Is it all bad? Saudi EFL student perceptions of the role of anxiety when writing

PurposeThe study aims to ascertain the degree to which Saudi tertiary level writers experience foreign language (FL), English, writing anxiety compared with other variables known to affect writing, such as motivation, types of self-efficacy or teacher assistance, how anxiety relates to those other variables, and whether the effects of anxiety on writing are always perceived as negative.Design/methodology/approachThis study used questionnaire and interview data following writing tasks in two conditions (practice and exam).FindingsThe key findings were that, regardless of level or writing condition, writing anxiety emerged as the least strongly experienced of all the relevant variables. From factor analysis, it was found to be associated with perceived general English language proficiency and writing strategic ability and not with topic knowledge, teacher or motivational variables. Contrary to the assumption in much of the literature, many participants experienced some anxiety as having a positive effect on their English writing, in certain ways and at certain times (dependent on the writing condition) and not solely a negative impact.Research limitations/implicationsImplications are drawn for theory and for the teaching of writing.Practical implicationsDrawn towards the end of the paper.Social implicationsAny research on factors that affect writing seemingly has practical value and implications in such contexts, in addition to interest for L2 writing research and theory.Originality/valueThere remains a question that applies across the whole field of anxiety research in education and applied linguistics concerning whether anxiety is, as often assumed, always bad and so constitutes something to be removed, or whether in fact some degree of anxiety is actually helpful (Alpert and Haber, 1960). This study aims to answer.

The Effect of Peer Assessment Application on Writing Anxiety and Writing Motivation of 6th Grade Students

This research, aims to investigate whether peer assessment application has an effect on writing anxiety and writing motivation of 6th grade students. It is one of the quantitative research designs. The study group of the research consists of 6th grade students attending a secondary school in Turkey. There are 35 students in the study, 17 are in the experimental group and 18 are in the control group. The data of the study were collected with “Writing Anxiety Scale” and the “Writing Motivation Scale”. For six weeks, a peer assessment application was carried out and the texts written by the students were evaluated by their peers with a peer assessment form. In the analysis of the data, firstly t-test was performed for unrelated groups, and two-way ANOVA was used for complex measures. According to the findings obtained in the research, it was concluded that writing anxiety of the experimental group students, who have lessons with peer assessment method, decreased significantly compared to the control group students who have lessons with the current program. When the students’ writing motivations were examined, it was found that writing motivation scores of the experimental group students were higher than the control group students. In line with these findings, it can be stated that peer assessment application reduces students’ writing anxiety and increases their writing motivation. Based on the results obtained, some recommendations were made.

Academic writing anxiety among Chinese international postgraduates

Language learning is a common but complicated activity that involves the development and application of different language skills, including listening, speaking, reading and writing. This study adopted a mixed method to investigate the problem of academic writing anxiety of Chinese international graduate students. The sampling method used in the research is purposive sampling. A total of 30 Chinese postgraduate students (15 males and 15 females), who enrolled in the faculty of modern language and communication. The purpose of study is to investigate the causes of second language learning writing anxiety. It is hope that this study can provide insightful implications for the acquisition and instruction of L2 academic writing. In addition, unlike the massive studies of anxiety on General English (GE), anxiety studies on English for Academic Purposes (EAP) has received insufficient attention, therefore, this study can enrich the research field of EAP.

自己評価と他己評価は高校生の英作文学習不安にどんな影響を与えるのか? How Do Self and Peer Assessment Affect High School Students’ Writing Anxiety?

