A Comparative Study of Two Scales for Foreign Language Classroom Enjoyment

• Published in: Perceptual and motor skills Vol. 126; no. 5; pp. 1024 - 1041
• Main Authors: Jin, Yinxing, Zhang, Lawrence Jun
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA SAGE Publications 01.10.2019; SAGE PUBLICATIONS, INC
• Subjects: Adolescent; Chinese languages; Comparative studies; Emotions; Factor Analysis, Statistical; Female; Foreign language learning; Humans; Language; Language Arts; Learning; Male; Pleasure; Psychometrics; Second language instruction; Secondary school students; Students; Teaching; comparative study; EFL; psychometric properties; foreign language classroom enjoyment scale; Chinese senior high school students
• ISSN: 0031-5125; 1558-688X; 1558-688X
• DOI: 10.1177/0031512519864471

This article reports on a study that tested Jin and Zhang's Chinese version of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale for classroom learning through confirmatory factor analysis and compared the resulting scale with Li, Jiang, and Dewaele's 11-item scale. Four hundred five Chinese first language senior high school students of English in years 1–3 participated in this study. We found that Jin and Zhang's version of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale could be reduced to a 16-item scale that preserved the same factor structure as the original scale. This revised 16-item scale showed a more solid dimensional division and better psychometric properties than Li et al.'s scale. We discussed our findings in relation to the scale's wider application for improving foreign language teaching and learning.