Strategic teaching in ESL writing: effects of self-regulatory instruction on writing performance and self-efficacy beliefs

This study examined the effectiveness of an instructional approach, strategy plus self-regulatory instruction, that was designed to promote writing proficiency and self-efficacy perception. A randomized pre-test-post-test intervention-comparison investigation was applied to 40 students attending a local high school in central China. I established a self-regulatory routine and combined this routine with instruction in writing strategies for the intervention group. No such self-regulatory routine was taught to strategy-only students. Results indicated that students who received the self-regulatory intervention wrote qualitatively better essays and reported a higher level of writing self-regulatory efficacy than their comparison counterparts. Students who received self-regulatory intervention did not display any comparative advantages in composing longer stories nor did develop they higher levels of efficacy in self-regulated learning and academic efficacy. Results are discussed as they relate to previous research, limitations of the present study are identified, and areas in need of future research are proposed.