Motivation in Writing Instruction

As I continue tutoring my reading clinic student and have focused on writing instruction for most of the school year with my 7th graders, I wonder what I can do to increase motivation for writing. I have found that with both groups of students, writing is something they are resistant to and find little engagement in. For me, it is easy to find ways to motivate the students extrinsically (via stickers, rewards, praise, free computer time, etc.), but I struggle to motivate them intrinsically, which I know will gain greater growth.

Writing is a complex literacy activity that requires students to think cognitively, problem-solve and synthesize what they know simultaneously. Without completing these activities in unison, students cannot efficiently communicate their ideas, which is the goal of writing. Motivating students to be interested and engaged in an activity like this is complex as well and requires careful thought by the teacher. According to Lam and Law (2007), “six components of instructional contexts that are most relevant to students’ motivation: challenge, real-life significance, curiosity, autonomy, recognition and evaluation,” (p. 146), which shows that many factors are included in motivating students to write. Overall, students must feel the writing is important to their lives, they must have some autonomy and choice when deciding what to write and they must feel like their writing will go beyond the classroom and a grade by the teacher. If students do not feel like these factors are plausible, they will not be effective or efficient writers.

First of all, student must feel that an assignment is challenging for them to be motivated to complete it. If an assignment is too easy, students will not feel that it is valuable; however, if an assignment is too difficult, students will shut down to avoid failing. Additionally, challenging assignments help build students’ self-efficacy by encouraging effort as well as success. According to Lam and Law (2007), “writers with high self-efficacy usually have lower anxiety, greater persistence, and higher toleration for frustration in writing tasks,” (p. 147) which can be created through writing assignments that are valuable and meaningful to students.

Secondly, students must feel the writing is tied to their real life experiences and has a purpose greater than just earning a grade from a teacher. Students need to have answers to two important questions to ensure that they feel an assignment is important to their lives: (1) “Why do I have to write this?” and (2) “What is the value of writing this?” According to Lam and Law (2007), “students are likely to become motivated if they know the answers to these questions,” (p. 147). More importantly, students can make connections between what they are learning in class and what they know outside of class, which is a valuable skill they need to acquire and be able to use. The information teachers give students means little if the students cannot find connections between it and what they experience on a daily basis.

The third important factor in motivating students is to access and engage their curiosity in what they are writing about. Students need to feel that they are learning something from the writing task at hand, and they need to develop a sense of curiosity in learning more about the task while they are completing it. This curiosity most easily stems from students being able to use problem-solving strategies while they are writing. They must not feel that they are simply writing to write but that they are writing to gain knowledge or solve a problem they see. In a meta-analysis study by Hillocks (1984), the researchers cited that “instruction emphasizing inquiry had a strong positive effect on the quality of students’ writing.” Further demonstrating that students need opportunities for growth through exploration and choice.
In addition to these factors, students need some autonomy in choosing what they will write and how the information will be presented. The need for autonomy is one of the fundamental and universal needs of people. Teacher should be aware of this fact and should help guide students’ to write about their interests. Autonomy can easily be coupled with curiosity when teachers give students option for writing rather than one set criteria. The teacher can give students choices in how they write, what format they choose to use and what they choose to write about. All of these choices help build intrinsic motivation for the students, while increasing their autonomy of the assignment.

Recognition is understanding success and failure. Research has shown that effort is more important than a students’ intelligence level. Students who are consistently praised on effort rather than intelligence will continue to perform better and be more motivated. Muller and Dweck (1998) cited this finding in their study. They said “children who were praised for effort were more motivated than were children who were praised for intelligence.” This can be brought back to the recognition of what students see as a success and failure as well as what they view as being in their control. Students have complete control over their effort, but cannot necessarily evaluate their intelligence level.

Finally, evaluation and feedback is crucial to student writing motivation and success. Students respond better when they are given feedback on specific things they can improve on rather than just given a letter grade. Students also are more motivated when they are compared to past performance of themselves rather than being compared to their peers. Teachers can assist students by helping them form their own writing goals and helping them to achieve these goals over time. Each time the student is evaluated, their learning goals should be evaluated as well to make sure the student is on target.

Overall, motivation in writing can be easily achieved when students feel they are writing for a purpose and their writing is taken beyond the classroom. In my experiences as a teacher, using blogging, Twitter, Facebook and other public forums for discussions and student writing helps motivate the students. First of all, the students take grammar, spelling and punctuation seriously because they do not want to look embarrassed online. Secondly, students feel their writing has a purpose because it is being evaluated by their peers as well as people beyond the classroom, and not just the teacher. In tutoring, I have used my students’ interests, like music, dance and cosmetology, to influence her writing. We write about topics that interest her, which results in a great quantity and quality of writing.

Works Cited

Hillocks, G. (1984). What works in teaching composition: A meta-analysis of experimental treatment studies. American Journal of Education, 135-170.

Lam, S. & Law, Y. (2007). The Roles of Instructional Practices and Motivation in Writing Performance. The Journal of Experimental Education, 145-164.

Muller, C.M. & Dweck, C.S. (1998). Praise for intelligence can undermine children’s motivation and performance. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 33-52.