The Role of Attitude, Self-Efficacy and Metacognitive Strategy Awareness in Writing Skill: Which is More Effective?

Abstract

Many studies in the current literature have explored various aspects of writing skill, including factors influencing the writing process, writing skill development, motivation to write, and effective writing methods. This study aims to explore the factors that contribute to writing skill proficiency. Based on the literature review, the factors investigated in this study encompassed writing attitude, writing self-efficacy, and metacognitive awareness of writing strategies. This study adopted a correlational approach to determine the role played by attitude, self-efficacy, and metacognitive strategy awareness in writing skills. The study group of the research comprises 265 7th grade students from Atatürk Secondary School, Mehmet Emin Yurdakul Secondary School, and Nasreddin Hoca Secondary School in the Yenimahalle district of Ankara province. Data collection involved the use of the Attitude Towards Writing Scale, Writing Self-Efficacy Scale, Metacognitive Writing Strategies Awareness Scale, and narrative texts composed by students. Student texts were evaluated using a Writing Skill Rubric. Data analysis was performed using Microsoft Excel, and the statistical software SPSS 26.0. The Pearson Product-Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) was employed to assess the relationships between study variables, while simple, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to determine the predictive impact of independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings of this study indicate a positive correlation between attitude, self-efficacy, metacognitive writing strategy awareness, and students’ writing skills. Additionally self-efficacy, and attitude were found to be predictors of students’ writing skills, whereas metacognitive writing strategy awareness did not demonstrate a significant predictive effect. Based on the study outcomes, several recommendations have been proposed for researchers.