questionnaire development

Critical cultural awareness as a component of intercultural competence (Byram, 1997, 2012) has received the extensive attention of scholars in the fields of language teaching, cultural studies, ethnic studies, gender studies, communication studies, etc. in the recent decades. However, no instrument has ever been developed to assess this construct among Iranian EFL teachers. To fill this gap, in the first phase of the present study a theoretical framework for critical cultural awareness and its components was developed through reviewing the literature and conducting interviews with ELT experts. In the second phase, a questionnaire was developed and piloted with 370 participants who were available and willing to participate in the study. More specifically, the 37 items of the newly-developed ‘CCA' scale were subjected to principal component analysis which revealed the presence of three components. These phases led to the development of a questionnaire with three components and 37 items: (1) ‘CCA in ELT Programs' including 20 items, (2) ‘CCA in ELT Textbooks and Materials' including 13 items, and (3) ‘CCA in General Terms' including four items. The findings of this study may shed some light on this fuzzy subject and help researchers assess Iranian EFL teachers' critical cultural awareness.

Despite widespread studies on language assessment literacy (LAL), there are still many unexplored areas about LAL (Gan & Lam, 2022). One of these areas is identifying various aspects of LAL regarding different language skills and scrutinizing the English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ involvement with these aspects. Accordingly, this study attempted to (a) explore Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions, preferences, and difficulties of oral/aural skills LAL and (b) develop a scale to measure these teachers’ oral/aural skills LAL. The study was carried out in two phases. First, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 Iranian EFL teachers to identify their perceptions, preferences, and difficulties of oral/aural skills LAL. Second, the researchers developed a questionnaire based on a review of the literature on assessing oral/aural skills and the results of interviews. The questionnaire was reviewed by experts, revised accordingly, and administered to 150 Iranian EFL teachers who were selected through convenience sampling. The reliability of the questionnaire and its construct validity were then checked. The results of both phases of the study were compatible. The outcomes showed that almost all teachers represented dissatisfaction about their oral/aural skills LAL and they were enthusiastic to participate in assessment training courses. Furthermore, it was found that due to their lack of knowledge about oral/aural skills assessment, traditional techniques of assessment were widely used by Iranian EFL teachers.

The Qur’an encompasses a multitude of valuable teachings that serve as essential guidance for Muslims. To fully derive benefits from this divine source, a comprehensive and continuous engagement is imperative. The present study aimed to develop and standardize the "Familiarity with the Qur’an Questionnaire" (FwQQ) and to investigate its factorial structure. Utilizing the insights of Qur’an teachers, experts, and lecturers of Qur'anic studies with seminary degrees from Saqqez County, the characteristics of individuals familiar with the Qur’an were identified. Based on these characteristics, a 22-item questionnaire was developed. A total of 434 primary and secondary school teachers as well as Qur’anic studies instructors from Saqqez, selected through multi-stage cluster sampling, participated in the study and completed the questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and LISREL software through exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (including principal component analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation), and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (using fit indices). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) test indicated that the data were suitable for factor  analysis. Additionally,  PCA with varimax  rotation revealed that the FwQQ comprises two factors: "Learning and Teaching the Qur’an," and "Tendency towards the Qur’an and Contemplation on It." These results were also supported by CFA, demonstrating a good fit between the data and the two-factor model. The reliability of the questionnaire, calculated using Cronbach's alpha, was found to be 0.97 for the overall scale, 0.93 for the first factor, and 0.96 for the second factor. This validated instrument holds promise for future research exploring the role of Familiarity with the Qur’an in various psychological and social contexts.