Writing apprehension continues to be a barrier to effective student writing, and has been found to have an impact on choices of course, major, and even career. Yet the causes of writing apprehension have not been fully investigated. This study examined the relationship of comment placement, appearance, tone, and completeness to student writing apprehension levels, and to student perceptions of comment tones, which could also affect writing apprehension. A survey was designed and tested for use in this study, and was administered to freshmen and seniors in college. Statistical analyses of...