The role of gender differences in the effect of ideal L2 writing self and imagination on continuation writing task performance

• ILWS was positively correlated with creative and reproductive imagination respectively • There was an indirect positive path from ILWS to female group's writing performance via the mediation of reproductive imagination. • The female group's overall writing score significantly outperformed that of the male group. • Findings suggested that reproductive imagination was uniquely beneficial to the specific continuation writing task for the female group, while the male group did not manage to use their imagination in writing effectively, which potentially accounts for the discrepancy in academic performance in broader practice sites. Ideal L2 writing self (ILWS), defined as an individual's hoped-for future self-concept in L2 writing, is underlying correlated with imagination. Both ILWS and imagination are assumed to promote L2 writing performance. In the context of a continuation writing task which necessitates imagination to do well, this study constructed a framework that probed the relationship between ILWS, imagination and writing performance, with an aim of understanding how the exertion of ILWS and imagination play a role in writing. Twelfth-graders (N=679) from a mainland China city attempted a continuation writing task and responded to questionnaires that solicited ILWS and the application of imagination. Structural equation models showed that ILWS was positively correlated with two types of imaginations, creative and reproductive. Only reproductive imagination contributed to writing performance. There was an indirect positive path from ILWS to female group's writing performance via the mediation of reproductive imagination. Albeit both groups reported comparable magnitudes in their ILWS and imaginations, the female group's overall writing score significantly outperformed that of the male group. Findings suggested that reproductive imagination was uniquely beneficial to the specific continuation writing task for the female group, while the male group did not manage to use their imagination in writing effectively, which potentially accounts for the discrepancy in academic performance in broader practice sites. This study lends support for the cultivation of Chinese students’ ILWS and imaginative awareness to enhance writing experience, as well as enrich the overall learning achievement.