Critical language awareness for the heritage context: Development and validation of a measurement questionnaire

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 573-594 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Beaudrie ◽  
Angelica Amezcua ◽  
Sergio Loza
Keyword(s):  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Central Component ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
The Public ◽  
Economic Forces ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Development And Validation

Critical language awareness (CLA) is increasingly identified as a central component of the Spanish heritage language (SHL) classroom (Leeman, 2005; Martínez, 2003; among others). As a minority language, SHL is subject to sociopolitical, cultural, and economic forces that devalue its status. It is devalued in the eyes of the public, as a legitimate U.S. language, and as something worthy of being maintained. It is essential that students receive instruction not only in the heritage language, but also on the contextual factors that affect the Spanish-English sociopolitical relationship in the United States. Such instruction will enable learners to begin resisting heritage language loss by questioning language ideologies that promote English monolingualism and standard, monolingual Spanish as the ideal norm. The aim of this study was to develop a questionnaire with adequate psychometric properties to measure CLA in the SHL context. The respondents were 301 students enrolled in SHL courses in four U.S. universities. The questionnaire results were submitted to a series of statistical analysis to investigate how well the instrument meets the criteria of reliability and validity specified in this study. The final 19-item instrument had adequate psychometric properties and detected change in the CLA of students in a class where CLA was taught.

scholarly journals Understanding Heritage Language Learners’ Critical Language Awareness (CLA) in Mixed Language Programs

Languages ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 37
Author(s):  
Laura Gasca Jiménez ◽  
Sergio Adrada-Rafael
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Heritage Language ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Eastern United States ◽  
Language Programs ◽  
Mixed Language ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Upper Level

Despite the prevalence of mixed language programs across the United States, their impact on the unique socio-affective needs of heritage language (HL) students has not been researched sufficiently. Therefore, the present study examines HL learners’ critical language awareness (CLA) in a mixed Spanish undergraduate program at a small private university in the eastern United States. Sixteen HL learners enrolled in different Spanish upper-level courses participated in the study. Respondents completed an existing questionnaire to measure CLA, which includes 19 Likert-type items addressing different areas, such as language variation, language ideologies, bilingualism, and language maintenance. Overall, the results show that learners in the mixed language program under study have “somewhat high” and “high” levels of CLA. The increased levels of CLA in learners who had completed three courses or more in the program, coupled with their strong motivation, suggests that this program contributes positively toward HL students’ CLA. However, respondents’ answers also reveal standard language ideologies, as well as the personal avoidance of code-switching. Based on these findings, two areas that could benefit from a wider representation in the curriculum of mixed language programs are discussed: language ideologies and plurilingual language practices.

The Development and Validation of the Familial Support of Multiracial Experiences Scale

2021 ◽  
pp. 001100002110463
Author(s):  
Annabelle L. Atkin ◽  
N. Keita Christophe ◽  
Hyung Chol Yoo ◽  
Abigail K. Gabriel ◽  
Christine S. Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Factor Analysis ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Racial Groups ◽  
Identity Exploration ◽  
Familial Support ◽  
Racial Experiences ◽  
Confirmatory Factor ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
Group Memberships

The purpose of this study was to develop a measure of familial support of Multiracial individuals’ unique racial experiences to advance the field’s understanding of how familial processes influence Multiracial development. A sample of 422 Multiracial college students (77.7% female, Mage = 20.05) from three different regions of the United States completed the survey. Exploratory factor analysis results suggested a two-factor measure. Multiracial Conscious Support, a 15-item subscale, represented support strategies unique to Multiracial individuals’ experiences of discrimination and identity exploration. The second 7-item subscale, Multiple Heritage Validation, represented validation of membership in multiple racial groups. The factor structure was supported by confirmatory factor analysis findings with a separate sample. Support was found for the reliability and validity of each subscale. This study provides evidence validating the first measure of familial support of Multiracial experiences, highlighting two themes of support addressing unique experiences of being Multiracial, and validating multiple racial group memberships.

Theorizing Linguistic Racisms from a Language Ideological Perspective

2020 ◽  
pp. 67-89
Author(s):  
Paul V. Kroskrity
Keyword(s):  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Theoretical Orientation ◽  
Special Kind ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Social Hierarchies ◽  
Colonial State ◽  
Nation States ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Political Economic

Previous scholarship has linked the promotion of racializing projects to the larger political economic contexts of nation-states and their role in (re-)producing social hierarchies. Language, in the form of language ideologies (Kroskrity 2016), linguistic forms, and discursive practices, provides a special kind of resource in such racializing projects because it contributes not only overtly but also covertly to the hierarchical production of social inequality. This study builds on prior language ideological studies of linguistic racism in the United States (e.g., Hill 2008) and demonstrates how this theoretical orientation reveals patterns of overt and covert racism that derive from speakers’ consciousness across a continuum ranging from practical consciousness (Kroskrity 1998) to critical language awareness (Alim 2010). Language ideological data, including the publications of “salvage era” academic researchers, disclose a sector on the spectrum of linguistic racisms directed specifically at indigenous people and their culture by a settler-colonial state and its citizens.

