Language Writing Anxiety Research Articles

A Study of the Causes and the Effect of Writing Anxiety Components on Iraqi EFL Students’ Attitudes

Anxiety is identified as a main issue that may highly lead to the feelings of nervousness, worry, tension, and apprehension. The purpose of the study is to measure the impact of the three components of writing anxiety (somatic, avoidance behavior, and cognitive) on Iraqi EFL learners’ attitudes and also attempts to determine the component causing the highest anxiety rates. Besides, the study also aims to detect the key elements that provoke anxiety. Two questionnaire tools, listed under the quantitative approach, were adopted in this study: The Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory developed by Cheng and Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory developed by Rezaei and Jafari. Hundred Iraqi undergraduate students, 50 males and 50 females, were assigned to take part in this study at “Al-Nisour University College.” The finding demonstrated that the participants are affected by all the three aforesaid components. However, the component “avoidance behavior anxiety” had a higher effect rate on the participants’ attitudes compared to the two components, dubbed “cognitive and somatic” that showed otherwise. Added to this, the findings also revealed a significant difference between genders wherein female learners showed a higher rate of anxiety than their male counterparts. This points out that female students may highly have an inclination to evade the situations demanding writing. Linguistic difficulties, fear of teacher’s negative comments, insufficient writing practice and self-confidence were respectively detected as the highest influential elements behind arousing anxiety. The current study highlighted the causes of writing anxiety and the effect of its components on Iraqi EFL learners and might contribute to paving the way to new teaching methods or techniques to mitigate the effect of these writing anxiety components and boost self-confidence in Iraqi EFL.

Exploring The Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Second Language Writing Anxiety Among Saudi EFL Students: A Correlational Study

Students face many difficulties in writing in a second language. Writing anxiety is considered one of the factors that affect students’ writing proficiency. The current study focused on exploring the relationship between writing anxiety and students’ self-efficacy. This study investigated the relationship between writing anxiety and self-efficacy among preparatory-year students at Majmaah University. The study followed a quantitative research design where data were collected through two questionnaires: Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) by Cheng (2004b) and Erkan and Saban’s self-efficacy scale (2011) 99 EFL Preparatory Year students participated in this study. Participants were provided with the questionnaire at the end of the first semester of 2023, and they were randomly selected. The findings of the study showed that the level of self-efficacy among preparatory-year students was moderate, while the level of writing anxiety among students was moderate. Correlation analysis revealed that there’s a moderate negative relationship between writing anxiety and self-efficacy.

Second Language Writing Anxiety of Thai EFL Undergraduate Students: Dominant Causes, Levels and Coping Strategies

Using a mixed-methods research design, this study explored the dominant causes, levels, and coping strategies of second language writing anxiety among 55 second-year Thai EFL undergraduate students majoring in English for International Communication. Data were collected from the Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory (CWAI) questionnaire developed by Rezaei and Jafari (2014), the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) developed by Cheng (2004), and a stimulated recall interview. Descriptive statistics were applied to analyze the data obtained from CWAI and SLWAI, while thematic analysis was used to identify themes from the stimulated recall interview. The results revealed that the predominant cause of writing anxiety was writing assignments, affecting 77.09% of students, followed by linguistic difficulties and fear of writing tests, each affecting 70.09%. Additionally, the study found that the level of writing anxiety among these students was high according to the writing anxiety questionnaire. Furthermore, during the stimulated recall interview, participants revealed five strategies typically used to manage their writing anxiety, namely positive self-talk, starting with a plan, relaxation techniques, goal setting, and seeking social support.

A Review of Studies on Foreign Language Writing Anxiety

Foreign language writing is often used in work and daily communication. At the same time, it has a great weight in many important examinations, reflecting the students comprehensive application level of foreign language. Related studies have found that students experience anxiety when writing due to lack of confidence, fear of evaluation, being influenced by local culture, procrastination, and a high level of epistemological beliefs. This will not only inhibit their cognitive activities and affect their writing performance, but also discourage their enthusiasm for learning and hinder the improvement of their writing ability. However, on the contrary, some researchers have found that writing anxiety may also stimulate students to work harder and more efficiently on writing tasks. This paper will review the related studies on writing anxiety in foreign languages, summarize its classification, effects and causes, then find ways to reduce students writing anxiety and improve the level of their writing. Finally, some incompleteness of the current research will be reflected, with a view to providing implications for future research.

