= 11.76, p<.001), in comparison with their writing self-efficacy beliefs prior to their attendance at the intervention program (M=58.78, SD=12.67);

  • the combined writing self-efficacy beliefs of the students, after their attendance at the intervention program (M=81.75, SD=6.29), were significantly higher (t(29)=11.83, p<.001), in comparison with their writing self-efficacy beliefs prior to their attendance at the intervention program (M=56.13, SD=12.92).

Table 1 -
See Full Size >

The findings presented in Table 01 indicate that, after completion of the writing intervention program, the score given by the students to their writing self-efficacy beliefs was higher on average than their score of their writing self-efficacy beliefs pre the intervention program. The higher score was manifested in each of the three dimensions that comprise the general self-efficacy in writing: content, organization and language, as well as in their combination together.

Table 2 -
See Full Size >

As presented in Table 02 , the research hypotheses were corroborated. Statistically significant differences were found between the students’ score of their writing self-efficacy beliefs pre- and post-attending the writing intervention program. A t-test of the dimensions that were examined separately and together was positive and on a high statistical significance level.

Conclusion

The intervention program proposed by the present study, designed to improve writing in L2, was implemented in Ulpan classes for immigrant adolescent-students who learn Hebrew in Israel. The analysis of the findings related to the participants’ writing self-efficacy beliefs illustrated a statistically significant relationship between their attendance of the L2 writing intervention program and their writing self-efficacy beliefs. That is, after attending the intervention program that included instruction of a strategy for writing an argumentative essay and practicing it by a qualified teacher, the students scored their writing self-efficacy beliefs significantly higher than pre attending this program. This higher score was manifested in each of the three dimensions: content, organization and language and in their combination together.

The part of the present study that is presented in this paper indicates a research limitation that relates to the appropriate time for using the learning strategy of writing during the L2 teaching process. The present study does not respond to the question whether there are any limitations of using the L2 writing strategies with regard to the L2 learning stage, at which it can more effectively assist the students in writing by means of the learning strategy of writing. Answering this question requires additional studies conducted by the suitable methods.

The intervention program proposed by the present study, yielded encouraging results that illustrated the great potential of using explicit instruction of learning strategies of writing designed to improve L2 writing. This gives rise to a clear need for implementing applied conclusions. These conclusions for the enhancement of L2 writing self-efficacy beliefs among immigrant adolescent-students are effective for the pedagogy of L2 writing instruction both in Israel and abroad. First, there is an initial and necessary need for developing a systemic awareness of improving L2 writing by means of explicit instruction of a writing strategy. Second, we should consider the key role of L2 teachers in the explicit instruction of the writing strategy to their students. Following these moves, it is recommended developing and implementing a designated pedagogical program for training teachers to teach learning strategies for L2 writing.

