INVESTIGATING WRITING ANXIETY FACED BY EFL GRADUATE PROGRAM STUDENTS

This study aims to explore graduate student’ writing anxiety regarding impacts and students’ strategies to reduce it. The researcher applied descriptive qualitative method to achieve the research objectives. The data were collected through interview and observation. Furthermore, the data was analyzed using thematic analysis. The participants were 10 graduate students of English language education of graduate program of Universitas Negeri Makassar in the academic year of 2023/2024. Based on the result, there are five impacts of writing anxiety on students, including cognitive overload, procrastination and avoidance, impaired writing quality, emotional and physical distress, and increased reliance and external validation and technological assistance. However, students develop various strategies to mitigate writing anxiety, including pre-writing strategies, seeking feedback and peer support, utilizing technology assistance, and self-talk and relaxation techniques