Exploring How Pedagogical Strategies Change Student Perceptions of Writing Apprehension

Abstract

Abstract

The Effect of Instructors’ Immediate Behaviors and Clarity on Student Writing Apprehension

“…Employers continue to claim that college graduates lack effective writing skills (Anderson, 2014;Fischer, Meyers, & Dobelbower, 2017) and to ask college faculty to make the development of students' effective writing skills a priority (Ahrens, Meyers, Irlbeck, Burris, & Roach, 2016). Despite efforts by college faculty to respond to the challenges associated with students lacking effective writing skills, many students continue to show writing apprehension or attitudes of writing avoidance, resulting in students neglecting college writing courses (Ahrens et al, 2016;Daly & Miller, 1975) and avoiding the learning process (Daly & Miller, 1975).…”

“…A student experiences writing apprehension in situations in which writing is being assessed and often responds to that apprehension by attempting to avoid the assessment (Daly, 1978). College faculty must understand students' attitudes and fears toward writing (Leggette & Jarvis, 2015) and develop instructional strategies to assist students in overcoming their fear of writing (Fischer et al, 2017). College faculty must "help their students during the development stages of the writing process" (Leggette, 2015, p. 104) by instructing and providing resources and plenty of assignments (Leggette, 2015).…”

“…College faculty must "help their students during the development stages of the writing process" (Leggette, 2015, p. 104) by instructing and providing resources and plenty of assignments (Leggette, 2015). Fischer et al (2017) found that instructional practices positively affect college students' confidence in writing, including allowing students to practice their writing, edit, reflect, use a guide for writing, and write about subjects of interest; giving constructive criticism; and coaching. Autman and Kelly (2017) noted that writing apprehension becomes a barrier to student writing performance because students experiencing anxiety may not necessarily perform well on writing assignments, despite possessing knowledge of writing rules.…”

“…Daly and Miller (1975)coined the term writing apprehension , which “describes the interaction between attitudes toward writing and an individual’s motivations, confidence, and skills to complete a written task” (Fischer et al, 2017, p. 255). A student experiences writing apprehension in situations in which writing is being assessed and often responds to that apprehension by attempting to avoid the assessment (Daly, 1978).…”

“…Fischer et al (2017)found that instructional practices positively affect college students’ confidence in writing, including allowing students to practice their writing, edit, reflect, use a guide for writing, and write about subjects of interest; giving constructive criticism; and coaching Autman and Kelly (2017)…”