The Role of Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Writing Performance of Pakistani ESL Learners at Middle-Level

Abstract

Writing is one of the most essential but also the most challenging skills for ESL learners, especially at the middle-school level, when students start to build long-term confidence or anxiety about writing in English. This research explores the significance of writing self-efficacy for the performance of writing in English among Pakistani middle-level ESL learners in District Sahiwal, using the Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1997) and underpinned by sociocultural perspectives. Quantitative research design was used to collect the data of 81 female students in Grades 6, 7, and 8 during a writing performance test and a self-efficacy questionnaire. The perceived confidence of the students, their writing problems, and the impact of the teacher and classroom support were studied using descriptive statistical analysis. The results indicated that despite the high rates at which most students indicated that they experienced high levels of self-efficacy in writing and expressed positive beliefs in their writing skills, their actual performance in writing did not cease to display consistent weaknesses in the fundamental aspects of language, especially vocabulary, grammar, and spelling. Such a discrepancy between the perceived confidence and the actual performance shows that self-efficacy is not enough to guarantee successful writing results in the absence of sufficient linguistic competence. Moreover, the teacher feedback, guidance, and classroom support were also noted to play an important role in increasing the confidence of students, but these support practices failed to lead to a significant improvement in writing performance. The research points to the necessity of ESL instructional practices that would incorporate the strategies of confidence building, overt language teaching, and skill acquisition. The study will also shape the very sparse body of knowledge on writing self-efficacy in Pakistani middle-level ESL learners and provide implications for the teachers, curriculum developers, and policy-makers.