NAVIGATING WRITING ANXIETY: A THEMATIC ANALYSIS OF FINAL-YEAR EFL STUDENTS’ EXPERIENCES

Abstract

Investigating the writing anxiety of final-year students provides a longitudinal perspective, as these students have accumulated experience in writing activities throughout their studies. They have also developed specific strategies to manage ongoing challenges. Therefore, this study aims to report the changes in final-year students' writing anxiety levels from the start of their studies to their final year. Adopting a qualitative approach, this research involves thirty-three final-year students from a private university in Indonesia. Currently, they are writing their undergraduate theses. This high-stakes task may impact their anxiety, making it crucial to understand how their anxiety evolves over time. Using an open-ended questionnaire, the students described whether their anxiety levels changed from the start of college to their final year. A follow-up interview was then conducted to gather additional data. The collected data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings revealed that students experienced varying levels of anxiety depending on the type of assignment. Several factors also influenced the reduction of writing anxiety, including adequate writing experience, peer support, technology integration, motivation, and self-awareness.