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Writing anxiety leads to poor writing performance among learners as it hinders their writing. This study investigated the level, types, and causes of writing anxiety among Afghan EFL students. A total of 133 undergraduates was selected as the respondents. The study used a quantitative research method and the data was collected using a questionnaire...
Citations
... Dalkiliç's research findings support the argument that foreign language anxiety can exert negative effects on language learners' speaking performance. Arguably, the negative influence of FLA has been revealed in other studies with varied foci, such as FLA's negative impacts on foreign language writing (Quvanch & Si Na, 2022) and FLA's negative effects on second language reading (Chan et al., 2024). ...
Foreign language anxiety (FLA) has been investigated as a significant factor in language performance and achievement. Increasing studies have revealed relevant factors of FLA relating to learning environments, and the study abroad context is one of them. In Australia, Chinese students consist of one of the biggest groups of international students. Given that language learning is an integral part of Chinese students’ graduate experiences in Australia, it is significant to explore their FLA during their studies in Australia and shed light on the broader scope of investigating FLA within study abroad contexts. This study draws meaning from the data collected by interviewing four Chinese graduate students studying in Australia to explore their experiences of FLA, influential factors, and feasible strategies to manage FLA while studying abroad. Findings suggest that Chinese graduate students’ FLA in Australia is associated with the high academic English demands for graduate students, high self-expectations, inadequate contextual language competence, and the significant differences between tertiary contexts in China and Australia (more interactive and conversational activities). Novel suggestions by participants for managing FLA during study abroad are: recognising both positive and negative aspects of FLA and practising and communicating more with non-native EFL students from other countries.
... Despite the existence of studies on the relationship between writing anxiety and students' gender in various contexts, such as university level in the global context (Karakaya & Ulper, 2011;Quvanch & Si Na, 2022;Shang, 2013) (e.g. Karakaya & Ulper, 2011;Quvanch & Si Na, 2022;Shang, 2013), and EFL level in the global context (Aytaç-Demirçivi, 2020; Kirmizi & Kirmizi, 2015;Rasool et al., 2023). ...
... Despite the existence of studies on the relationship between writing anxiety and students' gender in various contexts, such as university level in the global context (Karakaya & Ulper, 2011;Quvanch & Si Na, 2022;Shang, 2013) (e.g. Karakaya & Ulper, 2011;Quvanch & Si Na, 2022;Shang, 2013), and EFL level in the global context (Aytaç-Demirçivi, 2020; Kirmizi & Kirmizi, 2015;Rasool et al., 2023). However, there is still limited research on this topic in the context of Indonesian EFL higher education level. ...
This study aims to examine the relationship between gender and foreign language writing anxiety among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) pre-service teachers’ students. Utilizing a qualitative case study, the research involved 56 participants, divided equally between male and female students, all enrolled in the English Language Education Study Program at a state university in North Sumatra. A survey of the Second Language Writing Anxiety Scale (SLWAS) was assigned to participants to determine their level of anxiety. To explore how gender, anxiety levels, and students’ experiences and engagement with second/foreign language writing anxiety are connected, the data gathered from the questionnaire were analyzed and grouped according to the participants’ gender. The data analysis shows show that among male respondents, 32.14% experienced high writing anxiety, 64.28% reported moderate anxiety, and 3.58% had low anxiety levels. For female respondents, 39.28% experienced high anxiety, 57.14% reported moderate anxiety, and 3.58% had low anxiety levels. Overall, both male and female participants possess varying levels of writing anxiety, with a higher percentage of females experiencing high anxiety compared to males, although the difference is not significant. More extensive research, incorporating a wider variable, is needed to deepen our understanding of how gender relates to writing anxiety.
... Surveys like the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (Cheng, 2004) were either adopted (Quvanch & Si Na, 2022) or adapted (Rasuan & Wati, 2021) to investigate the level, types, and causes of writing anxiety. Results indicated cognitive anxiety as predominant, alongside linguistic problems, time pressure, perfectionism, and fear of negative instructor evaluation. ...
... Writing entails more than just stringing words together to form a sentence or a paragraph. It involves arranging and structuring ideas in a logical, informative, and accurate manner to produce a well-organized composition (Quvanch & Si Na, 2022). Generating ideas is a crucial source of their anxiety and a demanding task for some participants, as noted by P14: "There is nothing in mind when starting to write. ...
Writing anxiety has been identified as a significant obstacle for English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners in China, with previous studies indicating that it can negatively affect writing performance. Despite this, most research on writing anxiety in the Chinese EFL context has focused on the relationship between writing anxiety and writing performance, with limited attention paid to exploring writing anxiety during the writing process and its sources in depth. This study applied a qualitative method to explore Chinese EFL learners’ writing anxiety in the writing process. Thematic analysis was used for analyzing data collected through semi-structured interviews with 18 Chinese EFL learners. The results revealed seven primary themes, including lack of knowledge about the writing topic, inexperience with the genre, challenges with brainstorming or coming up with ideas, trouble with structuring or arranging information, difficulty with integrating sources, linguistic difficulty, and negative or no feedback from instructors. The findings indicated that writing anxiety accompanies throughout the writing process. EFL learners need strategies to alleviate writing anxiety, including clear instructions on how to approach writing tasks, provision of appropriate resources, individualized feedback, and a supportive learning environment.
