A Study Of English Writing Anxiety Of Senior High School Students

Writing,as a language output process,occupies an important position in senior high school English teaching.With the continuous reform of College Entrance Examination,the continuation task will probably appear in the English test of the College Entrance Examination of Shandong Province in 2020,then the proportion of writing will be increased to 26.7% in the total score of the English test.As for senior high school students,English writing is influenced by varieties of affective factors,among which writing anxiety has been extensively discussed in the context of foreign language learning.The present study mainly explores three questions:(1)What's the general degree of writing anxiety among senior high school students?(2)Are there significant differences in senior high school students' English writing anxiety according to gender and class type?(3)What are the sources of high school students' English writing anxiety?With quantitative and qualitative research methods,208 students from 4 classes in a senior high school in Yantai,Shandong Province are selected as the research participants to do the questionnaires.The collected data are analyzed through Descriptive Statistics and Independent-Samples T Test in SPSS22.0.Based on students' interview and teachers' interview,the main sources of English writing anxiety are analyzed,and some practical suggestions are put forward to alleviate writing anxiety from the perspectives of students and teachers.The research findings are as follows:(1)There exists a moderate level of English writing anxiety among senior high school students.It is manifested in avoidance behavior,cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety.Among the three dimensions,avoidance behavior is the most serious,and somatic anxiety is the least obvious.(2)There is no significant difference in general English writing anxiety between male students and female students.However,there exists a highly significant difference between key class students and ordinary class students.Compared with students in key classes,students from ordinary classes have higher English writing anxiety in three dimensions.(3)Sources of students' writing anxiety include misconception towards English writing,low proficiency level,test anxiety,fear of negative evaluation and teachers' teaching method.As the general situation and sources of English writing anxiety among high school students are identified,several suggestions are provided for the teachers and students in coping with English writing anxiety.Additionally,some recommendations are listed for the enhancement of future studies.