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SUBJECT ASSIGNMENT:
INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES:

This assignment has to be done in pairs following these formatting guidelines:

- Length: 6 pages (cover, table of contents, and appendices are not included in the page count).
- Font: Arial or Times New Roman.
- Font size: 11.
- Line spacing: 1.5.
- Alignment: Justified.

The assignment has to be written in this Word document and has to follow the instructions on
quotes and references detailed in the Study Guide.

Also, the assignment has to be submitted following the procedure specified in the document:
“Subject Evaluation”. Sending it to the tutor’s e-mail is not allowed.

It is strongly recommended to read the assessment criteria, which can be found in the document
“Subject Evaluation”.
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Assignment instructions:
Design a questionnaire to retrieve information on a group of students and their learning needs.

The assignment has to include the following sections:

a) Description of the context the questionnaire is designed for (institution, characteristics of

the course, number of students, etc.).
b) Questionnaire proposal.
c) Justification of questionnaire design: all the questions included in the questionnaire must
be justified regarding the group of students it is designed for and the contents covered in
“Individual factors in the learner’s development”.

Important: you have to write your personal details and the name of the subject on the cover
(see the template on the next page). You have to include a table of contents after the cover.
Assignments that do not fulfil these conditions will not be corrected.
 ASSIGNMENT – IF

INDIVIDUAL FACTORS IN THE LEARNER’S DEVELOPMENT

Students’ full names:

 Dennis Antonio Ramos Quinteros

 Cristina Natalia Acosta Espinosa

Group:
 FP_TEFL_2019-06

Date:
 Saturday, 29 February 2020

QUESTIONNAIRE
DESIGN
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Table of Contents

Background ..................................................................................................................................1

Questionnaire Design ...................................................................................................................1

Operationalization and Item Design .............................................................................................3

Justification of the table ...............................................................................................................4

Questionnaire Format ...................................................................................................................4

Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................6

Bibliography ................................................................................................................................7

Appendixes ..................................................................................................................................9

Appendix 1 ..............................................................................................................................9

Appendix 2 ............................................................................................................................10

Appendix 3 ............................................................................................................................14
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Background

Language subjects as English are crucial for the development of communicative abilities
necessary to incorporate oneself into a globalized world (Hu, 2005 cited by Y. Wu, 2019).
However, the study of languages may become a nightmare for some students. Indexes retrieved
from the English Proficiency Index conducted by EF Education First (2019, p. 4), reveals that
students from Salvadoran and Ecuadorian secondary school are likely to fail to achieve a B1 level
at the end of their studies. Recent studies carried out by EF Education First (from 2014 to 2019),
show little change in regards to the position in which countries like El Salvador and Ecuador
remain, which is in the last positions of a ranking based on 60 countries.
Taking aside external factors as teacher’s preparation, budget assigned by governments
and the like, the interest of this paper is to see whether students’ performance has been impacted
from a psychological perspective. In this regard, a survey or questionnaire is to be designed to
retrieve information about their motivational and cognitive levels. The instrument to be designed
has been thought to be administered in public schools.
When referring to students, the following characteristics seem to take over the main
features which most teachers in public schools face. Ages range from 15 to 18 years old
(MINEDUCYT, 2018;). Average students may come from urban or rural areas. The rate of
absenteeism and desertion varies depending on economic incomes, social security and migration
(an estimate of 0.9% based on the statistical data from MINEDUCYT, 2018; 1.3% in Ministerio
de Educación, Ecuador, 2015). As a result, the number of students per class goes from 16 to 25.
English is not usually taught in lower levels (primary school), and the transition from one level
to another is somehow abrupt, making students face some difficulties to adapt to new forms of
work and study.
The English course is designed as follows, students receive 3 hours per week in a setting
of 45 minutes per class (depending on the way schedules have been made up). The units are based
on the national curriculum which under the umbrella of the communicative approach, which
despite the design is not always seen through. Despite the fact that according to the national
curriculum, by the end of preparatory, students are supposed to be able to get an A2 or B1 level
based on the Common European Framework not many students achieve this goal.

Questionnaire Design
As pointed out before, the questionnaire intends to identify and to categorize the most
incidental factors students from preparatory face in regards of psychological aspects as attitude
motivational traits and cognitive learning styles. The interest relies on the fact that scores from

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standardized tests aforementioned do not seem to change for the better. The objective of this
questionnaire is to reveal if the main factor actually comes from the student and not from external
factors. By following the process suggested by H. Sampieri (2014, pg. 209) and R. Jack (2012,
pg. 77). The subsequent questionnaire proposal is initially designed on 22 questions derived from
indicators, which may predict the behavior of each variable exposed in the hypotheses below.

