Sabariah Abd Rahim & Kasma Mohd Hayas *

1. INVESTIGATING STUDENTS’ SECOND LANGUAGE WRITING ANXIETY: A CASE STUDY SabariahAbdRahim & KasmaMohdHayas* Centre for the Promotion of Knowledge & Language Learning, UMS * Centre for Language Studies and Generic Development, UMK Introduction Abstract Many language learners find writing as the most difficult language skills to master. From the researchers’ observation and the low grades obtained by some students, who had taken RWE in previous semesters, it can be said that students are not able to write in English although they have been exposed and taught to paragraph and essay writings since primary school to tertiary level. They only do writing tasks simply because they have to make through in order to pass examination. This prompted the researchers to investigate students’ level of anxiety in English writing task and its effects on this task. This study attempts to answer these questions, i.e. 1) to what extent do the levels of writing anxieties of the students affect their choice to do English writing tasks, and 2) to what extent do these effects influence their choice to do English writing tasks. Anxiety is one of the essential factors in Second Language Learning. It plays a significant role in determining students’ performance in the target language, be it positive or negative. Feeling nervous, uncertain or worry while engaging in a target language may cause students to perform poorly in class, and this normally results in getting poor grades in their examination; and this is what students experience in writing class. In relation to this, the study aims to investigate the relationship between students’ anxiety in writing essay tasks in English and their choice to do the writing task, and also, the effects of this anxiety to their choice to do writing task in the English Language. A group of students doing Level 3 Reading and Writing in English (RWE) in Universiti Malaysia Sabah were asked to answer Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLAWAI). . St St Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) SLWAI, which is used to measure students’ writing anxiety, was adapted for this study. There are 22 items in this questionnaire. These 22 items elicit three types of anxiety, i.e. Cognitive (CA), Somatic (SA) and Avoidance Anxieties (AA). Each item scores on a five-point Likert response scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The total score of each item will determine the students’ anxiety level, i.e. high or low. The range of score for CA is high 24.0 - 40.0 and low 8.0 – 23.0, whereas the range of score for SA and AA is high 22.0 – 35.0. and low 7.0 – 21.0. The study involves qualitative and quantitative data. Thus, the questionnaire has a combination of closed-ended questions, open-ended questions and multiple-choice items. Findings Table 1: Level of Cognitive Anxiety (CA) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Category No. of Students (N=30) Range of Scores ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High 26 23 – 26 Low 4 20 – 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table 2: Level of Somatic Anxiety (SA) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Category No. of Students (N=30) Range of Scores ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High 18 11 – 22 Low 12 23 – 33 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Table 3: Level of Avoidance Anxiety (AA) -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Category No. of Students (N=30) Range of Scores ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- High 13 23 – 32 Low 17 13 – 22 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Students with high CA and SA chose not to do English writing tasks because of their lecturers and peers’ perceptions of their writing; the physiological effects, e.g. sweating, trembling and disorientation, inhibit them from doing the tasks. Students with high AA also chose not to do English writing tasks because speaking is more important than writing ---it secures job. In contrast, students with low CA, SA and AA feel that the more they practise in writing the more they can improve their writing skill in English. Conclusion The findings seem to suggest that writing anxiety can facilitate and debilitate students’ choice to do writing tasks in the English Language.