Developing a short language classroom engagement scale (LCES) and linking it with needs satisfaction and achievement

Abstract

Although engagement is gaining attention in applied linguistics, the lack of a measurement tool with robust psychometric properties hinders progress. To address this gap, the study introduces a short language classroom engagement scale (LCES) based on Hiver et al.’s (2020) language engagement scale. Participants include Chinese high school EFL learners (n = 1578) and university learners majoring in Japanese (n = 535). In Study 1, a 9-item LCES was developed, comprising three factors: behavioral, emotional, and cognitive engagement, each including three items. The retained items are examined to ensure the scale's content and substantive validity. The LCES was subsequently validated in a separate sample of Chinese high school EFL learners, providing strong evidence for its structural validity and reliability. Study 2 further confirmed the LCES's validity and reliability among Chinese university learners of Japanese while also establishing generalizability by ensuring its invariance across gender and educational levels/language studied using the entire sample. Additionally, both Study 1 and Study 2 substantiated the external validity of the LCES by establishing associations between engagement, needs satisfaction, and achievement. The pedagogical implications of these findings are discussed.