AN INVESTIGATIVE STUDY ON THE TYPES AND CAUSES OF ESL WRITING ANXIETY: A CASE STUDY OF LEARNERS FROM A CHINESE INDEPENDENT MIDDLE SCHOOL

Feelings of fear, anxiety, and worry make the learning of ESL / EFL difficult as learners’ focus is being interrupted. Writing; whether in first or second language, is considered a difficult process. The arousal of negative psychological experience in a second/foreign language writing is known as foreign language writing anxiety. As such, the underlying causes of ESL / EFL anxiety need to be understood to ensure a smooth language writing process for ESL / EFL learners. This study aims to investigate the level, types, and causes of writing anxiety among the students in a Chinese Independent Middle School. A convenience sample total of 30 Chinese Independent Middle School students were purposely chosen to participate in this study. This research adopted two survey questionnaires; Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) by Cheng (2004) and Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory (CWAI) by Rezaeia & Jafari (2014). The findings revealed that these students experience a high level of cognitive anxiety, moderate level of somatic anxiety, and low level of avoidance behaviour. It is discovered that the level of writing anxiety being experienced by the students is at the level of moderate to high anxiety. Meanwhile, in terms of the causal factor for writing anxiety, the results reported high means scores for each causal of writing anxiety theme are 'afraid of writing tests' for negative writing experience theme, 'feel worried to write under time constraints' for negative writing attitude theme and 'often encounter some linguistic problems' for limit writing knowledge and skill theme. The researcher proposed some strategies that could be used in reducing ESL writing anxiety which are: process writing approach, affective strategies, positive error correction, and vocabulary knowledge enhancement. Article visualizations:<img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0760/a.php" alt="Hit counter" />

Download Full-text

Distinguish L2 Writing Tension from Anxiety

World Journal of Education ◽

10.5430/wje.v7n5p39 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (5) ◽

pp. 39

Author(s):

Min-hsiu Tsai

Keyword(s):

Second Language ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Peer Review ◽

L2 Writing ◽

Writing Teachers ◽

Writing Anxiety ◽

Foreign Language Writing ◽

Language Writing ◽

Pragmatic Aspect ◽

Anxiety Questionnaire

Current research on second language (L2) anxiety solely deals with the vague fears. Those research results do notreflect L2 learners’ real concerns or furthermore help them to reduce the “tension” rather than anxiety. The researcherconsiders the need to distinguish L2 writing tension from L2 writing anxiety. Furthermore, this study attempts toinfuse the pragmatic aspect by adding two categories of questions related to actual situations and classroom activitiesto the Foreign Language Writing Anxiety Questionnaire (Tsai, 2012). The results of the Bivarited correlation testsshow both the inter-category and intra-category reach the significant level at .05 or better. Thus, the New ForeignLanguage Writing Anxiety Questionnaire (NFLWAQ, Appendix 1) is formed. Notably, the L2 writing tension in thisstudy is significantly higher than the foreign language writing anxiety in the overall group as well as every individualgroup at the significant level of .05 or better. The results indicate that the participants worry about real situations andclassroom activities more than the vague fears from nowhere. The peer review activity is recognized as the leastpressure source that L2 writing teachers might want to practice it from time to time to reduce students’ tension.

Download Full-text

Foreign Language Writing Anxiety: The Perceptions and Experiences of Freshmen Lebanese University Students

Advances in Social Sciences Research Journal ◽

10.14738/assrj.84.9277 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 483-492

Author(s):

ROLA LABABIDI

Keyword(s):

Foreign Language ◽

University Students ◽

Language Production ◽

Numerical Data ◽

Psychological Needs ◽

Writing Anxiety ◽

English As Foreign Language ◽

Foreign Language Writing ◽

Language Writing ◽

Shed Light

Writing is an essential skill for language production. However, many English as Foreign language learners (EFL) face many difficulties in writing. This study aims to shed light on the psychological aspect of writing; more specifically writing anxiety. Consequently, the main purpose of this exploratory mixed-method study is to explore and investigate the sources and manifestations of foreign language writing anxiety among Lebanese university students. The participants were Lebanese EFL university students (N=87). Data for this study was gathered from the use of the Second Language Writing anxiety scale(SLWAI), Sources of Writing Anxiety Inventory(SWAI), and semi-structured Focus group interviews (FG). Focus interviews with students were used to triangulate the derived data from the inventories. This study provides numerical data regarding the level of writing anxiety among students. The data from the FG interviews were transcribed and uploaded for thematic coding and further analysis. The results from this study shed light on the sources and manifestation of the writing anxiety among students. It also helps to disseminate several practical recommendations for the alleviation of writing anxiety among students. It is assumed that the findings will address the perceived psychological needs of Lebanese EFL learners and provide grounds for further research.

Download Full-text