Chapter 1

Chapter 1.1: Introduction

Writing remains the primary medium through which students of most academic disciplines

engage with the knowledge base of those disciplines. Academic writing is important and plays a major

part in developing an academic identity (Krause, 2001;Sommers &Saltz, 2004). Common expressions

we frequently hear from students are, I hate writing! I cant do this! I dont understand it or Im

not good at it What would cause a student to feel so passionate and apprehensive about writing? Many

students appear to have negative beliefs about their writing abilities due to possible factors such as

academic inexperience, language barriers, and cultural differences. Consequently, we believe these

negative beliefs may compromise their writing performance.

When confronted with completing required task like academic writing, students tends to have a

lack of confidence, preconceived notions and consistent negative criticism about their academic writing

capabilities or otherwise referred as Pajares and Johnson (1993) noted low perceived writing self-

efficacy beliefs. Perceived writing self-efficacy beliefs are defined as students judgments of their

writing capabilities and skills needed to perform various writing tasks (Pajares & Johnson, 1993). This

is rooted in Banduras (1986) definition of perceived self-efficacy beliefs as being, "...people's

judgments of their capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to attain designated

types of performances" (p. 391). While there are some students who have a high degree of confidence

in their capabilities, it is not just confidence that is a necessary attribute to achieve success.

Bandura (1997) argued that it is not only confidence that one must possess, yet perceived self-

efficacy. Perceived self-efficacy pertains to the beliefs one holds about his or her agentive capabilities

that will lead to the realization of designated levels of achievement. Thus, the strength of these beliefs

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and certainty of the level of capability are the two primary aspects of self-efficacy beliefs. Judgments of

personal efficacy affect what students do by influencing the choices they make, the effort they expend,

the persistence and perseverance they exert when obstacles arise, and the thought patterns and

emotional reactions they experience. First-generation students were also significantly more likely to

see

themselves as novice writers. There were strong positive correlations between all the

measures of writing beliefs and in particular between reading and writing self-efficacies. Beliefs

about writing were positively associated with deep learning, and, to a lesser extent strategic learning.

The common problems for students are most likely about grammar, tenses, and vocabulary. Students

are afraid to make mistakes in their essay causing them to be extremely cautious when using new

words. A strong sense of confidence, for example, may serve students well when writing an essay

because it engenders greater interest in and attention to writing, stronger effort, and greater

perseverance and resiliency in the face of adversity. On the other hand, some students are facing

problems when elaborating on points that is suitable to the main topic. They are having problems when

it comes to support the main idea because they cannot express it clearly and afraid of the elaborations

that may go sideways. However confident students are most likely to feel less apprehensive and have

stronger feelings of self-worth about their writing. For these reasons, Bandura (1986) described self-

efficacy as a mediating mechanism of personal agency mediating between the prior influences that

are the sources of its creation and subsequent behaviour. Thus, students need to know the ways to

improve themselves in terms of self-efficacy that can help them to perform better in academic writing.

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Chapter 1.2: Objectives

1. To identify the self-efficacy skills of Module 1 students of Matriculation

College have high certainty to perform well in.

2. To clarify the difference in writing performance between male and female of Science Module 1

students.
3. To make out the self-efficacy level of module 1 students.

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 Chapter 2

Chapter 2.1: Methodology

Quantity approach:

A case study research about self-efficacy among college students in Kedah Matriculation College

(KMC).Data was obtained through questionnaire method. We distributed the questionnaire forms 10

question randomly to 15 female and 15 male respondents which are from science student. The age for

the respondents is 18 years old.

We decided to proceed with this research because we found that some students face difficulties writing

in English. The questionnaires are given to students at the area of (KMC).The questionnaire contains

instructions to the students on how to answer the question. The students are chose randomly to answer

the questionnaire.

