Abstract
In response to the need for quantitative instruments that can provide insights into language teacher multilingualism on a large scale, this article discusses the development of the MULTITEACH questionnaire via a five-stage process that consisted of a critical review of research on teacher multilingualism, seminar and practitioner consultations, a pilot study, reliability tests, and principle component analysis (PCA), followed by a larger study involving 460 multilingual language teachers and factor analysis to confirm the PCA. The questionnaire thus validated provides a comprehensive quantitative measure of assessing language teacher multilingualism across multiple foreign languages and in diverse contexts. A discussion of the factors influencing teacher multilingualism has also been included based on the findings from the larger study of 460 multilingual teachers.
Highlights
Research on multilingualism as a learning and teaching resource has been growing steadily in the last few years in tandem with initiatives taken by regional blocs and individual countries to promote the learning of multiple languages, especially in secondary education (Byram, 2018)
In response to the need for quantitative instruments that can provide insights into language teacher multilingualism on a large scale, this article discusses the development of the MULTITEACH questionnaire via a five-stage process that consisted of a critical review of research on teacher multilingualism, seminar and practitioner consultations, a pilot study, reliability tests, and principle component analysis (PCA), followed by a larger study involving 460 multilingual language teachers and factor analysis to confirm the PCA
The validation process consisted of construct validation, content validation (this type of validation can be done by inviting a Heliyon xxx (xxxx) xxx panel of experts to review the items and different sections of the questionnaire), criterion validation, and reliability tests
Summary
Research on multilingualism as a learning and teaching resource has been growing steadily in the last few years in tandem with initiatives taken by regional blocs and individual countries to promote the learning of multiple languages, especially in secondary education (Byram, 2018). While many multilingual initiatives have traditionally focused on the learning of English as a foreign (EFL) or second language (ESL), this, too, appears to be changing One example of this change is Saudi Arabia's recent announcement that Mandarin Chinese will be taught at all stages of secondary and tertiary education (Al Arabiya, 2019). She posits that these systems positively influence multilinguals' creative thinking, communicative sensitivity, flexibility, translation skills, and interactional and pragmatic competence
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call