A Research Note on the Dimensionality of Daly and Miller's Writing Apprehension Scale

Abstract

Writing apprehension (WA) has been identified as an important construct for understanding the factors that influence student development of writing skills. Although the 1975 Daly and Miller scale has dominated the WA investigation, psychometric research has been limited to the identification of question groupings within the measure. All but the 1983 study by Boozer, Lally, and Stacks have presented the WA questions in the order specified on the original scale even though no theoretical basis for the ordering was provided. It is possible that items presented in the same order may consistently produce similar factors because an ordering effect exists rather than separate dimensions. The current study employs factor analysis and comparability analysis to investigate the impact of item order on the number of factors and the underlying factor structure stability of the WA construct. Results indicate that the randomized item factor structure was comparable with the original item order factor structure.

Examining the Effect of Strategy Instruction on Writing Apprehension and Writing Achievement of EFL Learners

“…As the result, learners suffer a distress and anxiety associated with the writing process. More importantly, considering writing as cornerstone of language learning skill, many studies pinpoint the importance of writing anxiety as a specific type of anxiety, unique to the language particular skill of writing (Bline, et al, 2001;Cheng, et al, 1999;Daly & Wilson, 1983). Only recently, writing apprehension due to its sensitivity to EFL contexts (Masny & Foxall, 1992) calls the researchers' attention to this phenomenon and its specific relation to the language learning.…”

An Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of Three Different Forms of Daly and Miller’s Writing Apprehension Test through Rasch Analysis

“…Penley, Alexander, Jernigan, and Henwood (1991), on the other hand, found that it had two factors: difficulty in writing and dislike of writing. Similar to Penley et al (1991), Bline et al (2001) found that the test contained two factors. Zorbaz (2010) found that five out of 26 items did not have adequate factor loadings, and that after these items were removed, the remaining 21 items had four factors: appreciation, prejudice, evaluating apprehension, and sharing what one has written.…”

“…However, the WAT is the most frequently preferred tool of measurement because it is the first scale developed in the field, can be answered in a short time as it has few items, and can be used with students at all stages of education from primary school to higher education. Despite its widespread use, inconsistency between studies exists concerning the construct validity of the test (Bline, Lowe, Meixner, Nouri, & Pearce, 2001). Daly and Miller (1975), for instance, found that the test had a single factor.…”

L’acquisition d’une langue étrangère et l’anxiété langagière

“…Celle-ci peut être définie comme un type de trouble anxieux relatif aux compétences linguistiques, dans le cas présent à la compétence en production écrite (Bline, Lowe, Meixner, Nouri et Pearce 2001). Elle englobe une «peur du processus d'écriture qui l'emporte sur le gain anticipé de la capacité à écrire» (Thompson 1980: 121).…”