Second Language Writing Anxiety among Faculty Scholars of a State University in the Philippines and Its Sex-Disaggregated Data

The study investigated the causes and the nature of writing anxiety specifically in the use of English as the second official language of the Philippines. Further, it accounted and analyzed its sex-disaggregated data. This was done among faculty scholars of Central Luzon State University. The respondents were randomly chosen from among the purposively identified faculty scholars of the university pursuing their graduate degrees - master’s and doctorate, in the different graduate curricular offerings in various universities in the Philippines and abroad, that require a thesis or dissertation as the final requirement for obtaining a graduate degree. The Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) of Cheng (2004), a questionnaire composed of 22 items with three open-ended questions was used to collect responses. The responses were scored and measured on a five-point Likert response scale. The differences in Second Language Writing Anxiety (SLWA) between male and female participants were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney Test, which is ideal for analyzing statistically the difference between the distributions of data of unparalleled groups with the comparison of ranks and scores. Based on the study findings, the most prominent nature of SLWA among participants is cognitive anxiety. Other sources of anxiety include the availability of external and internal resources and environmental elements. In relation to sex, males scored higher in terms of the level of anxiety compared to females. Lastly, it is forwarded that educators and the pedagogical approach may utilize a positive feedback mechanism as negative evaluation promotes anxiety even in composing in a second language.

Understanding ESL Postgraduate Students’ Dissertation Writing Challenges: The Interplay Between Second Language Writing Anxiety and Writer’s Block

No matter how hard they try, some ESL postgraduate students experience periods when they can produce, if any, little writing. When such periods last for a considerable amount of time, the student is said to have a writer’s block (WB). Given the reciprocal connection between WB and second language writing anxiety (SLWA), more evidence is needed to determine the connection between the two factors in dissertation writing. Hence, this study aimed to investigate how challenges in second language (L2) postgraduate dissertation writing may heighten SLWA and WB, while also examining their interplay. In this mixed-method study, a total of 43 postgraduate students participated by completing an online survey to assess their levels of SLWA, while a subset of nine participants underwent semi-structured interviews. The thematic analysis revealed that WB stems from: i) SLWA experience; and ii) challenges in the writing process, research conceptualization, academic writing conventions, and academic reading. To overcome SLWA and WB, it is recommended that supervisors and language teachers provide specific suggestions to resolve writing issues, refrain from using anxiety to provoke performance, help break down the ultimate goal of dissertation writing into several obtainable goals, and foster open discussions about strategies for motivation and progress monitoring.

A Survey of Foreign Language Writing Anxiety among Chinese High School Students

A Survey of Foreign Language Writing Anxiety among Chinese High School Students

EFL University Student’s Writing Anxiety in Essay Development

<p class="8Abstractcontent"><span lang="EN-US">Among the numerous research of writing anxiety in EFL writing instruction, the investigation of writing anxiety during the creation of argumentative essay remains limited. This current research, therefore, was purposed to examine the levels and specific manifestations of writing anxiety for the development of argumentative essay. Guided by descriptive quantitative research framework, 53 university students in writing course were asked to fill out the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) in a small-scale survey. The results shows that 78% of students experienced moderate levels of anxiety when engaged in the development of argumentative essays, with only a small percentage reporting high or low level of anxiety (11%). An analysis of the anxiety levels across all respondents revealed a prevailing trend of moderate anxiety. Moreover, cognitive anxiety was the predominant category, followed by somatic anxiety and avoidance behavior respectively.</span></p>

The impact of written corrective feedback on students’ writing performance, self-efficacy, and anxiety

This paper investigated the impact of direct unfocused written corrective feedback (WCF) on EFL students’ writing improvement, self-efficacy, and anxiety. To this aim, 52 Iranian male learners were selected as participants by using the Oxford Placement Test and randomly placed in an experimental and a control group. The participants completed a pre-test that included a writing task, the writing self-efficacy questionnaire (WSEQ), and the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) to assess their writing skill, writing self-efficacy, and writing anxiety, respectively. Having attended 15 sessions of writing instruction in which only the experimental group received WCF, the participants again completed a writing task, the WSEQ, and the SLWAI in the posttest procedure. The results showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in all three constructs, indicating that WCF has a positive impact on EFL students’ writing performance, self-efficacy, and anxiety. Implications of the study are presented.

