Construction and validation of self-esteem in the foreign language classroom scale (SEFLS)

Pablo Antonio Cano Jiménez; Fernando David Rubio Alcalá

doi:10.30827/portalin.vi38.22447

Authors

Pablo Antonio Cano Jiménez Universidad de Sevilla https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8715-5966
Fernando David Rubio Alcalá Universidad de Huelva https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1478-2168

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.vi38.22447

Keywords:

validation, scale, self-esteem, self-concept, foreign language

Abstract

This paper describes the development and standardization of a measure of self-esteem in the foreign language classroom. The reliability and validity of self-esteem in the foreign language classroom scale (SEFLS) were determined for a sample of 252 Spanish native speakers studying a foreign language. The test reliability coefficient was ω= ,92. Confirmatory factorial analysis (CFA) yielded a 10-item three-dimension structure acceptable model fit. The three dimensions were language competence, skills performance and perceived social support. The SEFLS measure could be a useful tool for assessing students’ self-esteem in the foreign language classroom. Implications, limitations, and directions for future organizational research are discussed.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

Author Biographies

Pablo Antonio Cano Jiménez, Universidad de Sevilla

Pablo Antonio Cano-Jiménez works as an Adjunct Professor in the Education Department at the University of Seville, Spain, and has also previously worked at the University of Huelva. He holds two masters, one in Language Learning and another one in Sport Education. His field of research is education systems and learning methodologies. He has been a visiting professor in China, Taiwan, Slovenia and Albany, and has been involved in scholar events in Portugal, Nicaragua and Belgium.

Fernando David Rubio Alcalá, Universidad de Huelva

Fernando D. Rubio-Alcalá (ORCID: 0000-0002-1478-2168) is an Associate Professor (2011-) at the English Language Department and Head of Language Policy (2019-) at the Vicerectorate of Internationalization in the University of Huelva (Spain). His expertise is language learning, and his line of research is two-fold: affective language learning and multilingualism. In 2007 he edited the book Self-esteem and foreign language learning (Cambridge Scholars Publishing), and has also authored many other papers in the field of the affective domain, for instance, in 2017, The links between self-esteem and language anxiety and implications for the classroom, in C. Gkonou, M. Daubney y J.M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety. Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 98-216). Bristol: Multilingual Matters, or in 2014, Self-esteem and Self-concept in foreign language learning, in S. Mercer & M. Williams (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on the self in SLA (pp. 41-58). Bristol: Multilingual Matters. He got a research fellowship at the University of Texas (Austin, 2005), to work with Elaine Horwitz, and was a visiting professor at the University of Virginia (Wise, 2007, 2008, 2011). He was rated the best professor at the University of Huelva with the Excellence Teaching Award (2007), and has given more than a hundred conferences and workshops in Europe, North, Central and South America.

References

Alrabai, F. (2017). Self-esteem of Saudi learners and its relationship to their achievement in English as a foreign language. English Linguistics Research, 6(4), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.5430/elr.v6n4p1

Anderson, P.L. (1982). Self-esteem in the foreign language: A preliminary investigation. Foreign Language Annals, 5(2), 109-114.

Arens, A.K., Jansen, M., Preckel, F., Schmidt, I., & Brunner, M. (2020). The structure of academic self-concept: A methodological review and empirical illustration of central models. Review of Educational Research, 91(1), 34-72. https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654320972186

Arnold, J. (1999). Affect in language learning (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Bagheri, M.S., & Faghih, M. (2012). The relationship between self-esteem, personality type and reading comprehension of Iranian EFL students. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 2(8), 1641-1650. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.2.8.1641-1650

Basco, L.M., & Han, S. (2016). Self-esteem, motivation, and anxiety of Korean university students. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 7(6), 1069-1078. https://doi.org/10.17507/jltr.0706.02

Boateng, G.O., Neilands, T.B., Frongillo, E.A., Melgar-Quiñonez, H. R., & Young, S.L. (2018). Best practices for developing and validating scales for health, social, and behavioral research: A primer. Frontiers in Public Health, 6(146), 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2018.00149

Brown, H.D. (1994). Principles of language learning and teaching (3rd ed.). Prentice Hall Regents.

Coopersmith, S. (1967). The antecedents of self-esteem. Freeman.

