The role of L2 writing self-efficacy in integrated writing strategy use and performance

The application of integrated writing tasks in academic writing assessment is increasing and research on these tasks is growing. However, the role of individual difference variables in students’ performance in source-based writing is under-researched. Thus, the present study purports to investigate the predictive contribution of L2 writing self-efficacy to the summary writing strategies used by EFL learners and their performance in a reading-to-write task. The participants of this study were 191 undergraduate university students, who answered an integrated writing task and completed questionnaires measuring L2 writing self-efficacy beliefs and summary writing strategy use. The results of structural equation modelling (SEM) revealed that the three components of writing self-efficacy, linguistic, self-regulatory, and performance self-efficacy, significantly predicted summary writing performance. It was also found that linguistic self-efficacy predicted discourse synthesis and source use strategies, while self-regulatory and performance efficacy could only predict metacognitive strategies of planning and evaluation. The results are discussed and pedagogical implications are offered.