| Abstract: | This study was designed: (1) to investigate the presence of writing apprehension among English as a Second Language learners, and specifically, to determine if there was a relationship between the attitudes one holds for writing in one's first (L1) or in one's second (L2) language; (2) to examine the impact of L1 and L2 writing attitudes on actual writing behavior; and (3) to explore the L2 learner's previous writing background and possible factors associated with their writing apprehension. International students enrolled in the English Language Institute at Texas A & M University were asked to complete questionnaires assessing attitudes toward writing in their L1 and L2. The scores on the Daly-Miller Writing Apprehension Scale were utilized to identify high and low apprehensive writers. Writing samples of high/low apprehensives were analyzed to determine if writing attitudes had an influence on four measures of writing behavior: an analytical profile score, total number of words, total number of t-units, and mean length of t-unit per essay. An interview schedule was also administered to selected high/low apprehensive writers to determine their perceptions regarding certain background characteristics related to previous teacher evaluations of their writing efforts and their exposure to writing instruction and role models. From the findings, it was concluded that L1 and L2 writing attitudes may be strongly related. The study showed no difference between low or high apprehensive writers and no statistically significant relationship between L1/L2 writing attitudes and three of the four measures of writing behaviors. The only statistically significant relationship discovered was a negative correlation between writing apprehension scores and total number of t-units per essay. This was contrary to previous research findings for native English speakers. |
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