Foreign Language Writing Anxiety and Its Contributing Factors: The Case of Efa Boru Dabo Temo and Lillo Secondary School Grade 11 Students in Dabo Hanna District Inbuno Bedele Zone

Abstract

This study was conducted on the title A Study of Foreign Language Writing Anxiety and Its Contributing Factors: Grade 11 Students in Efa Boru Dabo Temo and Lillo Secondary Schools in Dabo Hanna District, Buno Bedele Zone. The main objective of this study was to investigate EFL students’ writing anxiety level and its contributing factors. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the target schools. The students were selected using simple random sampling through lottery method to fill in the questionnaire and the participants for the interview were selected using purposive sampling. The participants of the study were totally 135 students. Two kinds of data collection instruments were used, namely, questionnaire and semi-structured interview guide. The data collected using students’ questionnaire was analyzed by using IBM SPSS Statistical data version 26 software. By using this software, frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation of each item was analyzed. The findings indicated that participants struggled with writing practices and lacked basic writing skills due to writing anxiety and its contributing factors. The study also showed that students writing anxiety was caused by poor writing practice habit, lack of self-confidence, thinking negatively and pessimistically, considering their writings inferior to those of others, thinking that they cannot write any composition, and also their teachers’ teaching methods. Hence, it is recommended that EFL teachers understand that writing anxiety is not the indication of poor writing ability but it is a possible condition that may occur during the writing process and when they treat it properly, there is a possibility to eliminate it. Besides, English teachers and students should identify the potential causes of the occurrence of writing anxiety and try to reduce its effects on the students’ writing effectiveness using the various strategies indicated in the study.