Development and Validation of a Measure of Undergraduate Students' English Writing Motivation in Chinese Universities

Prior second language writing motivation research tends to view writing motivation as a unidimensional construct or fails to represent the latest theoretical insights in motivational research. This study therefore aimed to validate the English as a Foreign Language Writing Motivation Questionnaire (EFL-WMQ) designed to capture the multidimensionality of EFL writing motivation from multiple theoretical perspectives. A secondary aim of this study was to investigate the relationships between EFL-WMQ dimensions and English writing performance. Data were collected from two independent samples of undergraduates from mainland China (N₁ = 173; N₂ = 368). Their English writing performance was assessed by their scores on the writing section of the National College English Test-Band 4. Confirmatory factor analyses and model comparisons suggested that an eight-factor correlated EFL-WMQ model fit the data best (i.e., intrinsic orientation, identified orientation, introjected orientation, external orientation, faciliating condition, writing self-efficacy, subjective norms, and growth mindset), and provided evidence of reliability, construct validity, and measurement invariance across gender. The hierarchical regression analyses indicated that intrinsic orientation, external orientation, writing self-efficacy, and growth mindset were significant predictors of English writing performance. The contributions and implications of the findings are discussed.