本研究は、自己評価や他己評価による英作文学習不安に対する影響とthe Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (Cheng, 2004)の妥当性を探るのが目的である。分析方法は、293人の日本の高校生を対象に自己評価と他己評価の２グループに分けた後、10日間の間に、5回の英作文作成と生徒評価活動（自己評価か他己評価）を集中的に行った。それぞれの生徒評価活動前後に、高校生の英作文学習不安の因子構造変化のグループ比較を、探索的因子分析を使って行った。結果は、事前の因子構造は自己評価グループと他己評価グループは同様だが、実験後は違いが見られた。しかし、主要因子は、実験前後ともに認知的不安による英作文への回避意識であることは変わりがなかった。本研究が英作文授業の活性化につながる事を示唆したい。 This study examined the effects of self-assessment vs. peer assessment on Japanese high school students’ writing anxiety and the validity of Cheng’s (2004) Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI). After assignment to either the self-assessment or peer-assessment condition, two groups of Japanese high school students (N=293) participated in a series of five writing and student-assessment sessions over a period of 10 days. An exploratory factor analysis was then conducted on SLWAI data collected before and after these sessions to compare the effects of the writing practice and student assessment type on the factor structure of the two groups’ writing anxiety. The results showed post-treatment factor structure differences that had not been present initially. Nevertheless, the main factor both before and after the treatment sessions was English writing avoidance due to cognitive anxiety. These findings suggest the importance of dealing with learner anxiety to improve English writing instruction.

Figuring out the Levels, Types, and Sources of Writing Anxiety Among Undergrad ESL Students in Pakistan

Effective English writing skills are essential for students’ academic, professional, and even personal growth. Particularly, in a country where The English language is used as a second language or co-official language. Because Effective writing is considered as an instrument to measure students’ intellectual ability and academic performance. Anxiety/ apprehension can adversely affect students’ English language writing skills due to several factors. The prime objective of this study was to figure out the extent, types, and sources of writing anxiety in undergrad ESL students. 200 ESL undergrad students were selected as the sample for the research study and two survey questionnaires were adopted as a tool for data collection; SLWAI by Cheng (2004) and CWAI by Razaeaia and Jafari (2014). Data analysis indicated that the extent of writing anxiety in undergrad ESL students was moderate and avoidance anxiety was found to be the leading type of anxiety experienced by ESL students. Moreover, fear of writing tests, lack of topic knowledge, pressure for perfection in written work, and fearing of teachers ‘negative comments and evaluations were found as the main sources of writing anxiety in undergrad ESL students.

Undergraduate Students’ Self-Efficacy Strategies in Writing Academic Papers

This study explored the writing self-efficacy of English education undergraduates at Sanata Dharma University, Yogyakarta. Nowadays, many students still have not used self-efficacy in their studies. Consequently, they may encounter difficulties when working on tasks. As a result, the scores obtained are not the highest. Which may make them lack the motivation to learn. The purpose of this research was to determine the application of self-efficacy in writing works for the undergraduate course of English Education at Sanata Dharma University. The research question was: How can undergraduate students of the English Education Study Program manage self-efficacy and writing anxiety to complete the academic writing class? This research adopted qualitative methods making use of the Likert scale and interviews. The questionnaire was distributed to Sanata Dharma University’s undergraduates who had received English courses in reading literary works. The results show that undergraduates have a high sense of self-efficacy, can complete academic writing on time, and we are motivated by their internal and surrounding environments.

Exploring the relationship between writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy of international students learning Turkish as a second language

The purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between writing anxiety and writing self-efficacy levels of international students learning Turkish as a second language. Data were collected from a convenience sample of 204 international students through “Writing Anxiety Scale for Learners of Turkish as a Foreign Language Scale”, “Writing Self-Efficacy Scale for Students Learning Turkish as a Foreign Language” and a personal information form. In the analyses of the data, descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney U test, Kruskal-Wallis-H test, Spearman's Rank-Difference Coefficients of Correlation were used. In this study, international students were found to have medium levels of writing anxiety and high levels of writing self-efficacy. Analyses indicated that male students had higher levels of action-oriented writing anxiety than female students. It was also found that doctoral students had higher levels of action-oriented writing anxiety than undergraduate students. Lastly, it was determined that there was a low and positive correlation between international students' writing self-efficacy and action-oriented writing anxiety. Keywords: writing, anxiety, self-efficacy, Turkish as a second language