Language Errors among Iranian EFL Students with High and Low Levels of Writing Anxiety

Writing is known as one of the major important language skills and it is the most difficult language skills for most EFL and ESL learners. In addition, anxiety is one of the factors that many language learners face with it in the writing process. This paper examines language errors among Iranian students of English with high and low levels of writing anxiety. For this purpose, 250 English language learners from universities of the south of Iran were participated in this research. This research used two tools to collect data: the Second Language Writing Anxiety Questionnaire (SLWAI), which was a pre-test containing 22 items and three subscales of physical anxiety, avoidance behavior, and cognition based on a Likert point scale. In addition, a language test in the form of essay writing was used to recognize their different categories and main errors in the writing performance. The results of this research showed that there is a negative relationship between students' anxiety and the number of errors in their writing performance. This study discusses the implications of this finding for English language learners and teachers.

Writing anxiety among prospective nonlanguage teachers: A quantitative study of a nonmetropolitan state university

This research focuses on exploring the aftermath and diverse impacts of writing anxiety experienced by prospective nonlanguage teachers. The study primarily delves into the levels and types of writing anxiety that disrupt the academic performance and personal pursuits of future educators. The participants in this study encompassed 165 students pursuing majors unrelated to language, such as Bachelor of Secondary Education Major in Mathematics (BSED Math), Bachelor of Culture and Arts Education (BCAED), and Bachelor of Special Needs Education (BSNED). To ensure accurate data collection, the study employed assessment tools, namely, the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and the Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory (CWAI), both exhibiting high-reliability scores of .757 and .936, respectively. Employing one-way ANOVA, the collected data were subjected to statistical analysis. The findings of the study indicated that the participants consistently experienced heightened anxiety levels in writing. The investigation also revealed that among the various types of writing-related anxiety, cognitive anxiety emerged as the most prominent, followed by somatic anxiety and avoidance behavior. Furthermore, the study identified time constraints and the pressure to achieve perfection as the two most prevalent causes of writing anxiety among the participants. The conclusions drawn from these findings are extensively discussed within the study, shedding light on the implications for both educators and students in a nonmetropolitan state university.

Cultural considerations for the second language writing anxiety inventory: Saudi Arabian female university students

IntroductionThis study examines the applicability of the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) to a population of 857 native Arabic-speaking Saudi Arabian female university students learning English as a foreign language (EFL).MethodsParticipants were divided into two groups. The first of these consisted of 430 students who participated in the testing portion of the study. The second group consisted of 427 students who participated in the replication portion of this study. The instrument used was the Second Language Writing Anxiety Index (SLWAI). Exploratory factor analysis was first conducted on the testing group to determine which items of this instrument applied to this population. A second factor analysis was then used to confirm the results found with the testing group.ResultsSLWAI is typically used to assess the degree of EFL writing anxiety across three dimensions: somatic anxiety, avoidance behavior, and cognitive anxiety. However, factor analysis of the data collected from both groups revealed that these dimensions are not entirely pertinent to the population studied. The three dimensions that emerged are somatic anxiety and two distinct aspects of cognitive anxiety: proficiency anxiety and appraisal anxiety. No evidence of avoidance behavior was found.DiscussionThese results suggest that the dimensions measured by the SLWAI may not be universal across differing sociocultural populations. This highlights the importance of assessing anxiety in individual populations with consideration to the unique circumstances in which they learn to write in English as a foreign language. By determining unique aspects of writing anxiety in differing populations, EFL instructors may be better able to identify and then target the needs of their students as they work through the process of developing English-language writing skills.