... Similar to our findings, Aloairdhi (2019) also reported appraisal anxiety to be a significant aspect of writing anxiety for female students at multiple Saudi Arabian universities. Appraisal anxiety in writing activities has also been found in EFL students from a diverse range of linguistic and sociocultural communities, including students in Afghanistan (Quvanch and Na, 2022), Indonesia (Kusumaningputri et al., 2018) and Korea (Jeon, 2018). This finding is unsurprising as the majority of academic communication by EFL learners takes place via writing. ...
Introduction
This 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).
Methods
Participants 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.
Results
SLWAI 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.
Discussion
These 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.
... The above-mentioned literature providing valuable data on mostly the adverse and debilitating influence of anxiety on L2 students' writing ability appears to involve abundant research, yet further studies are still needed for several reasons. First, the relevant research demonstrates a prevailing tendency towards quantitative methodology, drawing predominantly on descriptive or correlational data (Heiderzadi et al., 2022;Keyvanoğlu & Atmaca, 2023;Kırmızı & Kırmızı, 2015;Li, 2022;Mulyono et al., 2020;Quvanch & Na, 2022;Sabti et al., 2019;Woodrow, 2011). Qualitative and mixed-method studies, which may contribute to a more profound understanding of this skill-specific and highly personalized type of anxiety, are relatively few (Genç & Yaylı, 2019;Rabadi & Rabadi, 2020). ...
... It is not assessed in any of the national exams (Altınmakas & Bayyurt, 2019), and contemporary and effective approaches to writing have been poorly applied in classroom practices (Graham et al., 2022). In the relevant literature, some studies have found moderate (Kırmızı et al., 2013;Li, 2022;Mulyono et al., 2020;Quvanch & Na, 2022), moderate to high (Genç & Yayli, 2019;Zerey, 2013) and high (Keyvanoğlu & Atmaca, 2023;Rabadi & Rabadi, 2020;Rezaei & Jafari, 2014) levels of writing anxiety, indicating a definite presence of at least moderate levels of learner anxiety in the L2 writing context. ...
... Several students emphasized that their anxiety increased with limited time and, on the contrary, reduced with no time limitations. Relevant literature also provides quite a few similar results regarding the relation of timed writing to anxiety (Cheng, 2004a;Genç & Yaylı, 2019;Kırmızı et al., 2015;Quvanch & Na, 2022). The students might be experiencing anxiety due to the fear of not finishing the writing task on time, and that anxiety may prevent them from writing fluently. ...
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.
... Another research by Nurul Hijah Jasman et al. (2023) studying 172 engineering students arrived at the finding that the students had a high level of writing anxiety with somatic anxiety being the main type. These multiple studies establish that different dimensions of writing anxiety could be experienced by learners from different majors, levels of studies and geographical, social and cultural backgrounds (Halimatussaadiah Iksan & Huzaina Abdul Halim, 2018;Kumuthini Jagabalan et al., 2016;Quvanch & Kew, 2022). Nevertheless, the literature is still evidently devoid of writing anxiety encountered by law students, whose writing ability is highly solicited in accomplishing their law degree programme and in the practice of law. ...
Writing has been acknowledged as a key skill to law students and lawyers. In English as a Second Language (ESL) learning, law students form part of ESL learners. Multiple studies shed light on the unsatisfactory writing performance among ESL learners and link such poor writing performance to an affective construct, writing anxiety. Nevertheless, research on writing anxiety among law students, whose writing ability is requisite, is scarce. With the objectives of determining anxiety level and identifying anxiety types experienced by law students at a Malaysian private university, this study offers insights into their writing experience as ESL learners. A mixed methods approach, consisting of Cheng’s (2004) Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) and the semi-structured interview, is applied to achieve the research objectives. The key findings reveal that the highest percentage of the law students studied in this research encounter a high level of writing anxiety. While cognitive anxiety is the most predominant form of writing anxiety, avoidance behaviour is the least obvious form. Based on these findings and the conclusions drawn, this study draws attention to the necessity of addressing writing anxiety among law students in tandem with building strong basic writing skills.
... Research focusing on secondary English education within Afghan universities discovered that students with limited autonomous learning abilities tended to experience heightened anxiety. These findings strongly hint at the existence of a correlation between passive learning and social anxiety (Quvanch & Si Na, 2022). In light of these insights, this paper posits the following hypothesis: H 2 : Passive learning has a significant positive correlation with social anxiety. ...
