Evaluating the psychometric properties of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale for Cypriot senior high school EFL students: The Rasch Measurement approach

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS) for Cypriot senior high school EFL students, through Rasch measurement. In doing so, the researchers clarified two discrepancies found in the literature: first the factor structure of the scale and second whether test anxiety is a component of FLCA. The Greek version of the FLCAS was administered to a sample of 304 senior high school EFL students. Results showed that after removing five items which fitted the Rasch Rating Scale model poorly, the remaining 28 items formed a unidimensional scale, one component of which is test anxiety. The degree of reliability was high. Semantic analysis of the items revealed that one of the reasons was the inclusion of many parallel items. The Rasch person-item map showed that a second reason was the narrow coverage of the construct by the items. Finally the 5-point Likert scale was shown to be marginally optimal. Suggestions are proposed for future research into the refinement of the scale.