Abstract:

In the context of English as a Second Language (ESL), the lack of writing skills and a high level of writing anxiety pose as serious problems even at the University level. In fact, writing apprehension has been proven to have a negative influence on the writing interest and competency of language learners (Rankin Brown 2006; Meihami & Saadat, 2019). The poor ESL writing skill remains a prominent problem for many ESL undergraduates in Malaysia and one of the main reasons are the high level of writing apprehension and the lack of writing interest. This study investigates the writing apprehension level among 60 ESL undergraduates from UiTM Segamat and their perception on the use of Analytical Writing Technique which was part of IQ-Analytical Module for Essay Writing. The instruments used in the study include the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Test (WAT), an AWT to teach expository essay writing for six weeks and a set of Writing Interest Questionnaire which was deployed after the treatment of the module. The study shows that the students have a high writing apprehension level. However, they feel that the use of Analytical Writing Technique has helped to lessen their anxiety in writing as well as increase their interest in learning to write expository essays.

Keywords:

ESL, Writing Anxiety, Writing Apprehension, Writing Skill, Writing Interest.