Understanding Learning Anxiety and Mental Well-being in Final-Year English Language Students

Eliza Trimadona; Rahmadani Putri; Chyntia Damayanti

doi:10.24256/ideas.v14i2.6087

Authors

Eliza Trimadona Tadris Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Indonesia
Rahmadani Putri Tadris Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Indonesia
Chyntia Damayanti Tadris Bahasa Inggris, Universitas Islam Negeri Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.24256/ideas.v14i2.6087

Keywords:

Academic anxiety; EFL thesis writing; final-year students; foreign language anxiety; mental well-being; qualitative research

Abstract

Final-year students in English education programmes must write a thesis in a foreign language while preparing for life after graduation, a combination that can threaten both their academic progress and their mental well-being. This qualitative descriptive study addressed two research questions: (1) what factors contribute to learning anxiety among final-year English language students as they complete their theses, and (2) how do their daily attitudes and coping behaviours differ from those they recall as regular (non-final-year) students? In-depth semi-structured interviews (19 guiding questions; 45–90 minutes each) were conducted with five purposively selected final-year students (three undergraduate and two master's students) from two public universities in Jambi Province, Indonesia: Universitas Jambi and UIN Sulthan Thaha Saifuddin Jambi. The data were analysed thematically, and credibility was supported through member checking. Four themes emerged: (a) low confidence in speaking English, driven by fear of mistakes, high self-expectations and limited practice; (b) thesis-writing anxiety arising from supervision deadlines, social-evaluative fear and language-related perfectionism; (c) research-literacy difficulties in linking theory to findings, choosing a methodology and analysing data; and (d) a shift in the final year towards closer supervisor and peer interaction, stronger family and career pressure and more proactive preparation for work. Across cases, fear of negative evaluation and avoidance (silence, procrastination, postponed supervision and repeated revision) formed a self-reinforcing cycle that supervisor and peer support appeared to soften. The findings suggest that thesis supervision in English as a foreign language (EFL) programme should address students' emotional as well as technical needs through negotiated deadlines, structured methodology and statistics clinics, peer writing groups and accessible counselling. Because the study involved only five participants from one province, the findings are not intended to be generalised; they provide an in-depth account that should be tested in larger and more diverse samples.

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