THE CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS’ LEARNING AUTONOMY AND ENGLISH LEARNING ANXIETY ON THEIR ACADEMIC WRITING ACHIEVEMENT

Abstract

This study measures the correlation between students’ learning autonomy and English learning anxiety and their academic writing achievement among undergraduate students of the English Study Program, Faculty of Education and Vocational Studies, Universitas Lancang Kuning. Although higher autonomy is generally associated with better academic performance and anxiety is believed to negatively affect writing results, inconsistent findings in EFL higher education contexts require further investigation. Therefore, this study aims to examine the partial and simultaneous correlations of learning autonomy and English learning anxiety with academic writing achievement. Using a quantitative correlational design with purposive sampling, the research involved 100 students. Data were collected through validated and reliable Likert-scale questionnaires and documented final scores from the Argumentative Writing course. The results showed that learning autonomy did not have a statistically significant correlation with academic writing achievement (Sig. = 0.680 > 0.05), while English learning anxiety showed a negative but statistically non-significant correlation (Sig. = 0.433 > 0.05). Furthermore, multiple regression analysis indicated that both independent variables simultaneously did not significantly predict academic writing achievement (Sig. F = 0.674 > 0.05), with an R Square value of 0.008. These findings suggest that other cognitive, linguistic, or instructional factors may have a stronger influence on students’ academic writing performance and provide a basis for future research on writing skills in EFL contexts.