Hussein Jawad Abdulridha

This study focused on the correlation between writing anxiety and ambiguity tolerance among Iraqi university freshmen students. The participants were 75 intermediate Iraqi freshmen students (40 female and 35 male). They aged from 19 to 24 years. The study delved into the prevalent types and degrees of writing apprehension experienced by participants, along with the primary triggers behind their apprehension. The Language Writing Anxiety Survey and the Causes of Writing Anxiety Survey were administered. After completing these scales, the Second Language AT Scale was completed by them. Data was analyzed using SPSS. The study revealed that cognitive anxiety predominantly characterizes writing apprehension among students, indicating a high level of apprehension overall. Notably, apprehension primarily stems from the fear of receiving negative comments from instructors. Moreover, the majority of participants exhibited low levels of ambiguity tolerance, though no statistically significant correlation between ambiguity tolerance and writing anxiety was observed. The findings underscore the need for educators to take into account both writing anxiety and ambiguity tolerance when designing their courses and instructional methods.