Do you Struggle with Writing?

Writing Apprehension and

Writing Anxiety may be the reasons why
By: Elisa Ngo

Writing can be a difficult task for many people to do. In my personal experiences,
writing has always been a challenge for me since I struggle with formulating and
articulating all of my thoughts into words to create a cohesive and well structured
written piece or essay. Taking English and writing courses made me feel insecure and
unconfident with my writing skills as I would often compare myself to my classmates. I
felt that the quality of my writing products could never measure up to my fellow peers
who seemed to excel in writing in the classroom.

Oftentimes, I dreaded the process of writing and going to English or writing classes
because I doubted my ability to write. I wondered if others would feel similarly and if
my anxiety and apprehension towards writing plays a role in my experiences with
writing. In this blog, I will uncover the research question on the relationship between
writing apprehension and writing anxiety with writing performance and competency.

What is Writing Apprehension and Writing Anxiety?

Writing apprehension is the tendency to avoid situations that involve and/or require
writing. This is usually followed up with high-levels of anxiety when faced with the
task of writing, which refers to the term of writing anxiety.

For a person who experiences writing anxiety, it affects their behaviors and attitudes
towards writing which can be translated into their writing products.
Research on the Possible Relationship between Writing Apprehension
and Anxiety with Writing Performance and Competency

In a research experiment conducted by Faigley, et al., their findings present the

differences in writing performances and competency between high and low
apprehensive individuals for different types of essay formats. High apprehensive
writers scored lower on writing skill tests, in which they had less usage of written
conventions, created shorter length and less syntactically “fluent” essays, and a
difference in quality of writing compared to their low apprehension counterparts for the
personal narrative writing. (Faigley 19-20). Their results indicate that writing
apprehension plays a role in writing performance.

Badrasawi, et al., Erkan, et al., and Kara’s research experiments support this finding
through different research methods and executions. Erkan, et al. and Kara both center
their research based on second language, English as a Foreign Language (EFL) or
English as a Second Language (ESL), writing students on writing anxiety and
apprehension to writing performance.

The experiments conducted by Erkan, et al. resulted in low apprehensive students to

perform better than high apprehensive students in writing skill tests (181).
Additionally, their self-efficacy in writing scale and questionnaire on attitudes towards
writing presents “negative correlations between writing apprehension and writing
performance…and between writing apprehension and writing self-efficacy…and a
positive correlation between writing apprehension and writing attitude…” (Erkan 184).
Implications from the Research

Badrasawi, et al., Erkan, et al., and Kara all suggest possible real life applications and
solutions to reduce writing anxiety and apprehension for students by implying that
writing instructors and teachers should provide access to various writing strategies and
resources for students to use and create a comfortable and safe space to write in
writing classrooms and courses.

To the fellow students who also have writing apprehension and anxiety, do you want
to see these strategies be implemented into your writing courses? Why or why not? Do
you think these resolutions will be effective strategies to reduce apprehension? I would
like to hear your thoughts in the comment section below!

Final Thoughts
 Works Cited

Badrasawi, K. J., Zubairi, A., & Idrus, F. (2016). Exploring the relationship between writing

apprehension and writing performance: A qualitative study. International Education

Studies, 9(8), 134-143.

Erkan, D. Y., & Saban, A. İ. (2011). Writing performance relative to writing apprehension,

self-efficacy in writing, and attitudes towards writing: A correlational study in Turkish

tertiary-level EFL. The Asian EFL Journal Quarterly March 2011 Volume 13, Issue,

13(1), 164-192.

Faigley, L., Daly, J. A., & Witte, S. P. (1981). The role of writing apprehension in writing

performance and competence. The Journal of Educational Research, 75(1), 16-21.

Kara, S. (2011). Writing anxiety: A case study on students’ reasons for anxiety in writing classes.

H. Ferhan Odabaşı, 103.