Result of factor analysis
In order to find out the problems that students have in studying English II, the questionnaire was conducted for 120 students in three classes of Hyogo Prefectural Hyogo Senior High School on April and July 2006. Based on the result of the questionnaire conducted on March 2006, twenty items were extracted for this questionnaire. Students were supposed to answer these twenty questions on a five point scale, as shown in Table 1 and 2
Table 1: Items in the questionnaire
1) I do not feel like studying English.
2) I do not know how to study English.
3) I cannot get good marks even if I study hard.
4) I cannot carry out the plan / I cannot keep the plan.
5) I cannot understand the content of the lesson.
6) I cannot concentrate on the lesson.
7) I do not know how to translate the sentences into Japanese.
8) I do not know how to study listening of English.
9) I do not know how to write English essays.
10) I do not know how to pronounce English words.
11) I do not prepare for quizzes in daily lessons.
12) I do not prepare for the lesson.
13) I do not review the lesson by myself.
14) I do not practice reading the passage orally.
15) I cannot memorize English vocabularies.
16) I do not know how to solve the passage-type entrance exam in the workbook.
17) I do not know how to solve the translation-type entrance exam in the workbook.
18) I do not know how to prepare for term exams.
19) I have too much assignment to prepare for term exams.
20) I do not review term exams.
Table 2: Five Point Scale
1) I do not agree at all.
2) I do not rather agree.
3) I am not sure.
4) I rather agree.
5) I agree.
Result scores in the questionnaire conducted on April and July 2006 were standardized respectively. Each standardized score in April and July was combined together. Based on this score, the factor analysis was performed using the Maximum Likelihood method. Three factors were determined by a combination of the Kaiser/Guttman criterion (each characteristic value from the first factor to the fourth factor was 5.15, 2.34, 1.46, 1.42, and 1.03) and the scree plot criterion. These three factors were rotated in a promax rotation. Each factor loading was shown in Table 3
Table 3: Result of the factor analysis
Factor 1 Factor 2 Factor 3 1) .53 .12 -.07 2) .00 .92 -.10 3) -.24 .64 .06 4) .42 .26 -.07 5) .30 .29 .12 6) .36 .07 .02 7) .17 .22 .17 8) -.12 -.14 .51 9) -.03 .25 .43 10) -.02 .10 .34 11) .58 -.02 -.17 12) .66 -.02 -.35 13) .50 -.17 .12 14) .47 -.09 .19 15) .10 .26 .31 16) .03 .12 .70 17) .08 .04 .76 18) .01 .65 .09 19) .42 .24 .03 20) .61 -.25 .21
In interpreting the rotated factor pattern, an item was considered to load on a given factor if the factor loading was0.40 or greater for that factor, and was different from the other factors by0.15.
The first factor had a higher loading for the eight items below and was labeled as 'Motivation and Self-directedness'.
1) I do not feel like studying English.
4) I cannot carry out the plan / I cannot keep the plan.
11) I do not prepare for quizzes in daily lessons.
12) I do not prepare for the lesson.
13) I do not review the lesson by myself.
14) I do not practice reading the passage orally.
19) I have too much assignment to prepare for term exams.
20) I do not review term exams.
The second factor had a higher loading for the three items below and was labeled as 'General Study Habit', because it had the impression that students had difficulty in find the proper way.
2) I do not know how to study English.
3) I cannot get good marks even if I study hard.
18) I do not know how to prepare for term exams.
The third factor had a higher loading for the four items below and was labeled as 'Specific Study Habit', because it had the impression that it was concerned with the materials that students were using.
8) I do not know how to study listening of English.
9) I do not know how to write English essays.
16) I do not know how to solve the passage-type entrance exam in the workbook.
17) I do not know how to solve the translation-type entrance exam in the workbook.
The following five items were removed from the initial questionnaire as residual items.
5) I cannot understand the content of the lesson.
6) I cannot concentrate on the lesson.
7) I do not know how to translate the sentences into Japanese.
10) I do not know how to pronounce English words.
15) I cannot memorize English vocabularies.
Three factors ‘Motivation and Self-directedness’ (Item 1, 4, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 20), ‘General Study Habit’ (Item 2, 3 and 18), and ‘Specific Study Habit’ (Item 8, 9, 16 and 17) were extracted as the problems that students have in studying English II. These three factors were used as the scale. In order to estimate the reliability of the scale, Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha was calculated in this analysis (see Table 4).
Table 4: Cronbach's Coefficient Alpha
Motivation and Self-directedness General Study Habit Specific Study Habit April-Total 0.778 0.710 0.733 April-Male 0.838 0.699 0.688 April-Female 0.662 0.692 0.782 July-Total 0.709 0.788 0.719 July-Male 0.770 0.762 0.714 July-Female 0.571 0.817 0.728
The reliability for each scale was ensured (α≧.7) except ‘Motivation and Self-directedness April-Female’ (α=.66) and ‘Motivation and Self-directedness July-Female’ (α=.57).
Using these three factors as the scale, the difference of the result between April and July was tested.
The averages and SDs of the items extracted as ‘Motivation and Self-directedness’, ‘General Study Habit’ and ’Specific study habit’ in April and July were calculated in Table 6
Table 5: Averages and SDs of ‘Motivation and Self-directedness’, ‘General Study Habit’ and ’Specific Study Habit’
Average SD Motivation and Self-directedness - April 3.48 .80 Motivation and Self-directedness - July 2.93 .71 General Study Habit - April 3.12 1.03 General Study Habit - Julyl 2.71 .96 Specific Study Habit - April .3.50 .94 Specific Study Habit - July .3.36 .92
The paired t-test was used for the result of April and July. Statistical significance on the result of ‘Motivation and Self-directedness’ in April and June was accepted (one-tailed test: t=7.75, df=99, p<.05). Statistical significance on the result of ‘General Study Habit’ in April and June was accepted (one-tailed test: t=4.75, df=103, p<.05). Statistical significance on the result of ‘Specific Study Habit’ in April and June was accepted (one-tailed test: t=1.716, df=102, p<.05).
Overall, according to the result of the factor analysis, the problems that students had in studying English II, ‘Motivation and Self-directedness’, ‘General Study Habit’, and ‘Specific Study Habit’ all seemed to be alleviated by this classroom and teacher interventions. However even though the comparison of ‘Specific Study Habit’ was significant, the amount of change precomposed was much less than the others. This was partly because I did not spend enough time doing these contents, partly because I did not deal with them enough in the lesson.
Using ‘Motivation and Self-directedness’, ‘General Study Habit’, and ‘Specific Study Habit’ as the scale, the gender difference of the result in April and July was tested. The result of t-test showed that significance was accepted only for ‘General Study Habit’ in April (one-tailed test: t=-2.75, df=110, p<.05) and ‘Specific Study Habit’ in April (one-tailed test: t=-2.57, df=110, p<.05)