Dev, S., & Qiqieh, S. (2016). The relationship between English language proficiency, academic achievement and self-esteem of non-native-English-speaking students. International Education Studies, 9(5), 147-155. https://doi.org/10.5539/ies.v9n5p147

Dörnyei, Z. (2005). The psychology of the language learner. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410613349

Faber, P. (2012). A cognitive linguistics view of terminology and specialized language. De Gruyter Mouton.

Fahim, M., & Rad, S.K. (2012). The relationship between self-esteem and paragraph writing of Iranian EFL learners. Psychology (Irvine, Calif.), 3(1), 24-29. https://doi.org/10.4236/psych.2012.31004

Fernández-Ballesteros, R. (2014). Evaluación psicológica (1st ed.). Ediciones Pirámide.

Guban-Caisido, D.A.D. (2020). Self-esteem and language learning: Empirical evidence from the past two decades. Teaching and Learning English in Multicultural Contexts (TLEMC), 4(2), 95-106.

Guzmán, F.J.B., Fermán, I.A.T., Gómez, C.B., Torres, A.A.B., & Calderón, M.M. (2011). Diseño de un instrumento para evaluar autoestima en jóvenes. Medicina Salud y Sociedad, 1(2), 1-17.

Habrat, A. (2018). The role of self-esteem in foreign language learning and teaching. Springer.

Hassan, B.A. (1992). Foreign language self-esteem and the oral communicative ability of university students. Journal of the Faculty of Education - Mansoura University, 19, 1-19.

Hassan, B.A. (1999). The relationship of writing apprehension and self-esteem to the writing quality and quantity of EFL university students. Journal of the Faculty of Education - Mansoura University, 39, 1-36.

Hayati, A.M., & Ostadian, M. (2008). The relationship between self-esteem and listening comprehension of EFL students. Published Research, Faculty of Letters and Humanities, Shahid Chamran University of Ahvaz, Iran, 1-13.

Heyde-Parsons, A. (1979). The Relationship between self-esteem and the oral production of a second language [Doctoral Dissertation]. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, United States.

Heyde-Parsons, A. (1983). The relationship between self-esteem and the acquisition of French. Second Language Acquisition Studies, 175-187.

JASP Team. (2020). JASP (Version 0.14.1) [Computer software].

Kalazandeh, G.A., Mahnegar, F., Hassannejad, E., & Bakhtiarvand, M. (2013). The influence of EFL students' self-esteem on their speaking skills. The International Journal of Language Learning and Applied Linguistics World, 2(2), 77-84.

Koosha, B., Ketabi, S., & Kassaian, Z. (2011). The effects of self-esteem, age and gender on the speaking skills of intermediate university EFL learners. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 1(10), 1328-1337. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.1.10.1328-1337

Lau, I.C., Yeung, A.S., Jin, P., & Low, R. (1999). Toward a hierarchical, multidimensional English self-concept. Journal of Educational Psychology, 91(4), 747-755. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.91.4.747

Liu, M. (2012). Predicting effects of personality traits, self-esteem, language class risk-taking and sociability on Chinese university EFL learners' performance in English. Journal of Second Language Teaching & Research, 1(1), 30-57. https://doi.org/10.5420/jsltr.01.01.3318

López-Mezquita, M.T. (2018). La evaluación de la competencia léxica: Test de vocabulario, su fiabilidad y validez. [Unpublished Doctoral Dissertation]. University of Granada, Spain. https://digibug.ugr.es/handle/10481/4571

Maleki, N., & Mohammadi, A. (2009). Self-esteem and anxiety of Iranian EFL learners in oral communication tasks. Journal of Linguistic Studies, 2(2), 47-54.

Mandokhail, S., Khan, F.R., & Malghani, M. (2018). Impact of ESL learners’ self-esteem on their oral proficiency. International Journal of English Linguistics, 8(3), 210-222. https://doi.org/10.5539/ijel.v8n3p210

Marsh, H.W. (1986). Verbal and math self-concepts: an internal external frame of reference model. American Educational Research Journal, 23(1), 129-149. https://doi.org/10.3102/00028312023001129

Martínez, E.R., García-Alandete, J., Sellés, P., Bernabé, G., & Soucase, B. (2012). Análisis factorial confirmatorio de los principales modelos propuestos para el Purpose-In-Life test en una muestra de universitarios españoles. Acta Colombiana De Psicología, 15(1), 67-76.

Martínez-Arias, M.R. (2005). Psicometría: Teoría de los tests psicológicos y educativos. Síntesis.

