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Volume 12. Issue 2
Article 2

Title
The Influence of Motivation and Attitude on Writing Strategy Use of Undergraduate EFL Students: Quantitative and Qualitative Perspectives

Deepti Gupta and Getachew Seyoum Woldemariam

Abstract
The purpose of this study was to examine the influence of motivation and attitude on the writing strategy use of undergraduate EFL students at Jimma University, Ethiopia. The students are required to develop their writing skills to meet academic requirements and future demands of writing in professional settings. Data was collected from respondents about their motivation and attitude, writing ability and writing strategy use using questionnaires, proficiency test and interviews (n=680, 668 and 46 respectively). Analyses and summaries of the data were done using quantitative and qualitative techniques. Results obtained indicated that undergraduate students with strong motivation demonstrated high level of enjoyment, confidence, perceived ability, and positive attitude towards effective teaching methods of writing, and they were found to have employed writing strategies most frequently. That is, highly motivated students were found to use more writing strategies than less motivated ones. Moreover, students who frequently practised writing, exerted adequate effort, scored expected grades, and obtained early support and encouragement from significant others were also found to be high writing strategy users. The study also revealed that the majority of the undergraduate students were instrumentally motivated when learning writing. This motive has been found to be one of the main driving forces in developing writing skills of learners in the EFL context.
 
Keywords: Writing Strategies, Motivation, Attitude, Writing Goals, and Motivational Variables

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