| Writing is one of the fundamental skills in language learning.The New English Curriculum Standards for Senior High School(2020)and the new version of the National College Entrance Examination for English has brought forward new requirements for English writing of senior high school students as well.As one of the important factors affecting writing ability,writing anxiety,however,is often ignored in English teaching due to the overemphasis on language knowledge.In addition,existing research on English writing anxiety both at home and overseas has focused on students of higher education.The number of relevant research on senior high school students is rather limited.Meanwhile,the majority of research on English writing anxiety among senior high school students has adopted the frameworks of Cheng(2004)and Guo Yan & Qin Xiaoqing(2010),which were developed from the data of college students and may not be suitable for students in senior high schools.Therefore,this study probes into the types,levels,and causes of English writing anxiety among senior high school students with a focus on the relationship between English writing anxiety and their writing achievement.Based on humanistic psychology and Krashen’s affective filter hypothesis,this study was conducted with the adoption of questionnaires and semi-structured interviews.Adopting the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory(SLWAI)and the Causes of Writing Anxiety Inventory(CWAI),the study selected 458 senior high school students from a public high school in Fengcheng city as its subjects in order to answer the three research questions:(a)What are the types and levels of English writing anxiety among senior high school students?(b)What are the relationships between English writing anxiety and English writing achievement among senior high school students?(c)What are the contributing factors to English writing anxiety among senior high school students?Through principal component analysis,descriptive statistical analysis,variation analysis,and correlation analysis processed in SPSS 26.0 on the questionnaire data,and constant comparative analysis on the interview data,the study found that(a)the English writing anxiety among senior high school students consisted of four components,which are test anxiety,avoidance behavior,classroom anxiety,and confidence anxiety;(b)the overall level of writing anxiety was high and there was a gender difference,where female students had a higher level of anxiety than their male peers;(c)significant negative correlations between English writing anxiety and writing achievement were found;avoidance behavior,classroom anxiety,and confidence anxiety could predict negatively students’ writing achievement,but the prediction paths were different between students in grade one and grade two;(d)linguistic difficulties,insufficient writing technique and practice,and the pressure of perfect work were major causes of writing anxiety.Based on these above conclusions,the author offers some suggestions for teachers to relieve students’ English writing anxiety,such as paying attention to students’ emotional experiences,providing better ways of memorizing words,and creating a light learning atmosphere. |
