Vocabulary Learning Strategies and Situated Academic Writing Self-Efficacy of Students in Public Secondary Schools

This study determined the extent to which vocabulary learning strategies influenced situated academic writing self-efficacy among junior high school students in public secondary schools in Sto. Tomas District, Division of Davao del Norte. A quantitative descriptive-correlational design was used with 120 Grades 7 to 10 students selected through quota sampling from four public secondary schools during the 2025-2026 academic year. Data were collected with adapted standardized questionnaires that measured vocabulary learning strategies across social, memory, metacognitive, determination, and cognitive domains, and situated academic writing self-efficacy across creative identity, relational reflective, and writing essentials. Means, standard deviations, Pearson correlation, and multiple linear regression were used for analysis. Results showed that vocabulary learning strategies were rated Moderate overall (M = 3.10, SD = 0.84), with social strategies obtaining the highest domain mean (M = 3.18, SD = 0.85). Situated academic writing self-efficacy was also rated Moderate overall (M = 3.28, SD = 0.84), with creative identity obtaining the highest domain mean (M = 3.33, SD = 0.84). Vocabulary learning strategies had a strong positive relationship with situated academic writing self-efficacy (r = 0.71, R^2 = 0.50, p = 0.000). The regression model was significant (R = 0.71, R^2 = 0.50, F = 45.62, p = 0.000), and all five vocabulary strategy domains significantly influenced situated academic writing self-efficacy. Metacognitive strategies showed the strongest standardized effect (Beta = 0.21, p = 0.002). The findings support the integration of explicit vocabulary strategy instruction with academic writing tasks to strengthen students’ confidence, self-regulation, and lexical control in school-based writing.