Development of Self-Knowledge Scale for Learning English: A Study of Validity and Reliability

Abstract

The aim of this research is to develop the scale of self-knowledge for learning English. The research population consists of all the ninth-grade students receiving education in Anatolian high schools of the Aydın city in the academic year 2015-16. For the first pre-implementation, the sample of the study includes 646 ninth class students in five Anatolian high schools in a province of Aydın. Following the analyses, the scale was revised. For the second pre-implementation of the revised scale, a different sample in another two provinces of Aydın was determined, and the sample included 816 ninth grade students receiving education in eight Anatolian high schools in total, four schools for each one of the two provinces in the same academic year. After the analyses of the first pre-implementation and second pre-implementation data separately, it was determined that, the scale developed consists of a total of 17 items and those items were grouped under the four factors identically in both analyses. Regarding to the factors’ percentages in explaining total variance of the scale; the percentages are 19% for metacognition, 17% for motivation, 13% for anxiety and 12% for endeavor. It was identified that all these factors together contribute to the variance of the scale with a percentage of 61%. Key to the confirmatory factor analysis carried out after the explanatory factor analysis, the fit indices were examined altogether, and the model was determined as acceptable overall. In the analysis carried out to determine the internal consistency coefficients of the scale, Cronbach Alpha reliability coefficient was found to be 0.81 for the whole scale. This indicated that the items of the scale are consistent with each other. Internal consistency reliability coefficients determined for the factors respectively are; 0.84 for metacognition, 0.85 for motivation, 0.72 for endeavor and 0.70 for the fourth factor anxiety. In accordance with the results obtained in the study, the scale can be used as a valid and reliable instrument to measure ninth class students’ self-perceptions for learning English.