AT WAR WITH DIVERSITY: U.S. LANGUAGE POLICY IN AN AGE OF ANXIETY. James Crawford. Clevedon, UK: Multilingual Matters, 2000. Pp. 144. $49.95 cloth, $15.95 paper. LANGUAGE DIVERSITY AND EDUCATION. David Corson. Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum, 2001. Pp. xi + 253. $29.95 paper.

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 126-128
Author(s):  
Timothy Reagan
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
The United States ◽  
Language Diversity ◽  
Language Awareness ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Language Differences ◽  
Vernacular English ◽  
Critical Language Awareness ◽  
Educational Debate

The need to recognize the presence and significance of language diversity in educational settings in the United States has become increasingly apparent to educators and educational policy makers in recent years. Among the more contentious debates about public education that we have witnessed have been those concerned directly with language and linguistic matters, not the least of which have been those dealing with the education of minority-language students in general and bilingual education programs in particular. Also, frequent touchstones for educational debate have been efforts to “recognize” African American Vernacular English as many children's first and dominant language variety—a matter of no linguistic controversy at all but one of immense political and educational controversy, as events in Oakland, California, made quite clear. Although of increasing significance and relevance, it is interesting that relatively few works have sought to target one of the more important audiences concerned with such debates: future classroom teachers. Issues of language and language diversity are largely absent from the teacher education literature, and preservice teachers are relatively unlikely to be exposed in any significant or in-depth way to such matters in their formal preparation (see Reagan, 1997). As David Corson notes in Language diversity and education, “A major challenge for beginning teachers is to understand how language differences construct and reflect ideologies and power relations, especially through the work that teachers do themselves” (p. 96). Fortunately, the two books under review here provide an excellent start for helping new and future teachers to develop the type of critical language awareness necessary if they are to meet the needs of their students more adequately.

scholarly journals Development and Validation of a Work Mattering Scale (WMS)

2015 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 467-483 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ae-Kyung Jung ◽  
Mary J. Heppner
Keyword(s):  
Phase Ii ◽  
Factor Model ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Phase Iii ◽  
Initial Structure ◽  
Factor Analyses ◽  
Working Adults ◽  
Development And Validation

Many people desire work that matters to others and society. This study reports the development and validation of the Work Mattering Scale (WMS), which measures work mattering with two dimensions, that is, societal mattering and interpersonal mattering. Phase I utilized a review of the scholarly literature, in-depth interviews, and expert feedback to formulate 45 items. In Phase II, with a sample of 299 working adults in the United States, exploratory factor analyses were employed and produced a two-factor model with 10 items. In Phase III, with another sample of 251 working adults, confirmatory factor analyses were conducted to test the initial structure specified in Phase II. In Phase IV, the construct validity was examined by correlations and factor analysis among the total and subscale scores with existing measures. In Phase V, 4-week test–retest reliability was calculated. Results provided support for the reliability and validity of the WMS.

Psychometric Properties of Spanish Versions of the FACES II and Dyadic Adjustment Scale

2006 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 181-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
JoAnne M. Youngblut ◽  
Dorothy Brooten ◽  
Victoria Menzies
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Hispanic Americans ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Psychometric Testing ◽  
The United States ◽  
Dyadic Adjustment ◽  
Dyadic Adjustment Scale ◽  
Ethnic Populations

Although Hispanic Americans are one of the fastest growing ethnic populations in the United States, use and psychometric testing of Spanish versions of two instruments commonly used to measure quality of the couple’s relationship and family functioning, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) and the FACES II, have not been reported. The purpose of this study was to test the psychometric properties of the newly translated Spanish version of these two instruments. In this bilingual sample of 78 adults, internal consistencies were acceptable (.72 to .77 for the FACES II; .67 to .93 for the DAS) and test-retest correlations were high (.80 to .88 FACES II; .79 to .87 DAS). Correlations between the Spanish and English versions were also high (.87 to .94 FACES II; .91 to .99 DAS). Psychometric findings support the reliability and validity of the Spanish versions of these newly translated measures.

scholarly journals Development and validation of a 12-item version of the Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (B-L RI:mini) using item response theory

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shun Chen ◽  
Faith Liao ◽  
David Murphy ◽  
Stephen Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Item Response Theory ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Item Response ◽  
Personality Development ◽  
Temporal Stability ◽  
Reliability And Validity ◽  
Response Theory ◽  
Carl Rogers ◽  
Development And Validation ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractThe Barrett-Lennard Relationship Inventory (B-L RI; Barrett-Lennard, (2015). The Relationship Inventory A Complete Resource and Guide. http://nbn-resolving.de/urn:nbn:de:101:1-201602103917) is the most widely used measure of the facilitative conditions described by Carl Rogers as important for constructive personality development in his person-centered theory. At with 64 items it is however time consuming for participants to complete, and even in its shorter form, the B-L RI is 40-items long. In order to improve its utility, a mini form of the B-L RI was developed. In study 1, we used item response theory to select 12 out of the full 64 items to form the B-L RI:mini based on their discrimination, difficulty, information, and measurement invariance across the English (n = 298), Chinese (n = 658), and Spanish (n = 330) language versions of the inventory. In study 2 (N = 362), we validated the reliability and validity of the new 12-item measure. It was found that the B-L RI:mini showed excellent total internal consistency, temporal stability, and construct validity. According to the results of the study, the B-L RI:mini maintains optimal psychometric properties with a small number of items. This scale is recommended for use in further studies.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document