References

  1. Allen, J. P., & Corder, S. P. (1974). Techniques in applied linguistics. Oxford University Press.
  2. Amrani, L. (2017). Resilience factors as moderators of the relationship between immigration difficulties and psychological distress and suicidal ideation among emerging adult immigrants in Israel (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Ramat-Gan, Israel: Bar Ilan University. [in Hebrew]
  3. Arjmand, G. (2012). The relationship of self-regulated learning and motivational learning strategies with intermediate EFL learners’ achievement (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Najafabad, Iran: Islamic Azad University.
  4. Aviad, R. (2007). The Hebrew Language Teaching Project. In Y. Yovel, Y. Tzaban, & D. Shaham (Eds.), New Jewish Time: Vol. 2. Jewish Culture in a Secular Age - An Encyclopedic View (pp. 294-298). Jerusalem: Keter. [in Hebrew]
  5. Bandura, A. (1982). Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist, 37(2), 122-147.
  6. Bandura, A. (1995). Self-efficacy in changing societies. Cambridge University Press.
  7. Bandura, A. (1997). Self-Efficacy: the exercise of control. Freeman and Company.
  8. Bean, J. C. (2011). Engaging Ideas: The professor’s guide to integrating writing, critical thinking, and active learning in the classroom (2nd ed.). Jossey-Bass.
  9. Brown, H. D. (2014). Principles of language learning and teaching (6th ed.). Pearson.
  10. Dastjerdi, V. H., & Samian, H. S. (2011). Quality of Iranian EFL learners' argumentative essays: Cohesive devices in focus. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences, 2(2), 65-76.
  11. Erkan, D. Y., & Saban, A. I. (2011). Writing Performance Relative to Writing Apprehension, Self-Efficacy in Writing, and Attitudes towards Writing: A Correlational Study in Turkish Tertiary-Level EFL. The Asian EFL Journal, 13(1), 164-191. ‏
  12. Feder, K. P., & Majnemer, A. (2007). Handwriting development, competency, and intervention. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 49(4), 312-317.
  13. Ghabool, N., Mariadass, M. E., & Kashef, S. H. (2012). Investigating Malaysian ESL students’ writing problems on conventions, punctuation, and language use at secondary school level. Journal of Studies in Education, 2(3), 130-143. ‏
  14. Golan, R., & Amir, A. (2017). Fostering communicative competence in Hebrew as a second language as a mean to social integration among immigrant students in elementary school. Israel Studies in Language and Society, 10(1), 77-100. [in Hebrew]
  15. Graham, S., & Perin, D. (2007). A meta-analysis of writing instruction for adolescent students. Journal of educational psychology, 99(3), 445.
  16. Graham, S., Gillespie, A., & McKeown, D. (2013). Writing: Importance, development, and instruction. Reading and writing, 26(1), 1-15. DOI:
  17. Hammad, A. E. (2016). Palestinian university students' problems with EFL essay writing in an instructional setting. In A. Ahmed, & H. Abou abdelkader (Eds.), Teaching EFL writing in the 21st century Arab world: Realities & challenges (pp. 99-124). Palgrave Macmillan.
  18. Hamzah, M. S. G., & Abdullah, S. K. (2009). Analysis on metacognitive strategies in reading and writing among Malaysian ESL learners in four education institutions. European Journal of Social Sciences, 11(4), 676-683.‏
  19. Hetthong, R., & Teo, A. (2013). Does writing self-efficacy correlate with and predict writing performance? International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 2(1), 157-167.
  20. Hyland, K. (1996). Writing without conviction? Hedging in science research articles. Applied linguistics, 17(4), 433-454.
  21. Irawati, L. (2015). Applying Cultural Project Based Learning to Develop Students’ Academic Writing. Dinamika Ilmu, 15(1), 25–34.
  22. Kellogg, R. T., & Whiteford, A. P. (2009). Training advanced writing skills: The case for deliberate practice. Educational Psychologist, 44(4), 250-266.‏
  23. Khosravi, M., Ghoorchaei, B., & Arabmofrad, A. (2017). The relationship between writing strategies, self-efficacy and writing ability: A case of Iranian EFL students. International Journal of English Language & Translation Studies, 5(3), 96-102.
  24. Kim, D. H., Wang, C., Ahn, H. S., & Bong, M. (2015). English language learners' self-efficacy profiles and relationship with self-regulated learning strategies. Learning and Individual Differences, 38, 136-142.
  25. Kustati, M., & Yuhardi, Y. (2014). The effect of the Peer-Review Technique on students’ writing ability. Studies in English Language and Education, 1(2), 71-81. DOI:
  26. Lichtinger, E. (2008). The challenge of expression: Self-regulation and strategies in writing. Tel Aviv: MOFET Institute. [in Hebrew]
