Argues that the word "creativity" can inhibit students from writing because they feel what they write must be completely new and original. Offers suggestions for helping alleviate writing apprehension such as stream of consciousness writing or free writing. (SRT)

Suggests motivating writing apprehensive students by asking them to "remodel" passages from novels, magazines, or newspapers that have been stripped of details, descriptions, and compound sentences. (HTH)

A research study related undergraduates' apprehensions about writing with their final grade in a composition course, grade point average, and other factors. Found that most A and B students had low apprehension, while D and F students had high apprehension. Implications for teaching writing are discussed. (CJM)

Describes the writing apprehension and difficulty encountered by a teacher participating in a writing institute. Includes a copy of her final essay and some reflections on what the experience and institute taught her. (HTH)

Examines materials in the ERIC database on the characteristics of the reluctant writer, the effect of apprehension on writing performance, and teaching strategies to encourage writing proficiency. (HTH)

Argues that scholarly writing entails entering into a complex network of relationships and engages the writer in a process that may have a multitude of ends. Discusses how professional writing is related to the logic of market in that writers must produce an exchangeable commodity, but the process is governed by the requirements of the profession…

Presents 11 strategies writing teachers can use to alleviate writing apprehension and to encourage student writers to feel confident about revealing their thoughts in writing. (SR)

Suggests having basic writers complete a writing apprehension measure at the beginning and end of the term. Argues that students' responses can help teachers identify problems at the beginning of the term and help students evaluate their own strengths and weaknesses as writers at the end of the term. (RS)

Examines the affective characteristics of basic writers and questions the hypothesis that they suffer from high writing apprehension and low self-esteem. Offers evidence of a group of basic writers in a larger group who had both low writing apprehension and high self-esteem. (MG)

Investigates the effect on postsecondary students of the belief that writing ability is a gift. Finds that higher levels of belief in giftedness correlate with higher levels of writing apprehension, lower self-assessments of writing ability, and lower levels of confidence. Suggests that the belief in giftedness may have deleterious effects on…

Explores the relationship between mathematics instruction and writing instruction, particularly their similarity in causing student anxiety. Offers specific teaching methods for reducing writing anxiety. (HB)

Investigates whether high- and low-apprehensive freshman composition students respond differently as peer evaluators in a face-to-face group versus a group using electronic mail. Finds that high apprehensives exhibit different strategies than low apprehensives for peer evaluation, and that high apprehensives participate more and rely more on the…

The purpose of this study is to consider the effect of the peer review process on writing anxiety. Does peer review foster a feeling of equality between the writer and reader and thereby reduce the writer's apprehension, or does it actually have the reverse effect--increasing anxiety due to the tension created by showing a paper to someone other…

A study investigated the influence of communication apprehension on preference for channel of communication: face-to-face meeting, telephone call, or written note. Subjects, 68 college and vocational-technical school faculty, were interviewed on a variety of topics, including telephone apprehension (TA); and completed written tests for speech…

Writing exercises are games that can lead to success in the classroom because they are artificial and have arbitrary rules defined by the instructor. By giving students a starting point, a limited task, and the assurance that the writing is, after all, "just a game," exercises can circumvent students' initial anxieties about self-presentation and…