Design and Validation of a Questionnaire for the Measurement of Students’ Perceptions of Intercultural Practices within Bilingual Secondary Schools in the European Context

Cover Page

Cite item

Full Text

Abstract

Bilingual education (BE) is widely recognised as a complex phenomenon, which constitutes a priority for key educational institutions and organisations. However, further research is needed to uproot common beliefs such as that bilingual students can easily interact with two or more cultures. The literature affirms that BE students need specific school training to improve intercultural competence. The main aim of this study is to describe the design and validation of a questionnaire to measure students’ perceptions of intercultural practices at bilingual schools. The validity of content and comprehension was carried out through the Delphi method, for which three methodological phases were established. The reliability of the scale (internal consistency) was measured through the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient. Factorial analysis was used to check the validity of the construct. The psychometric parameters of the scale were obtained from a pilot sample of 40 students, and later from a sample of 213 students from bilingual secondary schools in several European countries (i.e., The Netherlands, Hungary, Germany, France, England, among others). As a major conclusion, we can state that this questionnaire can be used as a tool for two research goals: the identification of good intercultural school practices in BE, and the development of relevant guidelines for the incorporation of intercultural education into BE.

About the authors

María-Elena Gómez-Parra

Universidad de Córdoba

Email: elena.gomez@uco.es
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7870-3505

Irina Golubeva

University of Maryland Baltimore County

Email: golubeva@umbc.edu
ORCID iD: 0000-0002-8505-1047
Irina Golubeva is an Associate Professor of Intercultural Communication at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore MD, USA) Irina Golubeva is an Associate Professor of Intercultural Communication at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore MD, USA). She graduated in Teaching Spanish and English Languages and Literatures, and holds a PhD in Language Sciences. Irina Golubeva has been working for more than 25 years in the education sector in various positions, including 10 years of experience as international coordinator and head of university international affairs. She teaches and publishes in four languages: English, Hungarian, Russian and Spanish. Her main research interests concern the development of multilingual awareness and intercultural competence through participation in study abroad exchange, internationalisation of higher education, and conceptualization of active intercultural citizenship. She is strongly committed to non-profit work, and served for seven years as a vice-president of the European Association of Teachers.

Roberto Espejo Mohedano

Universidad de Córdoba

Email: roberto.espejo@uco.es
ORCID iD: 0000-0001-6592-3509
Roberto Espejo Mohedano graduated in Mathematical Sciences with a major in Statistics and holds a PhD in Computer Science (computational statistics) Roberto Espejo Mohedano graduated in Mathematical Sciences with a major in Statistics and holds a PhD in Computer Science (computational statistics). He is a Professor at the University of Córdoba and he has worked for 27 years as a University lecturer in several engineering programmes. He has been the academic coordinator of the university degree programmes in computer engineering for 5 years, and he has participated in various processes of curricula creation in the Polytechnic School at the University of Córdoba (Spain). He has publications in impact journals in the area of applied statistics, and he has also coordinated numerous projects on educational innovation. His research is mainly focused on teaching innovation, distance education (e-learning) and applied statistics.