This research delves into the multifaceted relationship between blended teaching, students’ social anxiety, and the crucial role played by teacher support. The study is based on a meticulous questionnaire survey conducted across two classes within the School of Foreign Languages at Xinyang Agriculture and Forestry University, providing invaluable insights into the impact of blended teaching on students’ psychological well-being. The findings reveal compelling disparities in students’ personality traits within the experimental class following the implementation of blended teaching reforms. While the “music group” dimension showed no significant differences, students in the experimental class exhibited a notable increase in “daring,” suggesting a shift in their comfort levels during classroom activities. Moreover, there was a discernible trend towards introversion and a significant upswing in anxiety levels among these students post-reform. These shifts in personality traits are closely linked to the demands placed on students in the blended teaching environment. Blended teaching necessitates a higher degree of autonomous learning, with online adaptation and passive learning emerging as key factors influencing students’ social anxiety. Importantly, teacher support emerges as a critical moderating factor in the impact of blended teaching on students’ psychological well-being. It plays a pivotal role in alleviating students’ social anxiety, underscoring the importance of educators’ involvement and guidance in this dynamic learning landscape.
... When their anxiety levels were lowered with the provision of writing metacognition, their performance increased. However, studies have documented the influential role of anxiety on writing by gauging the subjects' anxiety levels (Berk & Ünal, 2017;Sabti et al, 2019;Syarifudin, 2020), determining their anxiety types (Wern & Rahmat, 2021;Quvanch & Na, 2022), describing their anxiety symptoms (Aripin & Rahmat, 2021), and exploring the sources and effects of anxiety (Lababidi, 2021;Rabadi & Rabadi, 2020). They have also highlighted its detrimental impact on writing by means of examining its relationship with factors, such as self-efficacy (Abdel Latif, 2019;Başkan, 2021;Ho, 2016), performance (Nawaz, 2021), motivation (Alico, 2016;Tsao et al., 2017), learning (Kusumaningputri et al., 2018), demographic variables (Qadir et al., 2021), writing environments (Genç & Yaylı, 2019), online resources (Zhang, 2019a), strategies (Bailey & Almusharraf, 2022;Jawas, 2019;Tsiriotakis et al., 2017), etc. ...
... This result is consistent with the study of Olanezhad (2015) who observed a moderate level of writing anxiety among Iranian EFL undergraduate students majoring in English translation, teaching, and literature. It also supports the studies by Cahyono et al. (2016) and Quvanch and Na (2022) who recounted similar results among their participants. Yet, it is contradictory with the results of some studies (e.g., Cheng, 2002;Genç & Yaylı, 2019;Lababidi, 2021;Rabadi & Rabadi, 2020;Rezaei et al., 2014;Syarifudin, 2020;Sundari & Febriyanti, 2017;Wahyuni & Umam, 2017;Wern & Rahmat, 2021) which reported high levels of writing anxiety for the participants. ...
... A high index of CA among Iranian students is supported by many studies (e.g., Cheng, 2004;Jebreil et al., 2015;Kusumaningputri et al., 2018;Lababidi, 2021;Quvanch & Na, 2022;Rabadi & Rabadi, 2020;Syarifudin, 2020;Wern & Rahmat, 2021) in the literature. Furthermore, the result validates the research that anxiety may cognitively hinder the writing process and production by acting as an affective filter (Cheng, 2004). ...
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
... Conversely, Kirmizi and Kirmizi (Liu & Ni, 2015) found no gender differences in cognitive anxiety and avoidance behavior, but greater somatic anxiety in female students. Quvanch and Na (Quvanch & Si Na, 2022), instead, reported no gender differences. They found cognitive anxiety as the dominant type among all students. ...
One of the challenges of sustainable education in the post-pandemic world is students’ writing anxiety. The present study aimed to answer two key questions about writing in a second language for Arabic-English speakers enrolled in a written communication course after a return to on-campus instruction. First, it examined whether early exposure to English would predict diminished anxiety. Then, it assessed whether anxiety predicted specific writing deficits in the quality and quantity of students’ writing. Students completed a writing anxiety questionnaire, answered questions about their exposure to English and their attitudes toward English writing, and responded in writing to the query “Who am I?”. In this correlational study, overall anxiety increased with students’ later exposure to English and decreased with exposure to English-speaking media, and favorable attitudes toward English writing. Overall anxiety was linked to particular writing qualities, such as increased use of concrete words, and brevity of exposition. Yet, somatic anxiety, appraisal concerns, communication apprehension, and avoidance behaviors were differentially related to measures of English exposure and attitudes as well as to writing quality and quantity. For instance, late exposure to English writing was related to increased levels of appraisal concerns, somatic anxiety, and communication apprehension, but not to avoidance behaviors. Except for appraisal concerns, all other forms of anxiety were accompanied by decreases in word and sentence outputs and increases in the use of concrete words. Appraisal concerns were related to a decreased use of low-frequency (i.e. unfamiliar) words. Applications and implications for sustainable education in the post-pandemic world are examined.
... Time pressure as the prime cause of anxiety in writing coincides with the findings of Rahim et al. (2016). However, some studies contradict that of Wahyuni et al. (2019) and Quvanch and Na (2022), who discovered that linguistic difficulties are the major cause of writing anxiety. On the other hand, Rezaei and Jafari (2014) along with Alfiansyah et al. (2017) claimed that it is the teacher's negative comments that prompt apprehension in writing. ...
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.