An Investigation of EFL College Students’ L2 Academic Writing Anxiety

In order to explore L2 writers’ psychological aspects, this project investigated the academic writing anxiety experienced by Korean college students majoring in English. Accordingly, the present study made use of both quantitative and qualitative data. Cheng’s (2004) Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) was administered to 150 participants to identify their levels, patterns, and possible sources of L2 writing anxiety, along with their scores on the TOEFL writing task and the qualitative data from the open-ended questionnaire. The quantitative findings indicated that participants experienced a moderate level of L2 academic writing anxiety, which negatively correlated with their L2 writing performance in terms of both quality and quantity. The qualitative findings revealed four major themes that caused L2 academic writing anxiety: linguistic knowledge, writing skills for content development, evaluation, and task environment. The pedagogical implications for EFL writers were discussed.

A Thorough Investigation into Foreign Language Writing Anxiety in a Turkish EFL Context

This study sought to investigate foreign language (L2) writing anxiety of Turkish students learning English as a foreign language (EFL) by focusing on the L2 writing anxiety levels; the prevailing types, perceived causes and effects of L2 writing anxiety; and the strategies that students employed to alleviate L2 writing anxiety. The study adopted a convergent parallel mixed-methods design consisting of a quantitative survey and qualitative open-ended interviews with the students studying at English Language and Literature undergraduate program at a state university in Türkiye. A total of 138 students responded to the questionnaire and eight volunteers among them were interviewed face to face. The survey data were analysed through descriptive and inferential statistics while interview records were analysed through thematic analysis. The findings converged on the point that the students displayed high levels of L2 writing anxiety and that time constraints and assessment orientation were the prominent factors leading to anxiety. The students’ L2 writing anxiety varied significantly across perceived L2 proficiency levels, demonstrating higher-level anxiety for the students reporting themselves as less proficient L2 users. Based on the interview reports, the student-perceived causes and effects of writing anxiety as well as the factors and relieving strategies were identified. Finally, recommendations for more effective strategies for alleviating English language learners’ L2 writing anxiety were discussed.

The Effects of L2 Chinese Learners’ Perceived Writing Anxiety on Their L1 Use within L2 Writing Performance among English Major Students in a Chinese University

Learning to write fluently and expressively in English is widely proved to be one of the most difficult skills for Chinese EFL learners to master due to their L2 writing processes are impeded by various obstacles, among which L2 writing anxiety and their L1 use are two indispensable factors that should be accounted. Hence, the purpose of this study was to explore the relations among L2 learners’ perceived writing anxiety and the use of L1 Chinese learners within their L2 writing performance of English major students. 226 L1-Chinese sophomores of English major students enrolled in Department of Applied English at a university in China participated. A mixed methodology of (Quantitative +qualitative) approaches was employed to collect data through SLWAI (Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory), think-aloud protocol and semi-structured interview so as to elicit the dynamic thinking process of L2 Chinese learners’ perceived writing anxiety and their L1 use within L2 writing performance on an English argumentative writing task. The findings revealed that L2 Chinese learners’ perceived writing anxiety was positively correlated with their L1 use amount but negatively correlated with L2 writing performance. However, in terms of a minor part of the participants, L2 Chinese learners’ perceived writing anxiety and their L1 use amount were positively correlated with L2 writing performance. Implications are that the study not only investigated the relations among L2 English major students’ perceived writing anxiety and their L1 use within L2 writing performance, but shed lights on the pedagogical field of L2 writing by proposing some effective measures to improve students’ L2 writing performance based on their different anxiety sources.

Examining the Effectiveness of Teaching Strategies for Alleviating EFL Students’ Writing Anxiety: A Mixed-Method Study

At higher education, students at the end of the study are required to write a final project. Writing English papers is challenging and might create writing anxiety. Therefore, it is necessary to look at what strategies are used by the teachers and their effect on anxiety levels and performance. Furthermore, it is also crucial to accommodate students’ perceptions of the strategies so that students’ voices provide valid information on how the classroom should be. This research uses a mixed-method methodology to analyze lecturers' anxiety-reduction strategies and students' perceptions of them. Three instruments were used to collect data, namely a Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI), open-ended questions about the perception, and students’ writing scores. A paired sample t-test was used to compare students' writing anxiety and performance before and after treatment. Content analysis was used to assess student opinions of the strategies. The statistics showed that students' writing anxiety fell from high (71.35) to moderate (66.47). Meanwhile, students' writing grade rises from 72.00 to 79.03. SPSS analysis showed that anxiety-reducing strategies significantly affect writing anxiety and student performance (p = 0.000). Consequently, this study's findings should be beneficial in writing classes.