References

  1. Bartlett, M.S. (1950). Tests of significance in factor analysis. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 3, 77-85. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.2044-8317.1950.tb00285.x
  2. Bialystok, E. (2001). Bilingualism in development: Language, literacy, and cognition. Cambridge University Press. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511605963
  3. Borghetti, C. (2017). Is there really a need for assessing intercultural competence? Some ethical issues. Journal of Intercultural Communication, 44,.http://www.immi.se/intercultural/nr44/borghetti.html.
  4. Brisk, M.E. (1999). Quality bilingual education: Defining success. LAB Working Paper, 1, 1-11.
  5. Brown, F.G. (1980). Principios de la Medición en Psicología y Educación [Principles of Measurement in Psychology and Education]. El Manual Moderno.
  6. Byram, M. (1997). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence. Multilingual Matters. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410251
  7. Byram, M. (2002). On being ‘bicultural' and ‘intercultural'. In G. Alred, M. Byram, & M. Fleming (Eds.), Intercultural experience and education (pp. 50-66). Multilingual Matters. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596087-007
  8. Byram, M. (2008). From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship. Multilingual Matters. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847690807
  9. Byram, M. (2012). Language awareness and (critical) cultural awareness-relationships, comparisons and contrasts. Language Awareness, 21, 1-13. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/09658416.2011.639887
  10. Byram, M. (2021). Teaching and assessing intercultural communicative competence: Revisited. Multilingual Matters. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800410251
  11. Byram, M., & Golubeva, I. (2020). Conceptualizing intercultural (communicative) competence and intercultural citizenship. In J. Jackson (Ed.), Routledge handbook of language and intercultural communication (pp. 70-85). Routledge, Taylor & Francis. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003036210-6
  12. Byram, M., Gribkova, B., & Starkey, H. (2002). Developing the intercultural dimension in language teaching. A practical introduction for teachers. Council of Europe. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21832/9781853596087-007
  13. Callahan, R. M., & Gándara, P. C. (Eds.). (2016). The bilingual advantage: Language, literacy and the US labor market. Multilingual Matters. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s10993-015-9362-2
  14. Castro, D.C., Ayankoya, B., & Kasprzak, C. (2011). The new voices/Nuevas voces: Guide to cultural and linguistic diversity in early childhood. Brookes. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2011.590068
  15. Cazden, C., Snow, C.E., & Heise-Baigorria, C. (1990). Language planning in preschool education with annotated bibliography. Report prepared for the consultative group on early childhood care and development. UNICEF.
  16. Cenoz, J. (2015). Content-based instruction and content and language integrated learning: The same or different? Language, Culture & Curriculum, 28(1), 8-24. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2014.1000922
  17. Cenoz, J., Genesee, F., & Gorter, D. (2014). Critical analysis of CLIL: Taking stock and looking forward. Applied Linguistics, 35(3), 243-262. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amt011
  18. Christoffels, I. K., de Haan, A. M., Steenbergen, L., van den Wildenberg, W. P. M., & Colzato, L. S. (2015). Two is better than one: Bilingual education promotes the flexible mind. Psychological Research, 79(3), 371-379. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-014-0575-3
  19. Coyle, D. (2005). CLIL: Planning tools for teachers. University of Nottingham.
  20. Coyle, D. (2008). CLIL - A pedagogical approach from the European perspective. In N.H. Hornberger (Eds.), Encyclopedia of language and education (pp. 97-112). Springer. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-30424-3_92
  21. Coyle, D. (2009). Promoting cultural diversity through intercultural understanding: A case study of CLIL teacher professional development at in-service and pre-service levels. In M.L. Carrió-Pastor (Ed.), Content and language integrated learning: Cultural diversity (pp. 105-124). Peter Lang.
  22. Cozby, P.C. (2005). Métodos de Investigación del Comportamiento [Behavioral Research Methods]. McGraw Hill.
  23. Cronbach, L.J. (1990). Essentials of psychological testing (5th ed.). Harper Collins Publishers.
  24. Deardorff, D.K. (2006). The identification and assessment of intercultural competence. Journal of Studies in International Education, 10(3), 241-266. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315306287002
  25. Dziedziewicz, D., Gajda, A., & Karwowski, M. (2014). Developing children's intercultural competence and creativity. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 13, 32-42. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2014.02.006
  26. Eurydice (Education Information Network in Europe). (2006). Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) at School in Europe. Eurydice.
  27. Fantini, A. & Tirmizi, A. (2006). Exploring and assessing intercultural competence. World Learning Publications.Paper 1.http://digitalcollections.sit.edu/worldlearning_publications/1?utm_source=digitalcollections.sit.edu%2Fworldlearning_publications%2F1&utm_medium=PDF&utm_campaign=PDFCoverPages.
  28. Figueredo-Canosa, V., Ortiz-Jiménez, L., Sánchez-Romero, C., & Berlanga, M.C.L. (2020). Teacher training in intercultural education: Teacher perceptions. Education Sciences, 10(3), 81. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3390/educsci10030081
