한국어와 모국어의 쓰기 불안과 불안 요인의 상관관계-중급 수준의 한국어 학습자를 대상으로-

Correlation of anxiety factors and writing anxiety between Korean and the mother language: with a focus on Korean intermediate level language learners

The goal of this study is to analyze the correlation between writing anxiety and anxiety factors in Korean and mother language writing of learners of Korean for Academic Purposes. In order to do this, we used a correlation analysis on the basis of the results of the factor analysis on writing anxiety of Park (2018, in press). The correlation analysis was carried on upon the results of the analysis of the correlation between anxiety factors and writing anxiety. The survey used for the analysis was based on the 26 items in David and Miller’s (1975) WAT (Writing Apprehension Test) with two more items added from Cheng (1998) for a total of28 items, and it was administered to 55 undergraduate foreign students of Korean. First, the analysis shows a meaningful correlation between all the 28 items of the anxiety scale and writing anxiety in Korean as well as in the mother language. Moreover, a meaningful correlation was found also between the factors related to writing in the mother language and in the Korean language. In the case of writing anxiety in the Korean language, among the anxiety items and factors with a strong correlation with writing we found “fear of the Korean writing class” and “lack of confidence”. In the case of writing anxiety in the mother language, on the other hand, we found “lack of confidence in writing down my thoughts”and “unwillingness to express myself and to share”. This paper is a follow up of Park (2018, in press) and aims at understanding in detail which factors influence anxiety in the writing of Korean as a foreign language student. Therefore in this paper we clearly demonstrate which factors influence writing anxiety and make an argument for positive feedback and a writing process aimed to foster self-confidence. Also, since writing in the mother language is correlated to writing in the foreign language, we also advocate for more opportunities to create a positive perception toward writing in general.