The Affective Objectives in Early Foreign Language Teaching: A Scale Development Study

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to develop a valid instrument which can reliably measure the affective behaviors of young learners of English. To obtain the content and face validity of the scale, the items developed based on the review of relevant literature were assessed by an expert panel. The construct validity of the scale was tested through two independent pilot studies using exploratory (EFA) and confirmatory (CFA) factor analysis techniques. The data were obtained from 194 and 339 4th and 5th grade students in successive studies. The analyses revealed a 4-factor structure with satisfactory model-data fit indices: X²/df=1.371; RMSEA=0.033; RMR=0.019; Standardized RMR= 0.044; GFI=0.95; AGFI=0.93; NNFI=0.97; CFI=0.98]. The factors of the 17-item 3-point Likert type scale were designated as Attitudes toward learning foreign languages and English lesson, Motivation: Desire and effort to learn a foreign language, foreign language anxiety, and Attitudes toward foreigners and other cultures. These four factors together explained 53.88% of the total variance. Item-total correlations and Cronbach Alpha coefficients were estimated to test the internal consistency of the scale, and test-retest correlations were estimated to test the temporal reliability of the scale. The results showed that scale is reliable in terms of internal consistency and temporal reliability.

Keywords

•   Teaching  foreign  languages  to  young  learners,  affective  features,  attitude, motivation, anxiety 

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