The Effect of Sentence-Making Practice on Adult EFL Learners’ Writing Anxiety A Comparative Study

Writing anxiety is one of the most essential factors influencing language learning. The current study is to explore the effect of sentence-making practice on reducing writing anxiety of two classes of adult EFL learners, one in low-intermediate level (LI learners), the other in high-intermediate level (HI learners). Two classes received two-week sentence-making practice, before completing the questionnaire designed specifically for the present study and attending the semi-structured interview. The descriptive statistics and independent t-test demonstrate that both mean scores of two classes are below 3 points, showing that they are in low or moderate anxiety levels. Moreover, the mean scores of HI class are lower than LI class in all four dimensions (classroom experience; while-writing experience; feedback experience; further effects), despite no significant difference, except for in the third dimension (feedback experience). Both statistic results and qualitative analysis with learners’ attitudes towards sentence-making practice illustrate that the learners in two classes have less writing anxiety after sentence-making practice, and this teaching method has also brought beneficial effects on learners’ writing.