The influence of a digital comic tool on writing anxiety and performance of Malaysian ESL learners / Faustina Roberts

Faustina , Roberts (2016) The influence of a digital comic tool on writing anxiety and performance of Malaysian ESL learners / Faustina Roberts. Masters thesis, Universiti Malaya.

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Abstract

Writing is one of the difficult language skills causing anxiety among learners. Findings of a study conducted by Nesamalar, Saratha and Teh (2001) had revealed that many Malaysian ESL learners have poor writing skills. Hence, this study is geared towards investigating if Malaysian ESL learners experience writing anxiety, and if yes, what are the levels and causes of their writing anxiety. Since the Malaysian Education System recognises the need to incorporate Information and Communications Technology (ICT) into the teaching and learning procedure, this study also aims to explore the influence of a digital comic tool on the writing anxiety and writing performance of Malaysian ESL learners. This study takes on mixed method research design and adopts the experimental approach with a pre-test and post-test design. The qualitative data is obtained through focus group interviews. A total of 36 students who experienced high level of writing anxiety, determined through the Second Language Writing Inventory Scale (Cheng, 2004), took part in this study. The students were assigned into two groups, which are the control and experimental group. During the treatment phase, students in the Control Group (CG) wrote their narratives using pencil and paper while students in the Experimental Group (EG) used an online digital comic tool. The findings of this study revealed the levels of writing anxiety among the Malaysian ESL learners as well as the causes of writing anxiety. Factors that had caused writing anxiety are; writing is perceived a difficult skill, having low self-confidence in writing, inappropriate teaching methods, time pressure, lack of feedback, and lack of topical knowledge. This study also revealed the influence of both writing approaches on the students� writing performance in areas such as context, sentence fluency and word choice. The students in the Experimental Group (EG) outperformed the students in the Control Group (CG). Last but not least, the students from the Experimental Group.

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