McDonald, R.P. (1999). Test theory. A unified treatment (1st ed.). Psychology Press. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781410601087

Mercer, S. (2011a). Language learner self-concept: Complexity, continuity and change. System, 39(3), 335-346. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2011.07.006

Mercer, S. (2011b). Towards an understanding of language learner self-concept (1st ed.). Springer Science & Business Media.

Moriya, R. (2019). In the midst of emotion and identity: Investigating trajectories of learners' self-esteem from psychological and sociocultural perspectives. Learner Development Journal, 1(3), 8-25.

Mruk, C.J. (2013). Defining self-esteem as a relationship between competence and worthiness: How a two-factor approach integrates the cognitive and affective dimensions of self-esteem. Polish Psychological Bulletin, 44(2), 157-164. https://doi.org/10.2478/ppb-2013-0018

Muñiz, J., & Fonseca-Pedrero, E. (2019). Diez pasos para la construcción de un test. Psicothema, 31(1), 7-16. https://doi.org/10.7334/psicothema2018.291

Piran, N.A. (2014). The relationship between self-concept, self-efficacy, self-esteem and reading comprehension achievement: Evidence from Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of Social Sciences and Education, 5(1), 58-66.

Pramita, G.A.P. (2012). The contribution of self-esteem and language learning strategies to the students' English proficiency for second-year students of SMA Negeri 7 Denpasar. Journal Penelitian, 1(1), 10-13.

Rosenberg, M. (1965). Society and the adolescent self-image. Princeton University Press.

Rubio-Alcalá, F.D. (2007). Self-esteem and foreign language learning. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.

Rubio-Alcalá, F.D. (2014). Self-esteem and self-concept in foreign language learning. In S. Mercer & M. Williams (Eds.), Multiple perspectives on the self in SLA (pp. 41-58). Multilingual Matters.

Rubio-Alcalá, F.D. (2017). The links between self-esteem and language anxiety and implications for the classroom. In C. Gkonou, M. Daubney & J. M. Dewaele (Eds.), New insights into language anxiety: Theory, research and educational implications (pp. 200-218). Multilingual Matters.

Santisteban, C. (1990). Psicometría. Teoría y práctica en la construcción de tests. Norma.

Satriani, M. (2019). The correlation between self-esteem and speaking performance in Indonesia. Teaching and Learning English in Multicultural Contexts (TLEMC), 3(1), 8-14.

Schumann, J.H. (1997). The neurobiology of affect in language. Malden, Mass: Blackwell.

Sorensen, M. (2005). The self-esteem institute self-esteem questionnaire. https://pdf4pro.com/view/the-self-esteem-institute-self-esteem-questionnaire-269c8f.html

Soriano, A.M. (2015). Diseño y validación de instrumentos de medición. Diá-Logos, (14), 19-40. https://doi.org/10.5377/dialogos.v0i14.2202

Soureshjani, K.H., & Naseri, N. (2011). An investigation into the relationship between self-esteem, proficiency level, and the reading ability of Iranian EFL language learners. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 2(6), 1312-1319. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.2.6.1312-1319

Swain, M. (2013). The inseparability of cognition and emotion in second language learning. Language Teaching, 46(2), 195-207.

Takahashi, A., Takahashi, H., 高橋, 歩., & 高橋, 秀. (2013). Learners' self-esteem and its relationships with motivation for learning English, self-perceived and actual English proficiency. 新潟大学言語文化研究, 18, 1-12.

Tilfarlioglu, F.Y., & Delbesoglugil, A.B.Ö. (2014). Questioning academic success through self-regulation, self-esteem and attitude in foreign language learning (a case study). Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 4(11), 2223-2230. https://doi.org/10.4304/tpls.4.11.2223-2230

Ventura-León, J.L., & Caycho-Rodríguez, T. (2017). El coeficiente omega: Un método alternativo para la estimación de la confiabilidad. Revista Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales, Niñez y Juventud, 15(1), 625-627.

Wullur, B.G. (2014). Relationship between self-esteem and speaking skill of SMA students. Teaching and Learning English in Multicultural Contexts (TLEMC), 3(1), 8-14.

Yeung, A.S., & Wong, E.K.P. (2004). Domain specificity of trilingual teachers' verbal self-concepts. Journal of Educational Psychology, 96(2), 360-368. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.96.2.360

Zare, P., & Riasati, M.J. (2012). The relationship between language learning anxiety, self-esteem, and academic level among Iranian EFL learners. Pertanika Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities, 20(1), 219-225.