The Conundrum of Second Language Writing Anxiety Among ESL Students

Abstract

 This study aimed to identify the main causes of ESL writing anxiety experienced by Malaysian university students. The students’ attitudes towards writing were also examined, which are believed to influence their writing anxiety. This study employed a quantitative method using a questionnaire consisted of causes of writing anxiety. The questionnaire was distributed to 346 undergraduate students from UiTM Perak. The results revealed that there were positive attitudes towards writing among UiTM students although they experienced anxiety towards writing. Respondents also believed that writing was not merely a skill but also a talent that only skilled people could perform. Furthermore, the writing course, task fulfilment, writing skill, instructors and materials were not the main causes of writing anxiety among the ESL students in UiTM since most of the responses had neutral attitudes towards the causes. However, some items were rated higher which could lead to possible causes of anxiety which were incompetent grammar knowledge as well as failure in expressing ideas in English. The study sheds some light on the problems of ESL writing anxiety and raises awareness of language instructors as well as syllabus designers.