  27. Lichtinger, E., & Kaplan, A. (2016). Self-regulation and motivation in the writing process. Studies in Education, 13, 404-421. [in Hebrew]
  28. MacArthur, C. A., Philippakos, Z. A., & Ianetta, M. (2015). Self-regulated strategy instruction in college developmental writing. Journal of Educational Psychology, 107(3), 855–867.
  29. Manchón, R. M. (2011). Situating the learning-to-write and writing-to-learn dimensions of L2 writing. In R. M. Manchón (Ed.), Learning-to-write and writing-to-learn in an additional language (pp. 3-14). John Benjamins.
  30. Manchón, R. M. (2017). The multifaceted and situated nature of the interaction between language and writing in academic settings: Advancing research agendas. In J. Bitchener, N. Storch, & R. Wette (Eds.), Teaching writing for academic purposes to multilingual students: Instructional approaches (pp. 183–199). Routledge.
  31. Mohammad, T., & Hazarika, Z. (2016). Difficulties of learning EFL in KSA: Writing skills in context. International Journal of English Linguistics, 6(3), 105-117. ‏
  32. Pajares, F., & Johnson, M. J. (1996). Self‐efficacy beliefs and the writing performance of entering high school students. Psychology in the Schools, 33(2), 163-175.
  33. Pajares, F., Miller, M. D., & Johnson, M. J. (1999). Gender differences in writing self-beliefs of elementary school students. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(1), 50-61.
  34. Phan, H. P. (2013). Examination of self-efficacy and hope: A developmental approach using latent growth modeling. The Journal of Educational Research, 106(2), 93-104.
  35. Raoofi, S., & Maroofi, Y. (2017). Relationships among motivation (self-efficacy and task value), strategy use and performance in L2 writing. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies, 35(3), 299-310.‏
  36. Santangelo, T., Harris, K., & Graham, S. (2007). Self-regulated strategy development: A validated model to support students who struggle with writing. Learning Disability: A Contemporary Journal, 5(1), 1-20.
  37. Shafiee, S., Koosha, M., & Afghari, A. (2013). The effect of conventional, Web-based, and Hybrid teaching of pre-writing strategies on Iranian EFL learners’ writing performance. International Research Journal of Applied and Basic Sciences, 4(2), 393-401.
  38. Shalom, Y. (2016). The Ulpan. Jerusalem, Israel: Jerusalem Ulpan. [in Hebrew]
  39. Shir, R. (2002). Teaching within a "community of learners’" effect on reading comprehension, writing skills and efficacy beliefs of students (Unpublished Master’s thesis). Ramat-Gan, Israel: Bar Ilan University. [in Hebrew]
  40. Teng, L. S., Sun, P. P., & Xu, L. (2018). Conceptualizing writing self‐efficacy in English as a foreign language context: Scale validation through structural equation modeling. TESOL Quarterly, 52(4), 911–942.
  41. Troia, G. A., Harbaugh, A. G., Shankland, R. K., Wolbers, K. A., & Lawrence, A. M. (2013). Relationships between writing motivation, writing activity, and writing performance: Effects of grade, sex, and ability. Reading and Writing, 26(1), 17-44. ‏
  42. Wilby, J. (2019). The development of international students' motivation, self-regulation, and writing from source texts (Doctoral dissertation). UK: Lancaster University. https://eprints.lancs.ac.uk/id/eprint/134982/1/2019wilbyphd.pdf
  43. Williams, J. (2012). The potential role (s) of writing in second language development. Journal of Second Language Writing, 21(4), 321–331.
  44. Yuan, Y., Liu, R., & Yuan, Y. (2018). A Study on Chinese Learning Strategies of International School Students in China. Science, 6(6), 123-128.
  45. Zabihi, R. (2018). The role of cognitive and affective factors in measures of L2 writing. Written Communication, 35(1), 32-57.
  46. Zimmerman, B. J., & Bandura, A. (1994). Impact of self-regulatory influences on writing course attainment. American educational research journal, 31(4), 845-862.

Copyright information

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

About this article

Publication Date

31 March 2021

Article Doi

https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.03.02.9

eBook ISBN

978-1-80296-103-4

Publisher

European Publisher

Volume

104

Print ISBN (optional)

-

Edition Number

1st Edition

Pages

1-536

Subjects

Education, teacher, digital education, teacher education, childhood education, COVID-19, pandemic

Cite this article as:

Martinotti, O. Z., & Chiş, V. (2021). An Intervention Program To Improve Writing Self-Efficacy In Second Language Among Immigrant-Adolescents. In I. Albulescu, & N. Stan (Eds.), Education, Reflection, Development – ERD 2020, vol 104. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 80-88). European Publisher. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2021.03.02.9

Copy citation text