English Writing Enjoyment Scale (EWES)

Abstract

The 9-item English Writing Enjoyment Scale (EWES) was developed by Jin in 2023 to specifically measure foreign language (FL) writing enjoyment among Chinese university students learning English. The creation of this instrument addressed a recognized gap in context-specific assessments tailored for this particular student population.

The theoretical foundation for the EWES is Scherer’s (2000) component process model of emotion, supplemented by insights drawn from extensive prior literature in second language acquisition and emotion research (e.g., Jin et al. 2022; Dewaele & MacIntyre, 2016). The initial item pool was derived from a self-narrative inquiry with students, which established thirty thematic categories. Eleven of the most frequently endorsed categories formed the basis of the preliminary scale.

The scale was validated using data collected from four distinct groups of English major university students in China. Through rigorous statistical testing, including Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA), a final, robust unidimensional structure consisting of nine items was established. The study confirmed the scale’s strong internal consistency and construct validity.

Keywords

English as a Foreign Language, English Language Learning, Foreign Language Writing Enjoyment, Learning English, Positive Emotions, Skills-Specific Enjoyment, Educational Measures, English as Second Language, Foreign Language Education, Foreign Language Learning, Pleasure, Student Attitudes, Writing Skills, Academic Writing

Authors

Jin, Yinxing

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Purpose

The primary objective of the English Writing Enjoyment Scale (EWES) is to provide a reliable and validated assessment tool for quantifying foreign-language writing enjoyment. This measurement is specifically intended for use among students whose first language is Chinese and who are studying English as a foreign language.

The scale allows researchers and educators to better understand the role of positive emotions in the writing process, helping to inform pedagogical strategies aimed at enhancing student engagement and performance in English writing tasks.

Construct

The EWES is designed to measure the psychological construct of English Writing Enjoyment. This construct is understood as a skill-specific positive emotion related to the process and outcomes of writing in a foreign language.

It captures affective and cognitive components such as satisfaction, happiness, relaxation, smooth thinking, and a sense of accomplishment experienced during the English writing activity.

Validity

Evidence for construct validity was established through a series of correlational analyses with conceptually related and divergent measures. The EWES demonstrated strong convergent validity by showing a significant positive correlation with both the English Writing Enjoyment Indicator (EWEI) and the English Reading Enjoyment Scale (ERES).

Conversely, divergent validity was supported by a significant negative correlation observed between the EWES and the English Writing Anxiety Scale (EWAS), confirming that the EWES measures enjoyment, not anxiety. Additionally, a moderate-to-low positive relationship was found between the EWES and the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale (PAES), suggesting that while enjoyment has general aspects, the EWES effectively captures the domain-specific enjoyment of language skills.

Reliability

The internal consistency of the scale was rigorously evaluated using Cronbach’s alpha (α) coefficients across three distinct participant groups involved in the validation study. The resulting coefficients were exceptionally high: .94, .95, and .94.

These robust results are indicative of the scale’s excellent internal reliability, confirming that the nine items consistently measure the same underlying English Writing Enjoyment construct across different samples of the target population.

Factor Analysis

The scale’s structural integrity was confirmed through advanced statistical methods. Initially, a Principal Components Analysis (PCA) was performed, which resulted in a definitive single-factor solution comprising the final nine items. All retained items exhibited strong factor loadings, consistently above the .70 criterion.

This single factor was highly explanatory, accounting for 68.78% of the total variance. Following the PCA, a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was executed. The CFA results demonstrated that all required model fit indices for the single-factor, 9-item EWES were satisfactory when compared against predetermined statistical criteria, thus validating the unidimensional structure.

Instrument

Test Type: Original

Format: This instrument is a rating scale that utilizes a 5-point Likert format. Responses range from: strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neither agree nor disagree (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5).

Language Available: Chinese; English

Population Group: Human; Male; Female

Age Group: Adulthood (18 years and older)

Population Details: The scale was developed for and tested on English Major University Students located in China.

Test Methodology: The development and validation process involved Test Validity, Construct Validity, Test Reliability, Internal Consistency, Factor Analysis, Confirmatory Factor Analysis, and Principal Component Analysis.

Keywords

English as a Foreign Language, English Language Learning, Foreign Language Writing Enjoyment, Learning English, Positive Emotions, Skills-Specific Enjoyment, Educational Measures, English as Second Language, Foreign Language Education, Foreign Language Learning, Pleasure, Student Attitudes, Writing Skills, Academic Writing

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Authors

Author ORCID Identifier: http://orcid.org/0000-0002-8662-891X

Affiliation Email addresses: [email protected]

Correspondence Address: Jin, Yinxing: Hainan Normal University, School of Foreign Languages, 99# South Longkun Road, Hainan Province, Haikou, China, 571158, [email protected]

Permissions & Fee and Test Year

The scale may be used for Research/Teaching purposes. Commercial use of the scale is prohibited. There is no fee required for using this instrument in non-commercial academic settings. The scale was developed and validated in 2023.

Reference’s

Jin, Y. (2023). The development and validation of the English Writing Enjoyment Scale. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 130(1), 555–575. https://doi.org/10.1177/00315125221137649

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Items of the English Writing Enjoyment Scale (EWES)

The English Writing Enjoyment Scale (EWES) consists of 9 items. The full list of test items is available in the original publication by Jin (2023), specifically within Table 3 on page 566 of the article.

Note. The numbers preceding the items showed how the scale was structured during the data collection for PCA; The two items deleted through the PCA were: 5. I play with pen in English writing, for example rotating pen (英语写作过程中, 我会耍笔, 比如转笔); 11. I think carefully in English writing (英语写作过程中, 我认真思考). Respondents answer using a 5-point Likert format: strongly disagree (1), disagree (2), neither agree nor disagree (3), agree (4), and strongly agree (5).