Writing Motivation Research, Measurement and Pedagogy

Muhammad M. M. Abdel Latif

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780367856274
• eBook ISBN: 9781000258066
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Personal Success

This book provides a unique reference and comprehensive overview of the issues pertinent to conceptualizing, measuring, researching and nurturing writing motivation.

Abdel Latif covers these theoretical, practical and research issues by drawing on the literature related to the eight main constructs of writing motivation: writing apprehension, attitude, anxiety, self-efficacy, self-concept, learning goals, perceived value of writing and motivational regulation. Specifically, the book covers the historical research developments of the field, the measures of the main writing motivation constructs, the correlates and sources of writing motivation, and profiles of motivated and demotivated writers. The book also describes the types of the instructional research of writing motivation, provides pedagogical guidelines and procedures for motivating students to write, and presents suggestions for advancing writing motivation research, measurement and pedagogy.

Detailed, up-to-date, and with a glossary which includes definitions of the main terms used in the six chapters, this book will be of great interest to academics, researchers and post-graduate students in the fields of language education, applied linguistics, psycholinguistics and educational psychology.

1 Writing motivation research

Historical developments and conceptualizations of the constructs

1.1 Introduction

Before addressing the various issues in researching, measuring, and teaching writing motivation, it is important to start with defining it and its main constructs and tracing the historical developments in this research area. Clarifying these key concepts will help readers develop deeper understanding of the relevant issues discussed in the next parts of the book. In this introductory chapter, the author highlights the role played by motivation in shaping writers' learning experiences and performance. This is followed by tracing the historical roots and developments in writing motivation research. The longest section in chapter includes a detailed discussion of the conceptualization issues of the main motivation writing constructs researched so far. Based on the conclusions drawn from discussing these issues, the author provides a framework of writing motivation constructs and their types. The framework will guide the discussion of the issues highlighted in the following chapters.

1.2 Writing motivation: Definition and importance

Motivation cannot be ignored when talking about writing. Writing motivation has been researched so far for more than four and a half decades. Though “writing motivation” has been conceptualized in a much narrower sense than the term “motivation”, it remains an umbrella term characterized by its broad conceptual nature. Some other terms have been interchangeably used with “writing motivation”, including writing affect (Hayes, 1996; Piazza & Siebert, 2008; Wright, Hodges, & McTigue, 2019), writers' beliefs (Hidi & Boscolo, 2007; Pajares & Valiante, 2001), and writing self- perceptions (Bottomley, Henk, & Melnick, 1997; Leggette, Redwine, & Busick, 2020; Lingwall & Kuehn, 2013). Before defining writing motivation, it is perhaps necessary to look briefly at the definitions and conceptualizations of the two broader but related constructs: general motivation and second language (L2) learning motivation.

The word motivation is derived from the Latin verb “movere” which means “to move”; thus it generally implies the psychological and emotional force that leads the individual to make specific choices, take particular actions, exert effort, and show persistence in certain situations or tasks (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2011). Dörnyei and Ottó (1998) provide the following comprehensive definition of motivation:

In a general sense, motivation can be defined as the dynamically changing cumulative arousal in a person that initiates, directs, coordinates, amplifies, terminates, and evaluates the cognitive and motor processes whereby initial wishes and desires are selected, prioritised, operationalised and (successfully or unsuccessfully) acted out. (p. 65)

On the other hand, L2 learning motivation has been defined in various ways. As Dörnyei and Ushioda (2011) note, the theoretical framework of L2 learning motivation has been expanded during the following three main historical periods of its research: the social psychological period (1959–1990), cognitive-situated period (the 1990s), and the process-oriented period that started at the turn of the century. For example, during the social psychological period, Gardner (1985) viewed language learning motivation as a construct composed of three components: a desire to learn the language, a positive attitude towards learning it, and an effort made to accomplish the target language learning goal. Ten years later, Tremblay and Gardner (1995) provided a more complex framework for L2 learning motivation, which includes language attitudes, motivational behaviours related to specificity of the learner's goals, L2-learning-related value, self-efficacy, and achievement sequence. A well-cited framework of L2 learning motivation is the one developed by Dörnyei (1994) and it includes three distinct levels related to the language (integrative and instrumental motivational subsystems), the learner (need for achievement and self-confidence), and the learning situation (course-specific, teacher-specific, and group-specific motivational components).