Hypotheses

1. Negative attitude affects the learning or acquisition of English.

2. Social integration motives increases the interest to learn English.

3. The obtention of rewards increases the interest to learn English.

4. The majority of learners in the English class are likely to resort to the teacher or
classmates than by themselves.

5. Resorting to the mother tongue is a result of lack of communicative strategies in

English.

Taking into account the hypotheses above and the variable, the disclosure or the creation
of the items of the questionnaire to answer whether the hypotheses above are null or not. The
items, which will be described below, are a result of the necessity to obtain information of the
variables already described to observe their effect on students. Hence, the dimensions and
indicators of every item will serve as an explanation of the scope it can have at the time to
statistically analyze the data retrieved from this instrument. To determine the reliability and
validity of the data obtained, the Cronbach Formula will be applied in a pretest-retest
methodology.
By definition, a dimension is “the range over which or the degree to which something
extends” (Merriam Webster, 2020). Every item will intend to focus only on the degree in which
a variable can be measured. If analyzing, for instance, the low achiever characteristic, the
dimension of the study will revolve around intrinsic motivation and not aptitudinal characteristics.
As determining some qualitative variables will require extensive analysis, indicators are added to
simplify the study of the latter. By definition, an indicator is an observable and measurable entity
that serves to define a concept in a practical way, (Harvey, L., 2012-20). In other words, this study
is not intended to measure the severity of the variables, but to account in a statistical form the
number, percentage and attitude that the test-takers consider they possess at the time of taking the
questionnaire.

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The following section will better illustrate the operationalization of each item to be
included in the questionnaire proposal. The coding and a final version of the questionnaire are
attached in the appendix section, plus further explanation of the reviewed literature.

Operationalization and Item Design

Variables Scope/Dimension Indicators Items
1. I consider English to be useful for me. (agree /
disagree)
2. I'd rather skip English classes than any other
Intrapersonal
1. Negative subjects. (agree / disagree)
perspective,
attitude Beliefs 3. I read books in English even if I don't
intrinsic
Behavior understand all the words. (Frequency)
motivation
2. Learning of 4. I help my friends by explaining them what they
English don’t understand because I feel I also learn in
this way.(Frequency)
Beliefs of social 5. If I move to a place where people don’t speak
recognition my language, English will help me integrate
1. Integrative Attitude towards myself. (agree / disagree)
Motivation social interaction 6. I use social networks to meet people who speak
Communication English to practice what I have learnt.
2. Learning of among other (Frequency)
Social need to be
English speakers 7. I learn English because I’m interested in the
accepted,
language as well as the culture. (agree / disagree)
extrinsic forces
8. Learning English will allow me to make friends
reinforcing
from all over the world. (agree / disagree)
intrinsic ones.
9. Learning English will help me achieve my
Value of the
1. Instrumental goals at University. (agree / disagree)
reward
Motivation 10. I would learn English only if I want to get a
Perception of
2. Learning of future plans postgraduate degree. (agree / disagree)
English 11. I would learn English only if I was required for
a job. (agree / disagree)
12. I need the teacher to explain many times in
Ulterior
Number of
order to understand. (frequency)
perception of learners who rely
more on teachers 13. I can easily understand what my English
abilities and
or classmates’
teacher explains. (Frequency)
capacities. instructions.

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1. Field- 14. I ask someone to explain again what I don’t

dependency understand from my teacher. (Frequency)
traits
15. I can easily do my homework by myself.
Frequency of
(Frequency)
activities carried
out by oneself 16. I use an App or the internet for extra practice
when I don’t understand something my English
2. Field- teacher has taught me. (Frequency)
independent 17. I keep a vocabulary journal of all the new
traits words I learn in class. (Frequency)
18. I watch videos on the internet to understand
what my English teacher taught me in class.
(Frequency)
19. I watch TV shows in English to improve my
listening skills. (Frequency)
20. I need to translate what the English textbook
says in order to understand. (Frequency)
21. I need the teacher to translate everything s/he
1. Communication Frequency of the says. (Frequency)
Strategies Organizational use of 22. I need to use an online translator to carry out
Communicative
learning strategies to avoid my writing assignments. (Frequency)
mother tongue.
2. Use of Spanish

Justification of the table

The table above designed is an organization of what the questionnaire will contain in its
format. Each question or item is intended to measure specific indicators within its dimensions. In
order to verify its effectiveness, the validity and reliability of this proposal is to be tested before
an official version is provided. This questionnaire, as mentioned above, is intended to determine
not only the number but also the testing of each hypothesis to see whether those variables have
any correlation to take further actions and attitudes to solve any possible issues.
Questionnaire Format
In the following section, the proposal of the questionnaire is presented.

