Abstract

This study examined the extent to which different forms of writing anxiety could account for writing performance in a second language (English). Then, it determined whether implicit or explicit attitudes toward in-group and out-group members could predict writing anxiety in its different forms. Participants were female undergraduate students whose first language was Arabic and their second language was English. Before admission, standardized tests deemed students competent users of the English language. In this study, students reported little or no writing anxiety. Writing in a second language was predicted by somatic anxiety, cognitive anxiety, as well as avoidance behavior. However, in-group (i.e., Arab Muslims) implicit attitudes did not predict any form of writing anxiety, whereas a preference for people other than Arab Muslims minimally predicted lower evaluation apprehension. These findings support the notion that writing anxiety is detrimental to performance, even when experienced at a minimal level, and by students who are not beginner language learners. Most importantly, they suggest that in-group or out-group attitudes play a marginal if not null role in second-language writing anxiety.