A Study on The Causes and Impacts of Writing Anxiety Among Students at UHAMKA

Abstract

This study examines the internal and external factors that contribute to writing anxiety among English language learners. The reason behind choosing this focus is the high occurrence of anxiety experienced by students during academic writing tasks, which often impacts their confidence and performance. The purpose of this study is to explore the causes of writing anxiety, such as lack of writing experience, negative self-perception, feedback pressure, time constraints, linguistic difficulties, and its psychological impact on students’ self-esteem. The research was conducted at the English Education Study Program of UHAMKA. Eight students who had completed academic writing courses were selected as participants using purposive sampling. This study used a qualitative research method. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews, which were based on prepared question categories addressing both internal and external factors. The data were analyzed using thematic content analysis to identify patterns and key themes related to writing anxiety. The findings are expected to provide valuable insights for educators to understand students' challenges better and help reduce anxiety in the writing process.