Although, there have been similar studies on writing anxiety in the Indonesian context, this study is particularly important because it investigates three broad spectra in the study of writing anxiety simultaneously. This study examined the levels, the associating factors, and the strategies used to cope with writing anxiety among Indonesian EFL learners. The participants were 148 EFL students in two Study Programs at the Department of English, Universitas Negeri Padang. Second Language Writing Anxiety Inventory (SLWAI) developed by Cheng (2004) was used to collect the data on students’ levels of anxiety. Factors causing writing anxiety were investigated by administering Writing Anxiety Test (WAT) developed by Dally-Miller (1975). To gather data on coping strategies used to deal with writing anxiety, a questionnaire developed by Kondo & Yingling (2004) was utilized. It was found that the level of students’ writing anxiety ranged from medium to high, with the majority was in the medium level and none was in the low level. Factors causing writing anxiety were dominated by evaluation apprehension followed by stress apprehension and product apprehension. The coping strategies used by students to overcome writing anxiety were positive thinking, preparation, relaxation, resignation, and peer-seeking (most-frequent to least frequent respectively). Referring to these findings, it is imperative for writing instructors to implement assessment or evaluation strategies which facilitate learning (assessment for learning). Instructors are also encouraged to create a less tense atmosphere in writing class that no student resort to resignation as their way to cope with their anxiety.

Keywords: writing anxiety, EFL, levels, factors, coping strategies