English Learning Experience Scale (ELES)

In this study, English learning experience scale (ELES) was about the students’

attitude toward English learning. English attitude here was defined as a person’s general evaluation or feeling of favor or antipathy toward English and English-related activities.

The items of ELES were based on the four attitude scales developed by Robyn, Kaye, & Anastasios (2007), Lee (1999), and Palaigeorgiou, Siozos, Konstantaki, &

Tsoukalas (2005). The scale used was the Likert-typed four point rating scale, which 4= strongly agree, 3= agree, 2= disagree, and 1 = strongly disagree. There were 20 items in the scale and it consisted of four dimensions, as follows:

Factor1 Self-efficacy of English learning: This factor focuses on the self-efficacy when learning English. This factor is examined by six items.

Factor2 Behavioral engagement active English learning: This factor focuses on the active English learning. This factor is examined by five items.

Factor3 Anxiety about English learning: This factor focuses on the students’

negative emotional situation and feeling when learning English. This factor is examined by five items.

Factor 4 Beliefs about the importance of English learning: This factor focuses on students’ beliefs about the importance of learning English. This factor is examined by four items.

Mean and standard deviation of the items for tryout are shown in Table 3.5.

Table3. 5 Item descriptive statistics (N=456)

Item Mean SD

1. I will answer the question on the initiative in English class. 2.63 .98 2. I think that English is not helpful to me. 2.18 1.10 3. Compared with other subjects, I meet more questions in

English class. 2.40 1.06

4. I think I speak English very well. 2.57 .96

5. I like to learn English. 2.37 .94

6. I’m always absent-minded when studying English. 2.44 1.00 7. I will look for some materials to study English on the

initiative (e.g. English broadcast, English magazine and so on).

2.62 1.01

8. I will be initiative to talk with students in English. 2.60 1.04

9. I think that English is useful. 2.05 1.08

10. Studying English is not useful in promoting knowledge. 2.24 1.14 11. I am very anxious about learning English. 2.47 1.02 12. I will be initiative to perform in English class. 2.81 .94

13. I’m afraid of speaking English. 2.56 1.00

14. I can talk to people in English fluently. 2.55 .99 15. I feel that learning English is boring. 2.34 1.02 16. I will be initiative to ask others when I meet a problem. 2.27 .96 17. I spend less time in learning English. 2.4 1.01

18. I feel that learning English is easy. 2.55 .99

19. I do well in English class. 2.51 .98

20. I have confidence in learning English. 2.45 .95

Total 49.15 12.04

After the preliminary test, the analysis showed that all items had significant correlations with the scale’s total score (Table 3.6). Cronbach’s alpha of ELES was .904, but the analysis of Cronbach’s alpha suggested that if item 10 was deleted, Cronbach’s alpha of ELES would be .906. However, we kept item 10 first and then after doing factor analysis, we would consider whether it should be deleted or not

questions in English class. .584** .898

4. I think I speak English very well. .551** .899

5. I like to learn English. .758** .894

6. I’m always absent-minded when studying

English. .581** .898

7. I will look for some materials to study English on the initiative (e.g. English broadcast, English magazine and so on).

11. I am very anxious about learning English. .474** .901

Item

13. I’m afraid of speaking English. .516** .900

14. I can talk to people in English fluently. .522** .899 15. I feel that learning English is boring. .583** .898 16. I will be initiative to ask others when I meet a

problem. .606** .897

17. I spend less time in learning English. .411** .902 18. I feel that learning English is easy. .713** .894

19. I do well in English class. .700** .895

20. I have confidence in learning English. .724** .894

** Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

* Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

The value of Kaiser–Meyer–Olkin Measure of sampling adequacy was .920, which meant that the final sample of items was suitable for factor analysis. This research used the principal axis factoring for extraction method (Table 3.7). The factor analysis with varimax rotation on the remaining questions provided four interpretable factors. The extracted factors corresponded satisfactorily with the ones initially drawn, and the factors would be renamed. However, the number of items in factor 4 was less than three items, so we eliminated factor 4, which included item 19 and item 20.

Table3. 7 Factor analysis

Item

Factor Explained variation

1 2 3 4

8. I will be initiative to talk with students in English. .824

22.13 1. I will answer the question on the initiative in English class. .746

7. I will look for some materials to study English on the initiative (e.g. English broadcast, English magazine and so on). .743 12. I will be initiative to perform in English class. .720 14. I can talk to people in English fluently. .657 4. I think I speak English very well. .625 11. I am very anxious about learning English. .650

18.23 6. I’m always absent-minded when studying English. .647

13. I’m afraid of speaking English. .626

3. Compared with other subjects, I meet more questions in English class. .625 17. I spend less time in learning English. .517

9. I think that English is useful. .856

15.74 2. I think that English is not helpful to me. .770

10. Studying English is not useful in promoting knowledge. .699

18. I feel that learning English is easy. 622

5. I like to learn English. .596

15. I feel that learning English is boring. .563

16. I will be initiative to ask others when I meet a problem. .462

19. I do well in English class. .703

12.06

20. I have confidence in learning English. .597

Extraction Method: Principal Axis Factoring.

Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser Normalization.

a. Rotation converged in 9 iterations.

Finally, these three factors are described as follows and the reliability statistics of three factors are presented on Table 3.7, Table 3.8 and Table 3.9.

Factor 1 Initiative in English learning

This factor focused on the active English learning. It was examined by five questions with loadings ranging between .625 and .824, and the explained variance of this factor was 22.13%. Cronbach's alpha was .897.

Factor 2 Anxiety about English learning

The factor referred to students’ negative emotions and cognitions evoked in learning English. This factor was examined by six questions with loadings ranging between .517 and .650, and the explained variance of this factor was 18.23%.

Cronbach's alpha was .800. The information in Table 3.8 shows that if deleting item 17, Cronbach’s alpha would enhance to be .808. Thus, item 17 was eliminated.

Overall, after eliminated item17, the overall reliability Cronbach’s alpha of factor 2 was .808.

Factor 3 Perception of English learning

The factor expressed students’ perception about the importance and favor of

On the other hand, since the item 16 was not suitable for factor 3 and was not easy to explain for factor 3, so item 16 was also eliminated. On the other hand, as

mentioned before, we kept item 10 in the beginning, and now it was discovered that if deleting item 10, Cronbach's alpha would decrease to be .837. Therefore, we still kept item 10. Finally, the Cronbach's alpha of factor 3 turned out to be .864.

After reorganizing the data, the overall reliability Cronbach’s alpha of ELES was .856 that explains the internal consistency coefficient of ELES was ideal. The detailed information is presented in Table 3.9 and the final version of ELES is presented in Appendix A.

Table3. 8 Reliability statistics if item deleted of three factors

Factor Item

14. I can talk to people in English fluently. .876 4. I think I speak English very well. .878 1. I will answer the question on the initiative

in English class. .882

8. I will be initiative to talk with students in

English. .871

12. I will be initiative to perform in English class. .881 7. I will look for some materials to study

English on the initiative (e.g. English broadcast, English magazine and so on).

.883

13. I’m afraid of speaking English. .750 3. Compared with other subjects, I meet

more questions in English class. .748 6. I’m always absent-minded when

.748

Factor Item

18. I feel that learning English is easy.

.862

15. I feel that learning English is boring. .828 16. I will be initiative to ask others when I

meet a problem. .845

Table3. 9 Reliability statistics of factors

Factor