Exploring The Relationship between Self-Efficacy and Second Language Writing Anxiety Among Saudi EFL Students: A Correlational Study

Students face many difficulties in writing in a second language. Writing anxiety is considered one of the factors that affect students’ writing proficiency. The current study focused on exploring the relationship between writing anxiety and students’ self-efficacy. This study investigated the relationship between writing anxiety and self-efficacy among preparatory-year students at Majmaah University. The study followed a quantitative research design where data were collected through two questionnaires: Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) by Cheng (2004b) and Erkan and Saban’s self-efficacy scale (2011) 99 EFL Preparatory Year students participated in this study. Participants were provided with the questionnaire at the end of the first semester of 2023, and they were randomly selected. The findings of the study showed that the level of self-efficacy among preparatory-year students was moderate, while the level of writing anxiety among students was moderate. Correlation analysis revealed that there’s a moderate negative relationship between writing anxiety and self-efficacy.