A latent profile analysis of L2 writing emotions and their relations to writing buoyancy, motivation and proficiency

Abstract Second/foreign language (L2) writing emotions play an important role in language writing outcomes. However, extant literature was dominated by L2 anxiety with other types of emotions being neglected. Further, little is known about whether English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) writers demonstrate heterogenous patterns of emotional experiences in English writing. The aim of the study was to identify intra-individual differences in EFL writing emotion patterns and how these patterns differed from each other in terms of writing buoyancy, motivation, and proficiency. Through convenience sampling, three hundred and sixty-three EFL undergraduates in China were recruited and they completed a battery of questionnaires. Latent profile analysis (LPA) revealed a three-profile solution. They were labelled as the “positive type” (PT), “negative type” (NT) and “moderate type” (MT). Three groups reported significantly different levels of writing buoyancy and motivation with the highest scores of them being found among the PT group, followed by MT, and lastly NT. The writing proficiency was higher for the PT group than for the NT group, but the PT group did not differ from the NT or MT group. The dominance of MT group suggested that most students exhibited mild attitudes toward EFL writing. The distinct patterns of EFL writing emotions and their influences on writing outcomes suggested that teachers should boost students’ emotional learning competence and adjust the teaching approach accordingly.