  29. Gándara, P. & Escamilla, K. (2017). Bilingual education in the United States. In J. Lo Bianco & Y. Slaughter (eds.), Bilingual and multilingual education (pp. 1-14). Springer. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02324-3_33-2
  30. Gedik Bal, N. & Savas, P. (2020).Intercultural competence in the eyes of state school english language teachers in Turkey. Journal of Language and Education, 6(2), 56-75. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17323/jle.2020.10327
  31. Genesee, F. (1987). Learning through two languages: Studies of immersion and bilingual education. Heinle & Heinle. DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3587516
  32. Gómez-Parra, M.E. (2016). Educación bilingüe e intercultural (EBeI): Fortalezas, retos y oportunidades de un enfoque integrado [Bilingual and Intercultural Education (EBeI): Strengths, Challenges and Opportunities of an Integrated Approach]. In R. Serrano-Rodríguez, M.E. Gómez-Parra, & C.A. Huertas-Abril (Eds.), La educación sí importa en el siglo XXI (pp. 67-78). Síntesis.
  33. Gómez-Parra, M.E. (2020). Measuring intercultural learning through CLIL. New Approaches in Educational Research, 9(1), 43-56. DOI:https://doi.org/10.7821/naer.2020.1.457
  34. Gómez-Parra, M.E. (2021). Educación bilingüe en la infancia. El enfoque PETaL [Bilingual education in childhood. The PETaL approach]. Peter Lang. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3726/b17553
  35. Gómez-Parra, M.E., Huertas-Abril, C.A., & Espejo-Mohedano, R. (2021). Key factors to evaluate the impact of bilingual programs: Employability, mobility and intercultural awareness. Porta Linguarum, 35, 93-109. DOI:https://doi.org/10.30827/portalin.v0i35.15453
  36. Griva, E. & Kasvikis, K. (2014). CLIL in Primary Education: Possibilities and challenges for developing L2/FL skills, history understanding and cultural awareness. In N. Bakić-Mirić, & D. Erkinovich Gaipov (Eds.), Current trends and issues in education: An international dialogue. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
  37. Grosjean, F. (2008). Studying bilinguals. Oxford University Press.
  38. Grosjean, F. (2010). Life and reality. Harvard University Press. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4159/9780674056459
  39. Haataja, K. (2007). A definition of CLIL as an umbrella term: A historical perspective. In B. Roza-González (Ed.), Good practice in content and language integrated learning (pp. 9-10). BeCLIL.
  40. Hair, J.F., Anderson, R.E., Tatham, R.L., & Black, W.C. (1999). Análisis multivariante [Multivariate analysis] (5ª ed.). Prentice-Hall.
  41. Hallet, W. (1997). The bilingual triangle: Überlegungen zu einer didaktik des bilingualen sachfachunterichts [The bilingual triangle: Considerations on the didactics of bilingual subject teaching]. Ministerium für Bildung, Wissenschaft und Weiterbildung.
  42. Hamers, J.F., & Blanc, M.H.A. (2000). Bilinguality and bilingualism (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9780511605796
  43. Hernández-González, T., & Halbach, A. (2012). Retos de la educación bilingüe [Challenges of bilingual education]. Ministerio de Educación - Secretaría General Técnica.
  44. Hsu, C.C., & Sandford, B.A. (2007). The delphi technique: Making sense of consensus. Practical assessment, research & evaluation, 12(10), 1-8.
  45. Hung H-L., Altschuld, J.W., & Lee, Y. (2008). Methodological and conceptual issues confronting a cross-country Delphi study of educational program evaluation. Evaluation and Program Planning, 31, 191-198. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.evalprogplan.2008.02.005
  46. Jessner, U. (2008). Teaching third languages: Findings, trends, and challenges. Université de Lausanne. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444807004739
  47. Johannessen, B., Thorsos, N., & Dickinson, G. (2016). Current conditions of bilingual teacher preparation programs in public universities in USA. Education and Society, 34(2), 27-48. DOI:https://doi.org/10.7459/es/34.2.03
  48. Kramsch, C. (2011). The symbolic dimensions of the intercultural. Language Teaching, 44, 354-367. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/s0261444810000431
  49. Lallana, A. & Salamanca, P. (2020).Intercultural communicative competence in L2 Spanish: Guidelines for teacher training programmes. Journal of Spanish Language Teaching, 7(2), 178-192. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/23247797.2020.1847399
  50. Landeta, J. (2006). Current validity of the Delphi method in social sciences. Technological forecasting and social change, 73(5), 467-482. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2005.09.002
  51. Levy-Magin, J. P., & Varela-Mallou, J. (2005). Análisis multivariable para las ciencias sociales [Multivariate analysis for the social sciences]. Pearson Prentice Hall.
  52. Marsh, D. (2002). CLIL/EMILE. The European dimension. Actions, trends, and foresight potential. European Commission.
  53. Masters, E.R. (1974). The relationship between number of response categories and reliability of Likert-type questionnaires. Journal of Educational Measurement, 11(1), 49-53. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1745-3984.1974.tb00970.x
  54. Matveev, A.V. & Merz, M.Y. (2014).Intercultural competence assessment: What are its key dimensions across assessment tools? In L. Jackson, D. Meiring, F. van de Vijver, & E. Idemudia (Eds.), Toward sustainable development through nurturing diversity. Selected Papers from the 21th International Congress of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (pp. 141-156).International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology.
  55. Méndez-García, M.C. (2012). The potential of CLIL for intercultural development: A case study of Andalusian bilingual schools. Language and Intercultural Communication, 12(3), 196-213. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/14708477.2012.667417
