Abstract:
The current study was purposed on investigating writing anxiety and essay
writing performance among senior high school students in Greenville
Education District, Sinoe County, Liberia. It was theoretically hinged on the
Affective Filter Hypothesis and the Three-System Response Theory of
Anxiety. Adopting a quantitative approach with a cross-sectional survey
design, a questionnaire was utilised as the main instrument of collection of
data. A sample of 313 students were selected through the proportionate
stratified random sampling technique. In addition, 60% of respondents‘
averages in English were collected as essay writing performance scores. The
data were analysed using both descriptive and inferential statistics such as
mean, standard deviation, frequency, percentage, independent-sample t-test,
repeated measures analysis of variance, multiple regression, and analysis of
variance. The results of the study showed that SHS students experience a
moderate level of overall writing anxiety and moderate levels of cognitive
anxiety, somatic anxiety, and avoidance behaviour. It was also found that
students‘ cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety were significantly higher than
their avoidance behaviour. However, there was no difference in students‘
cognitive anxiety and somatic anxiety. The study further revealed that
cognitive anxiety and avoidance behaviour significantly predicted students'
essay writing performance. However, somatic anxiety did not contribute to
students‘ essay writing performance. Moreover, it was found that there was no
significant difference in students‘ writing anxiety based on sex. Furthermore,
it was revealed that lowly anxious and moderately anxious groups of students
performed significantly higher in essay writing than highly anxious students.
It was recommended, among others, that English language teachers should
help students to reduce their fear and worry about essay writing by
counselling students. Teachers of English language should identify students
who show signs of shivering and sweating during essay writing and help them
by boosting their self-confidence and, as well, avoid giving negative feedback
on students' written products. English language teachers‘ efforts to minimise
students‘ level of writing anxiety should target both male and female students.