Writing Anxiety as a Predictor of Young Learners’ EFL Writing Performance

ABSTRACT: The study explores the correlation between EFL writing anxiety and the writing proficiency of Year 6 students, who represent an older group of young learners. EFL writing anxiety is assessed using Cheng's Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory. Writing proficiency is evaluated through two standardized, timed, electronic writing tasks in a 5% representative sample. With an R2 value of 28.7, a statistically significant but weak linear relationship between writing anxiety and EFL writing performance is anticipated. The findings indicate that EFL writing anxiety is significantly present among young learners, highlighting the need for educational interventions. Additionally, the study introduces a new, preliminary SLWAI scale consisting of seven factors.

Mapping Undergraduate EFL Students’ Writing Anxiety: Trajectories from Responses, Reasons, and Strategies

Concerning the various responses of students’ anxiety on writing throughout the years, this sequential explanatory study aims to deeply explore the students’ writing anxiety and their reasons and strategies how to deal with it. The adapted questionnaire of Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory and semi-structured interview were applied to examine students’ writing anxiety. Twenty five fourth semester students were sampled purposively, then they volunteered in the questionnaire and five of them were invited in the interview. The investigations revealed that among all types of anxiety, the students experienced most cognitive anxiety. The reasons for anxiety are linguistic difficulties, inadequate writing technique and practice, being afraid of tests, time pressure, and negative evaluation. The students’ strategies used for dealing with anxiety involve cognitive and affective aspects. These results can be a map in aiding students to cope with anxiety and suggests the important practical implications for teachers/lecturers and learners. Further, this study also discusses limitations and recommendations.

Iranian EFL Students’ Perceptions of Foreign Language Writing Anxiety and Perfectionism in Essay Writing

<em>Mastering writing skills is an essential criterion for EFL students who desire to fully invest in their academic discipline. While it is crucial to develop numerous writing abilities to communicate effectively, the research shows that the affective variables, such as self-esteem, perfectionism, stress, anxiety, and burnout, exert a profound negative influence both on the process and product of writing. To explore the devastating effects of these constructs beyond, the study aims to investigate the interactive impact of anxiety and perfectionism on essay writing among Iranian EFL students (n=85). The Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory of Cheng (2004) and the Multidimensional Perfectionism Scale of Hewitt and Flett (1990) were employed to measure the participants’ perceived writing anxiety and perfectionism. A quantitative research method was employed in the collection and analysis of the data. The results showed a medium level of FL writing anxiety and perfectionism among the participants. They also revealed that the most prevalent types of anxiety and perfectionism among them were cognitive and self-oriented, respectively. Finally, the results disclosed a strong positive relationship between their anxiety and perfectionistic tendencies. Thus, it was concluded that anxiety and perfectionism may interactively challenge EFL students more in their writing activities. The results are beneficial in deepening the understanding of teachers and researchers in the field pedagogically and practically.</em>

Students’ Anxiety in Learning English Writing Skills in Senior High School Level

The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that contribute to students' English writing anxiety in the Science 11 class at UPT SMAN 11 Luwu. Students' levels and causes of writing anxiety in English are described (cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and avoidance behavior). Descriptive statistics were used for this investigation. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 68 students from the population of eleventh-grade students in a science class. The Causes of Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (CSLWAI) by Rezaei and Jafari was used to describe the main factors that contribute to students' writing anxiety, and the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) by Cheng was used to analyze students' anxiety levels. SPSS version 22 and Microsoft Excel 2019 were used to find the mean and percentage of the data, respectively. Students who reported high levels of writing anxiety were statistically typical (M=73.06>65). Inadequate writing technique, linguistic difficulties, a lack of practice, and time constraints are also major contributors to students' writing anxieties.