Sources of Writing Anxiety: A Study on French Language Teaching Students

Abstract

Conducted on French Language Teaching students, this research aims to determine the causes of writing anxiety. Designed in accordance with the mixed method, a writing anxiety inventory, a language proficiency exam, a retrospective composing-process questionnaire, a writing attitude scale and semi-structured interviews were used. After identifying anxiety levels of 22 Turkish students attending French Writing Activities, course, proficiency levels, attitudes towards writing, and the composing-process have been found as possible sources of writing anxiety. Data obtained via semi-structured interviews held with students have not only confirmed these results, but also revealed new findings as to other causes of writing anxiety: classmates, time pressure on writing activities, and teacher’s attitudes towards students.