construct validation

This study reports on the development and validation of a questionnaire for exploring the different types of EFL teachers’ possible selves. First, a theoretical framework behind possible selves theory and its types was cultivated through an extensive review of the related literature and content analysis of 24 transcribed semi-structured interviews with ELT experts. Second, the questionnaire was developed and validated through collecting three types of evidence: content, reliability and construct. Content validity was insured by submitting the questionnaire to expert judgment, and Cronbach’s alpha was checked to measure the internal consistency reliability of the scale and its subscales. Finally, confirmatory and exploratory factor analyses as well as SEM were used to estimate the construct validity of the instrument administered to 380 EFL teachers. The results indicated that the questionnaire was both a valid and reliable measure of EFL teachers’ possible selves and the resultant model hypothesized based on the data collected from the questionnaire enjoyed acceptable fitness indices. The model of EFL teachers’ possible selves (L2 selves) consists of four types including ideal, ought-to, actual and feared selves. The paper is concluded by presenting the different senses of selves within each type which together constitute the whole model of L2 self-development and how the model can be used in future studies.

The present study examined the content and construct validity, and internal consistency of the Academic Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (AERQ) in the Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. The original scale was translated and back-translated between English and Persian. The content validity ratio (CVR), and content validity index (CVI) were then measured by a panel of 14 expert judges. The internal consistency coefficients of the scale were estimated by piloting it with 60 Iranian EFL learners. The results of the Cronbach’s alpha showed a satisfactory level of reliability. The AERQ was then administered to 346 English language learners (Mage = 19.34, SDage = 4.951). To explore the factorial structure of the 37 items of the questionnaire, an Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) was conducted. In addition, Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was run to examine the convergent and discriminant validity of the AERQ’s measurement model. The results obtained from the modified measurement model showed an adequate fit of the data. In the modified version, two items (i.e., one item from suppression, and one from redirection of attention) were omitted due to low standardized loadings (< .50). The model fit indices also provided a reasonable model fit for the structural model. The internal consistency coefficients for the constructs were higher than the minimum value (α = .70). Implications and limitations of the study are discussed.