Validation of Persian Language Learning Motivation Questionnaireas a Second Language

Abstract:
With changes in the field of learning a second language, interest in conducting motivational research related to the second and Foreign language has expanded. However, so far, there has not been a complete scientific research on the motivation of learning Persian (as foreign / second language) among non-Iranian students in Persian. In this research, first on the base of model of Dorniey motivational self-systems (2005) and Gardner and Lambert's (1972), Clement (1980), Taguchi (2010), Papi (2009) and Magid (2011) researches on Students' motivation, a questionnaire consisting of 16 components including 91 items was designed for Persian students. The statistical sample of this study was 300 Persian-learners of male and female from Persian language teaching centers in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Imam Khomeini International University in Qazvin, and Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Validity and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated using PLS software. the results showed that All of the constructs were of an acceptable reliability. Also, acceptable convergent validity was observed for the questionnaire. The divergent validity of the questionnaire was also confirmed. the relationship between the questionnaires constructs and the significance of the questions related to each structure was considered to be desirable and acceptable, and hence, the model has the proper fit and the power of predictive desirability. The t-test was used as a criterion for evaluating the questions of each construct. And since for all the statistical questions T is more than 1.96, it indicates the desirability of questions. 
Extended Abstract:
With changes in the field of second language learning, there is a growing interest in motivational research related to second and foreign language classes. Despite the importance of motivation in language learning, no scientific research has been conducted to investigate the factors affecting Persian language learning motivation (as a foreign / second language) among non-Iranian Persian learners. In this study, first on the base of Dornyei's (2005) self-motivational systems model, and Gardner and Lambert's (1972), Clement's (1980), Taguchi's (2010), Papi's (2010), and Magid's (2011) studies aroundMotivation of the learners, a 16-factor questionnaire including 92 items was prepared for the students. The 16 factors or constructs that were assessed in the Persian Learning Motivation Questionnaire are: Criterion measure, Ideal L2 self, Ought-to L2 self, Second language learning experience, Family influence, Instrumentality-promotion, Instrumentality-prevention, Attitudes to L2 community, Cultural interest, Integrativeness, Linguistic self-confidence, Travel orientation, Fear of assimilation, Persian anxiety, Ethnocentrism, Interest in the Persian language. In other words, the main framework of this questionnaire was designed based on Dornyei model (Dörnyei, 2005), which is one of the newest research achievements in second language motivation and has theoretically strong support, and thus provides strong support for the tool designed in the present study. Then, in order to validate the questionnaire, 300 Farsi learners from Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Imam Khomeini International University in Qazvin, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, were asked to answer the designed questionnaire. The sampling method in this study was also randomized.These Farsi students of different nationalities, ranged in age from 50 to 18 years and were studying Persian in the upper intermediate and advanced levels in academic years of 2017-2018.
Finally, the validity and reliability of the questionnaire were evaluated using PLS software. In fact, since the Cronbach's alpha criterion is a traditional criterion for determining the reliability of constructs, the PLS method employs a more modern criterion than the Cronbach's alpha, called composite reliability. This criterion was introduced by Wertz et al. And its superiority to Cronbach's alpha is that the reliability of the factors is calculated not by absolute terms but by the correlation of their items with each other. As a result, in the PLS method, both criteria are used to better measure the reliability of questionnaire. If the composite reliability value for each construct is above 0.7, it indicates a good internal consistency for the measured models and a value below 0.6 indicates no reliability. The results of questionnaire constructs indicate that Cronbach's alpha coefficient and reliability values (more than 0.7) for all 16 model constructs. Also, in the present study, factor loadings were investigated with the use of PLS statistical software. The factor loadings of the questions for each of the research variables are more than 0.3, indicating the acceptable reliability of the research constructs. Convergent validity that correlated a construct with its indices was also evaluated and in all 16 constructs this value was in the acceptable range (more than 0.5). The criterion for measuring the divergent validity of the research variables is the use of Fornell and Larcker (1981) method. This criterion is the degree of relationship of a construct with its indices or items, compared to the relation of that construct with other constructs, so that the acceptable divergence validity of a model implies that a construct in the model interacts more with its indices than with other constructs. In the PLS this is done by a matrix. This matrix contains the absolute magnitude of the correlation coefficients between research constructs (bottom triangle coefficients) and the square root of average variance extracted for each construct (over the original diameter). Since the values on the original diameter are larger than the lower values of the matrix triangle, the validity of the model discriminant is confirmed by the Fornell and Larcker method.Also, using the t-statistic of each of the questions attributed to the research variables, the suitability of the questions and overall fit of the structural model were evaluated. If the t-coefficient is less than 1.96, that question should be omitted because that question is weak in explaining its own variable and its presence in the model increases the measurement error of subsequent calculations. In the present questionnaire, the coefficients of t for all questions are more than 1.96, indicating that the questions are desirable and overall fit to the structural model.Finally, we hope that this research will be a guide for future research to examine the relationship between second language learning motivation and other variables related to second language learning. Also, by identifying the Persian motivation of the students and the factors affecting their motivation in the educational centers and Persian language classes, we can plan how the teaching and the use of educational resources can be related to the type of learners’ motivation.