Cognitive Transformation Gap in EFL Writing: PLS-SEM Evidence of Evaluation Dominance over Reading Components in Indonesia

Abstract

This study evaluates the relationship between reading and writing in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) contexts by framing evaluative reasoning as a distinct cognitive construct within a structural framework. Prior research has predominantly assumed a linear relationship between reading comprehension and writing performance; however, emerging studies suggest a more complex interaction influenced by higher-order cognitive processes. This study introduces the Cognitive Transformation Gap (CTG), defined as the disparity between learners' understanding of textual information and their ability to transform it into coherent and analytical writing output. A quantitative was employed with 55 Indonesian undergraduate EFL students using multi-item Likert-scale questionnaires measuring writing quality, evaluative reasoning, and reading components (comprehension, inference, analysis, and synthesis). Data were analyzed using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) to examine relationships among latent variables. The results show that reading has a minimal and non-significant direct effect on writing (R2 = 0.055, p > 0.05), and reading components do not significantly predict evaluative reasoning (R² = 0.015). When evaluative reasoning is included, the model’s explanatory power increases substantially (R² = 0.545, p < 0.001). Evaluative reasoning emerges as the strongest predictor of writing performance (β = 0.346, t = 4.92, p < 0.001), while the direct effect of reading components remains weak (β = 0.171, p = 0.041). Individually, comprehension, inference, analysis, and synthesis show no significant influence on evaluative reasoning. These findings indicate that reading alone is insufficient to explain writing performance without mediating cognitive processes. The study challenges traditional linear literacy models and highlights the non-linear role of evaluative reasoning. It contributes theoretically by reframing literacy through a cognitive transformation perspective and practically by emphasizing instructional approaches that strengthen critical reasoning, argument evaluation, and evidence-based writing skills in EFL contexts.