EFL Students’ Business Writing Performance and Writing Anxiety
Abstract
A cover letter is an excellent way of establishing a conversation with a potential employer. Therefore, the letter must provide the best possible initial impression. The objectives of this study are to 1) investigate students’ performance in business English writing after implementing Bhatia’s genre analysis, 2) examine the relationship between students’ writing achievement and their writing anxiety, and 3) explore students’ attitudes toward implementing Bhatia’s genre analysis. The total number of participants in this study was 27. Three research instruments were used to collect the data: pretest and posttest, writing anxiety inventory, and student attitude survey. The quantitative data were analyzed and interpreted using descriptive statistics and paired sample t-tests. The findings showed that the students significantly improved their business English writing after the intervention. Findings from the writing anxiety inventory revealed a negative correlation between the students’ writing achievement and their writing anxiety before and after implementing Bhatia’s model. Furthermore, the students in this study had positive attitudes toward the intervention. Recommendations and implications are provided in this study.
Keywords: business English writing, genre analysis, second language writing anxiety, EFL writing instruction.
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