On the Measurement of Affective Variables in Second Language Learning

Abstract

This study focuses on four issues concerning aspects of the validity of the Attitude/Motivation Test Battery. Data were obtained from 92 students of university‐level French. The first issue deals with whether the various subtests assess the attributes they are presumed to measure. A multitrait/multimethod analysis of three methods indicated that they did. The second issue focuses on the relationship of the subtests to higher order constructs. A factor analysis provided empirical support for the higher order constructs of Integrativeness, Attitudes Toward the Learning Situation, Language Anxiety, and Motivation. The third issue is concerned with whether the strategy used to measure affective variables influences their correlations with measures of achievement. The correlations obtained suggested that they did; moreover, some measures of achievement were less related to all affective measures than were others. The fourth issue directs attention to measures of integrative and instrumental orientation, their relationship to each other and to achievement. The results demonstrated more communality among integrative orientation items and measures than among instrumental orientation measures. Neither correlated that highly with achievement, but the correlations were slightly higher for measures of integrative orientation.