A Systematic Review of the Causes of English Writing Anxiety Among Chinese Middle School Students: From the Perspective of Emotion Theory in Foreign Language Learning

English writing anxiety is a common emotional disorder among Chinese middle school students. To systematically explore its causes, this study systematically reviewed 46 Chinese and English literature from 2014 to 2024 based on Pekrun's control-value theory and Spielberger's state-trait anxiety model. The results show that writing anxiety is mainly triggered by four intertwined factors: Individual student factors (especially low self-efficacy, accounting for 85%), task characteristics (mainly time pressure, accounting for 72%), teaching context (fear of negative evaluation is significant, accounting for 65%), and sociocultural factors (cross-cultural expression barriers are prominent, accounting for 41%). Existing research has largely overlooked the particularities of foreign language learning (such as the dilemma of switching between Chinese and English thinking) and lacks exploration of interventions aimed at fostering positive emotions based on Fredrickson's broaden-build theory. Therefore, it is recommended that writing instruction integrate cultural adaptation tasks with cognitive reappraisal training to alleviate the anxiety cycle.