From Students’ Perception: Negative Attitude and Students’ writing self-efficacy

Abstract

This study aims to explore the relationship between students’ negative attitude and their writing self-efficacy towards learning argumentative academic essay. In order to detect students’ negative attitude, the study primarily intents to discover what possible types of negative feelings – variables that stand as a learner’s traits – can occur and force students to struggle this type of attitude. In order to explore the influence of these negative emotional variables on academic achievement in general as well as writing self-efficacy in particular, the current study merges a connection  of the four fundamental working proposals stated by Grahame (2006), Grahames’ et al., (2007) three tested models, and Culbertson’s (1986) view that links between the psychologist view of attitude and the behaviorist view in learning. The present study utilizes a purely qualitative research design. Data were collected using group interview (unstructured interview). The participants are Libyan EFL university students. They were selected purposively. They all participated voluntarily. Data were analyzed using thematic and descriptive analysis method. The finding revealed that the majority of students face different types of negative feeling that force them to struggle negative attitude in learning and writing academic essay. Consequently, the results found a consistent link to Grahame’s (2006) third working proposition that individual negative differences in motivation among the participants had predicted low writing performance. The findings also revealed a consistent alignment with Grahames’ et al., (2007) first tested model that students’ writing attitude influences writing achievement in unidirectional manner. Finally, findings indicated a significant agreement to Culbertson’s (1968) view that there was a negative relationship between negative attitude and writing self-efficacy, making participants lose tendency towards learning and/ or involving in any future writing activities. Consequently, results had explored that being overwhelmed by such loss of tendency, it influenced most of their personal decision inappropriately, forcing them to give up and withdraw the entire learning act.