Generalizability Analyses of Postsecondary Students’ Needs Analysis Survey of Academic Language Skills

• In Event: Roundtable Session 117
  In Roundtable Session: Validation of Scales

Abstract

In this study, univariate and multivariate generalizability theory is employed to examine psychometric characteristics of questions from a survey used to examine post-secondary students’ difficulty in academic language skills. Of particular concern are the numbers of questions needed for adequate measurement precision depending on different academic language skills (oral skills vs. non-oral skills) and different language groups (native English speakers vs. nonnative speakers). The analyses indicate that different numbers of items are required depending on target language skills and language groups. Moreover, the correlation between oral and non-oral language difficulty for native students was larger than for nonnative students. The study addresses important measurement issues in developing a needs analysis survey about students’ difficulty in academic language skills.

Author

• Nami Shin, UCLA