  56. Moeller, A.J. & Nugent, K. (2014). Building intercultural competence in the language classroom. In S. Dhonau (Ed.), Unlock the gateway to communication. 2014 Report of the Central States Conference on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (pp. 1-19). Johnson Litho Graphics of Eau Claire.
  57. Nunnally, J.C., & Bernstein, I.H. (1994). Psychometric theory (3rd ed.). McGraw-Hill.
  58. Paulston, C.B. (1992). Sociolinguistic perspectives on bilingual education. Multilingual Matters.
  59. Pérez-Cañado, M.L. (2012). CLIL research in Europe: Past, present, and future.International Journal of Bilingual Education and Bilingualism, 15(3), 315-341. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/13670050.2011.630064
  60. Ponciano, L. & Shabazian, A. (2012).Interculturalism: Addressing diversity in early childhood. Dimensions of Early Childhood, 40, 23-30.
  61. Porto, M. (2013). Language and intercultural education: An interview with Michael Byram. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 8(2), 143-162. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/1554480x.2013.769196
  62. Ramírez-Verdugo, M.D., & Gerena, L. (2020). Bilingual education from learner perspectives. In M.E. Gómez-Parra, & C.A. Huertas-Abril (Eds.), Handbook of research on bilingual and intercultural education (pp. 408-426). IGI Global. DOI:https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-7998-2588-3.ch017
  63. Ramos-García, A.M. (2011). The cultural knowledge of monolingual and bilingual studies. In D. Madrid, & S. Hughes (Eds.), Studies in bilingual education (pp. 223-235). Peter Lang. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3726/978-3-0351-0237-6
  64. Reljić, G., Ferring, D., & Martin, R. (2015). A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of bilingual programs in Europe. Review of Educational Research, 85(1), 92-128. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654314548514
  65. Rodríguez-Pujadas, A., Sanjuán, A., Fuentes, P., Ventura-Campos, N., Barrós-Loscertales, A., & Ávila, C. (2014). Differential neural control in early bilinguals and monolinguals during response inhibition. Brain & Language, 132, 43-51. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bandl.2014.03.003
  66. Romanowski, P. (2018). CLIL's role in facilitating intercultural learning. Applied Linguistics Papers, 25(2), 71-87. DOI:https://doi.org/10.32612/uw.25449354.2018.2.pp.71-87
  67. Roquet, H. & Pérez-Vidal, C. (2015). Do productive skills improve in content and language integrated learning contexts? The case of writing. Applied Linguistics, 38(4), 489-511. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1093/applin/amv050
  68. Samovar, L.A., Porter, R.E., McDaniel, E.R., & Roy, C.S. (2013).Communication between Cultures (8th ed.). Cengage Learning.
  69. Santos Rego, M.A., & Lorenzo Moledo, M.d.M. (2005). Promoting interculturality in Spain: Assessing the Uue of the jigsaw classroom method.Intercultural Education, 16, 293-301. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/14675980500212020
  70. Schluessel, E.T. (2007). Bilingual education' and discontent in Xinjiang. Central Asian Survey, 26(2), 251-277. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1080/02634930701517482
  71. Senge, P. (2010). Education for an interdependent world: Developing systems citizens. In A. Hargreaves, A. Lieberman, M. Fullam, & D. Hopkins (Eds.), Second international handbook of educational change (pp. 131-152). Springer. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2660-6_8
  72. Sercu, L. (2010). Assessing intercultural competence: More questions than answers. In A. Paran, & L. Sercu (Eds.), Testing the untestable in language education (pp. 17-34). Multilingual Matters. DOI:https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847692672-004
  73. Short, D.J. (1994). Expanding middle school horizons: Integrating language, culture and social studies. TESOL Quarterly, 28(3), 581-608. DOI:https://doi.org/10.2307/3587309
  74. Soubelet, A. & Salthouse, T. (2011). Influence of social desirability on age differences in self-reports of mood and personality. Journal of Personality, 79(4), 741-62. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2011.00700.x
  75. Steinberg, L. & Monahan, K.C. (2007). Age differences in resistance to peer influence. Developmental Psychology, 43, 1531-1543. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.43.6.1531
  76. Straffon, D.A. (2003). Assessing the intercultural sensitivity of high school students attending an international school.International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 27, 487-501. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/s0147-1767(03)00035-x
  77. Tabatadze, S. (2015). Factors influencing the effectiveness of bilingual educational programs: The prospects of pilot programs in Georgia. Sino-US English Teaching, 12(2), 93-109. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17265/1539-8072/2015.02.003
  78. Tourangeau, R., & Yan, T. (2007). Sensitive questions in surveys. Psychological Bulletin, 133(5), 859-883. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.133.5.859
  79. Tsung, L. T. H. (2009). Minority languages, education and communities in China. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230234406
  80. Uzum, B., Akayoglu, S., & Yazan, B. (2020). Using telecollaboration to promote intercultural competence in teacher training classrooms in Turkey and the USA. ReCALL, 32(2), 162-177. DOI:https://doi.org/10.1017/s0958344019000235
  81. Vivo, S., Sarič, D., Muñoz, R., McCoy, S., López-Peña, P., & Bautista-Arredondo, S. (2013). Guía para medir comportamientos de riesgo en jóvenes [Guide to measure risk behaviors in young people]. Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo (BID).

Supplementary files

Supplementary Files
Action
1. JATS XML
Download


Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.