The Attitude/ Motivation Test Battery (AMTB)
As already stated above to analyze students’ motivation and attitudes towards the English language in these engineering colleges, I used the Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). AMTB was developed by R.C. Gardner (2004). It was originally used with English speaking Canadian primary and secondary school students who were studying French as a foreign language. According to Gardner (1985 b) “The linguistic goals focus on developing competence in the individual’s ability to read, write, speak and understand the second language, and there are many aspects available with which to assess these skills. Non- linguistic goals emphasize such aspects as improved understanding of the other community; desire …show more content…
Parental encouragement. These ten positively worded items assess the extent to which students feel their parents support them in their French study. A high score indicates a high level of perceived parental encouragement.
Three sub-tests are presented in the form of a multiple choice test in which students circle the alternative they feel best describes them.
9. Motivational Intensity. This measure consists of ten multiple choice items which are designed to measure the intensity of a student's motivation to learn French in terms of work done for classroom assignments, future plans to make use of and study the language, etc. A high score represents a student's self-report of a high degree of effort being spent in acquiring the language.
10. Desire to Learn French. Ten multiple choice items are included in this scale with a high score expressing a strong desire to learn French.
11. Orientation Index. This sub-test consists of one item. Students are presented with four possible reasons for studying French, two of which stress its instrumental value and two its integrative value. The sub-test is scored dichotomously.
Eight sub- tests are assessed by means of a semantic differential format (Osgood, suci & Tannenbaum, 1957):
12 French Teacher----- …show more content…
100 students were from RBIENT and 100 from VEC. The students were from various engineering branches like CSE, ECE, Civil, Mechanical and IT. The Cronbach coefficient α was used to assess the degree of homogeneity of the items within each scale. It indicates the extent to which each scale is internally consistent. According to Dorneyi “Internal consistency reliability is measured by the Cronbach Alpha coefficient (named after its introducer, L. J. Cronbach). This is a figure ranging between 0 and +1, and if it proves to be very low, either the particular scale is too short or the items have very little in common. Internal consistency estimates for well-developed attitude scales containing as few as 10 items ought to approach 0. 80. Because of the complexity of the second language acquisition process, L2 researchers typically want to measure many different areas in one questionnaire, and therefore cannot use very long scales.” He further states that “somewhat lower Cronbach Alpha coefficients are to be expected, but even with short scales of 3-4 items we should aim at reliability coefficients in excess of 0. 70; if the Cronbach Alpha of a scale does not reach 0. 60, this should sound warning bells.” Dorneyi (2003, p.112) The reliability for every construct in each subscale of the AMTB instrument was confirmed through Cronbach’s
As already stated above to analyze students’ motivation and attitudes towards the English language in these engineering colleges, I used the Attitude Motivation Test Battery (AMTB). AMTB was developed by R.C. Gardner (2004). It was originally used with English speaking Canadian primary and secondary school students who were studying French as a foreign language. According to Gardner (1985 b) “The linguistic goals focus on developing competence in the individual’s ability to read, write, speak and understand the second language, and there are many aspects available with which to assess these skills. Non- linguistic goals emphasize such aspects as improved understanding of the other community; desire …show more content…
Parental encouragement. These ten positively worded items assess the extent to which students feel their parents support them in their French study. A high score indicates a high level of perceived parental encouragement.
Three sub-tests are presented in the form of a multiple choice test in which students circle the alternative they feel best describes them.
9. Motivational Intensity. This measure consists of ten multiple choice items which are designed to measure the intensity of a student's motivation to learn French in terms of work done for classroom assignments, future plans to make use of and study the language, etc. A high score represents a student's self-report of a high degree of effort being spent in acquiring the language.
10. Desire to Learn French. Ten multiple choice items are included in this scale with a high score expressing a strong desire to learn French.
11. Orientation Index. This sub-test consists of one item. Students are presented with four possible reasons for studying French, two of which stress its instrumental value and two its integrative value. The sub-test is scored dichotomously.
Eight sub- tests are assessed by means of a semantic differential format (Osgood, suci & Tannenbaum, 1957):
12 French Teacher----- …show more content…
100 students were from RBIENT and 100 from VEC. The students were from various engineering branches like CSE, ECE, Civil, Mechanical and IT. The Cronbach coefficient α was used to assess the degree of homogeneity of the items within each scale. It indicates the extent to which each scale is internally consistent. According to Dorneyi “Internal consistency reliability is measured by the Cronbach Alpha coefficient (named after its introducer, L. J. Cronbach). This is a figure ranging between 0 and +1, and if it proves to be very low, either the particular scale is too short or the items have very little in common. Internal consistency estimates for well-developed attitude scales containing as few as 10 items ought to approach 0. 80. Because of the complexity of the second language acquisition process, L2 researchers typically want to measure many different areas in one questionnaire, and therefore cannot use very long scales.” He further states that “somewhat lower Cronbach Alpha coefficients are to be expected, but even with short scales of 3-4 items we should aim at reliability coefficients in excess of 0. 70; if the Cronbach Alpha of a scale does not reach 0. 60, this should sound warning bells.” Dorneyi (2003, p.112) The reliability for every construct in each subscale of the AMTB instrument was confirmed through Cronbach’s