On the other hand, four types of L2 learning motivation have been identified and researched heavily; these are integrative, instrumental, intrinsic, and extrinsic motivation. The instrumental and integrative language learning motivation constructs were introduced by Gardner and Lambert in their early works (1959, 1972). While integrative motivation refers to willingness to learn a particular language to successfully interact with its valued culture and community members, instrumental motivation means learning a language for a pragmatic purpose such as getting a better job or a financial reward. The terms “intrinsic/extrinsic motivation” were coined by Deci and Ryan (1985) in their educational psychological theory of self-determination. Intrinsic motivation means learning a language as a result of internal desires such as self-enjoyment and self-satisfaction, whereas extrinsic motivation – a closely related construct to instrumental motivation – refers to learning a language due to external rewards such as obtaining grades in a course or praise from teachers (Noels, 2001).

As for writing motivation, it is viewed as a dynamic multifaceted construct that varies depending on different developmental stages, disciplines, environments, and tasks (Wright et al., 2019). Unlike the many frameworks developed for conceptualizing L2 learning motivation, very scarce attempts have been made to typologize the types of writing motivational perceptions. For example, Daly (1985) distinguishes between two types of writers' motivational perceptions and beliefs: a) the dispositional perceptions lasting consistently over time and across situations; and b) the situational feelings which are temporary and closely tied to particular situations or tasks. Daly's taxonomy seems to resemble Linnenbrink's (2006) differentiation between trait-like and state-like learning affect. While the former type mirrors a relatively stable response to learning tasks and settings, the latter reflects a less stable and situational one. On the other hand, Hidi and Boscolo (2007) also refer to the following three motivational constructs of writing: a) motives which include the writer's goal orientation, needs, values, and interests activating their behaviours; b) perceptions of one's abilities to write and perform tasks; and c) regulation of one's writing cognition and behaviours. In Wright et al.'s (2019) recent model, writing motivation is described as a construct composed of beliefs about oneself as a writer (self-concept and self-efficacy), beliefs about writing value, and attitudes towards writing.

In light of these typologies and the relevant literature, writing motivation can be defined as an umbrella term encompassing learners' liking or disliking of writing situations and perceived value of writing, the situational feelings they experience while writing and the way they regulate them, the beliefs about their writing ability and skills, and their desired goals for learning to write.

If Skehan (1989) views motivation as the second strongest predictor of L2 learning – trailing behind language aptitude, a comparable impact can also be noted for writing motivation on student writers' performance and learning habits. Writers' performance interacts with a combination of motivational, cognitive, social, and environmental variables. Motivation plays an influential role in students' writing learning, performance, and development. With the increasing recognition that writing difficulties arise from demotivation, the motivation/affect component was included in Hayes's (1996) updated version of the Flower-Hayes (1980) writing process model. In his model, Hayes (1996) conceptualizes “motivation and affect” as a main predictor of writers' cognitive processes. Apart from the process models, some writing ability models have also emphasized the role of motivation in shaping writers' competence. For example, Sasaki and Hirose (1996) include writing confidence in their model as a potentially explanatory factor of L2 writing ability.

Research indicates that motivation greatly influences a number of dimensions related to writers' task approach behaviours (e.g., Fritzsche, Young, & Hickson, 2003; Onwuegbuzie & Collins, 2001), their composing processes (Abdel Latif, 2009; Selfe, 1984), the texts they write (Abdel Latif, 2015), and their long-term writing experiences (Atay & Kurt, 2006). This great role is discussed in detail in chapter 3, which highlights what research says about the influence of writing motivation on learners' performance at these process and product levels. Due to the influential role of writing motivation, considerable attention should be given to researching, assessing, and teaching it. These are the three main issues this book addresses.

1.3 Motivational constructs researched in writing studies: Historical roots and developments

Very early research on writing motivation dates back to the mid-1970s when Daly and Miller (1975a) reported their seminal work on writers' apprehension. Thus, writing motivation research occurred about a decade and a half after the publication of Gardner and Lambert's (1959) early work on language learning motivation. Since the mid-1970s, the area of writing motivation research has seen major developments. During this four and a half-decade period, much literature and research have accumulated on a number of writing motivational constructs. Eight main constructs have been addressed in such accumulated research; these are: writing apprehension, attitude, anxiety, self-efficacy, self-concept, outcome expectancy/achievement goal orientation, perceived value of writing, and motivational regulation of writing. Additionally, some other writing motivational constructs have recently been coined but do not seem to be strong ones and they also overlap in one way or another with the above-mentioned constructs.

In their coinage of the larger number of writing motivation constructs, researchers were mainly influenced by educational psychology or oral language communication literature rather than language learning motivation research. A main reason for this is that these constructs were developed in first language (L1) writing environments whereas most language...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• List of Tables
• Introduction
• 1 Writing motivation research: Historical developments and conceptualisations of the constructs
• 2 Measuring writing motivation
• 3 Profiling motivated and demotivated writers
• 4 Instructional research of writing motivation
• 5 Motivating students to write: Some research-driven guidelines
• 6 Advancing writing motivation measurement, 
research, and pedagogy
• Glossary
• Index