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

Abstract

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.