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Chapter 2.2: Population and samples

Total population of (KMC)

N:5000

Target population in (KMC)

N:780

Sample :

n:30

2.3 Sampling procedure

CLUSTER SAMPLING

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2.4:QUESTIONARY

SECTION A:

DIRECTIONS: Tick your gender in the boxes provided.

Gender: Male Female

SECTION B:

DIRECTIONS: Tick the boxes below. By using the scale from 1 to 5.How show are you can

perform in each of the writing skills below.

Note: Self-efficacy in writing is the level of confidence in oneself of his or her own writing.

1= I definitely can't 2=I can't 3= I don't know 4=I can 5=I definitely can

No Statements Scale
1 2 3 4 5
.
1. Spell all words in whole page correctly without any error.
2. Words punctuate in using of it in writing on one page
3. Use correctly parts of speech as nouns, verbs, adverbs, or adjectives.
4. Use verbs tenses, prefixes and suffixes correctly (eg. Disagree &
clearly)
5. Write simple and complex sentences with good grammar.
6. Write a solid paragraph that has a good topic sentences or main idea.
7. Write a paragraph with a lot of contain that suitable with the topic of
sentences.
8. Organize sentences into paragraph that clearly expresses the idea
9. Write a well-sequenced and well-organized start from introduction,
body, and conclusion.
10. Get ideas across in a clear manner by staying focused of the main

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 topic without getting off the topic.
11. Coincidently write a good essay.

Chapter 3

Findings and discussions

The research was carried out to look into self-efficacy or self confidence of PST module one students in

academic writing. The questionnaire was given out to 30 PST module 1 students (15 boys and 15 girls)

on 15th December 2015 in the library. To gain the data needed, the analyses of the findings were

arranged based on the Research Objectives. Discussions were done immediately at the end of the

findings of each Research Objectives.

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Chapter 3.1.1:Findings

Objective 1: To identify the self-efficacy skills of Module 1 students of

Matriculation College have high certainty to perform well in.

Q1) Spell all words in whole page correctly without any error.

45%

40%

35%

30%

25%
Percentage (%)
20% Male
Female
15%

10%

5%

0%
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q2) Word punctuate in using of it in writing on one page.

50%
45%
40%
35%
30%

Percentage 25%
Male
20%
Female
15%
10%
5%
0%
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q3)Use correctly parts of speech as nouns, verbs, adverbs, or adjectives

60%

50%

40%

Percentage 30%
Male
20% Female

10%

0%
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q4) Use verb tenses, prefixes and suffixes correctly (eg. Disagree & clearly)

50%
45%
40%
35%
30%

Percentage 25%
Male
20%
Female
15%
10%
5%
0%
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q5) Write simple and complex sentences with good grammar.

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45%

40%

35%

30%

25%
Male
20% Female

15%

10%

5%

0%
1 2 3 4 5

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Chapter 3.1.2 Discussions

Objective 2: To clarify the difference in writing performance between male and female of Science

Module 1 students.

Q6) Write a solid paragraph that has a good topic sentences with good grammar

45

40

35

30

25
Percentage
20 Male
15 Female

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q7) Write a paragraph with a lot of content that are suitable with the topic of sentence.

35%

30%

25%

20%
Percentage
15% Male
Female
10%

5%

0%
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q8) Organize sentences into paragraph that clearly expresses an idea.

45

40

35

30

25
Percentage
20 Male
15 Female

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Q9) write a well-sequenced and well-organized start form introduction, body and conclusion.

70

60

50

40
Male
30 Female

20

10

0
1 2 3 4 5

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Q10)Get idea across in a clear manner by staying focused of the main topic without getting off the

topic.

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 50
45
40
35
30

Percentage 25
Male
20
Female
15
10
5
0
1 2 3 4 5

Scale

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Chapter 3.2.2: Discussions

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Chapter 3.3.1: Findings

Objective 3: To make out the self-efficacy level of module 1 students.

50%
45%
40%
35%
30%

Percentage 25%
Male
20%
Female
15%
10%
5%
0%
1 2 3 4 5

Axis Title

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