English medium instruction learners’ self-efficacy, engagement, and satisfaction; developing a measurement instrument

This paper describes the development of a survey instrument to measure learners' self-efficacy, engagement, and satisfaction within the context of English Medium Instruction (EMI) classes, with reference to both language issues and the discipline being taught. The paper presents details of analysis of the instrument using the Rasch model. The survey was administered to 287 tertiary students enrolled in EMI classes in Japan. Results of a Rasch Principal Components Analysis of Residuals showed the three intended constructs to be largely unidimensional. Item-level analysis, as well as reliability and separation measures and an investigation of Wright maps, provided further evidence that the items are working adequately to measure each of the three constructs and to allow differentiation between levels of each construct among the respondents. In addition, the effectiveness of the 6-point Likert scale used was confirmed with an analysis of category structure functioning. Finally, a correlation analysis with a subset (n = 97) of the participants for which English proficiency test scores were available was conducted. Results showed a small, statistically significant and positive relationship between reading proficiency and each of the three constructs.