The Influence of Writing Strategies on Different Types of Writing Anxiety

Abstract

Writing anxiety has become a common challenge among learners in higher education, particularly in academic writing tasks that require critical thinking, language accuracy, and effective communication. The use of appropriate writing strategies is believed to help learners manage writing difficulties and reduce anxiety during the writing process. Therefore, this study investigates the influence of writing strategies on different types of writing anxiety among tertiary learners. Specifically, the study examines the relationship between writing strategies and writing anxiety across gender, course of study, and SPM CEFR level, as well as learners’ perceptions of writing strategies, cognitive anxiety, somatic anxiety, and avoidance behaviour. This quantitative study employed a survey design involving 331 participants from various courses of study at a higher learning institution. The instrument consisted of a 5-point Likert-scale questionnaire adapted from Cheng (2004) and Raoofi et al. (2017), comprising 44 items divided into sections on writing anxiety and writing strategies. Data were analysed using SPSS through descriptive, inferential, and correlational analyses. The findings revealed significant differences in writing strategies across gender and significant differences in writing anxiety across the course of study. However, no significant differences were found across SPM CEFR levels. Correlation analysis further indicated a weak but significant negative relationship between writing strategies and both cognitive and somatic anxiety, suggesting that the increased use of writing strategies may help reduce learners’ anxiety in writing. The study also showed that learners generally demonstrated positive perceptions towards the use of metacognitive, cognitive, social, affective, and effort regulation strategies in writing. The findings imply that writing instructors should integrate effective writing strategies into classroom practices to help learners manage writing anxiety and improve their writing performance. Future studies may further explore other factors influencing writing anxiety using different contexts and research approaches.