Chapter 1 Notes

Young writers are often so caught up in learning to write that they may never experience writing to larn, not just to learn about a particular project but to learn about themselves, their values, their experiences, their environment. As teachers of composition, at some point in our careers we have undoubtedly experienced writing apprehension. We can understand why some develop an aversion to writing and would do almost anything to avoid it.

WRITING APPREHENSION DEFINED the term as the tendency to experience high degrees of anxiety when asked to write, resulting in an approach-avoidance conflictive state which manifests itself in one’s behaviors, attitudes, and written products.

Behaviors
1. They tend to select careers which they perceive to require little or no writing.
2. They tend to avoid courses and majors which require writing on a daily basis.
3. They write very little out of class.
4. They lack role models for writing at home, in school, and in the society at large.
5. They score lower on tests of verbal ability (SAT), reading comprehension, and standardized tests of writing ability used for college placement.
6. They do not necessarily lack motivation.

Attitudes
1. Their self-concept is often lower, and they may lack self-confidence.
2. They report low success in prior experiences with school-related writing.
3. They have received negative teacher responses to prior writing attempts.
4. They are more apprehensive when writing personal narratives in which they must express personal feelings, beliefs, and experiences.
5. They exhibit less apprehension when writing argumentative persuasive essays in which they are told not to inject personal feeling and not to use the first-person point of view.

Written Products
1. They have more difficulty with invention— getting ideas of what to write.
2. They produce shorter