The relationship of L2 learners' writing proficiency and level of anxiety towards academic English writing at Can Tho University

Abstract

The aim of this study is to assess the relationships between writing anxiety and writing proficiency among senior students who are majoring in English Language Teaching at Can Tho University (CTU). By the end of this study, it provides the teachers with a way to orient their learners the way to improve writing skills as well as to lessen anxieties before graduating. A sample of 50 senior students of English language teaching major at Can Tho University (CTU) was selected for the study. A questionnaire modified from the Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI), generated by Cheng (2004), was delivered to the participants in order to discover the most common types of writing anxiety among undergraduate students at Can Tho University (CTU). The results showed that senior students who are majoring in English Language Teaching indicated a lower level of anxiety about writing than they used to. The findings of descriptive data demonstrate that the students' most common types of L2 writing anxiety were Somatic Anxiety (SA) and Cognitive Anxiety (CA). However, a small proportion of students experienced Avoidance Anxiety (AA).