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Universidad Internacional Iberoamericana

Research Proposal Questionnaire
Purpose: The following questionnaire is intended to identify current students’ attitudes, motivations and
strategies they have in regards to their perception of the subject of English.

Instructions: Mark with an X or check the category that best describes yourself in regards to your attitudes
and motivations towards the subject of English.
1=Totally disagree 3=Somewhat agree 5=Definitely agree
2=Disagree 4=Agree
Statements 1 2 3 4 5
1. I consider English to be useful for me.
2. I'd rather skip English classes than any other subject.
3. I learn English because I’m interested in the language as well as the culture.
4. Learning English will allow me to make friends from all over the world.
5. If I move to a place where people don’t speak my language, English will help me integrate
myself.
6. Learning English will help me achieve my goals at University.
7. I would learn English only if I want to get a postgraduate degree.
8. I would learn English only if I was required for a job.

Instructions: Mark with an X or check the frequency with which you do these activities.
1=Never 3= Sometimes 5= Always
2= Hardly ever 4= Usually
9. I need the teacher to explain many times in order to understand.
10. I need the teacher to translate everything s/he says.
11. I need to translate what the English textbook says in order to understand.
12. I need to use an online translator to carry out my writing assignments.
13. I ask someone to explain again what I don’t understand from my teacher.
14. I can easily understand what my English teacher explains.
15. I can easily do my homework by myself .
16. I keep a vocabulary journal of all the new words I learn in class.
17. I help my friends by explaining them what they don’t understand as I feel I learn in this way.
18. I use an App or the internet for extra practice when I don’t understand something my English
teacher has taught me.
19. I watch videos on the internet to understand what my English teacher taught me in class.
20. I watch TV shows in English to improve my listening skills.
21. I read books in English even if I don't understand all the words.
22. I use social networks to meet people who speak English to practice what I have learnt.

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Conclusion

For as long as language teaching has been around there has always been a looming
question: How do students learn? Why do some students learn while others do not? What is
missing for those students who cannot achieve the established goals? To what extent can teachers
be held accountable for the success or failure of a group of students? Keeping in mind that in
many Educational systems teachers are evaluated in regards to their students' success, it is
imperative to find out whether teachers can actually affect students’ language acquisition and to
what extent. Whether teachers are already going the extra mile without seeing any real
improvements and why are students still not getting there. It can be stated without a doubt that
teachers always endeavor to get the best out of their students, and to give the best of themselves,
however there is not always a direct relationship between this two situations. A teacher can do
his / her best and still not get the desired result.
As it has been learnt previously in courses, there are many factors, which play an
enormous role in the process of learning a second language. In order to shed light into what might
affect a group of students, to understand some of the most influential factors that learners may be
experiencing or suffering, a questionnaire was developed to attempt to identify these factors
hindering the process. Said questionnaire is aimed to allow teachers to get answers to questions
that are not related to teaching methodology or resources, but to discover how motivation, and
learning strategies may aid or delay the language learning process. Understanding what moves
students to make certain decisions towards their studies of the language is imperative in order to
be able to make decisions in the short and long run.
Based on theoretical findings related to motivation, attitude, cognitive styles and learning
styles the understanding of individuals and their behavior in the classroom has helped teachers
pursue better methodologies and strategies. The questionnaire in question is a tool which can
retrieve information and to be analyzed by comparing those facts with the existing data. After
applying such a questionnaire, answers are thought to provide valuable information to teachers to
make decisions towards their teaching practice, class activities and even work with students in a
different social approach.

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Bibliography

1. Alizadeh, M. (2016). The Impact of Motivation on English Language Learning. Lahijan,

Iran: Azad University.
2. Anonymous. (s.f.). British Council . Obtenido de Field-independent learners:
https://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/article/field-independent-learners
3. Bhatti, N. (2016). Investigating the Perceptions of Pakistani English Language Learners
on Language Learning Anxiety in EFL Classroom . Pakistan: University of Sindh,
Jamshoro, Sindh, Pakistan .
4. Chacua, L. A. (2015). ESTADÍSTICA EDUCATIVA Reporte de Indicadores. Obtenido de
https://educacion.gob.ec/wp-
content/uploads/downloads/2017/06/PUB_EstadisticaEducativaVol1_mar2015.pdf
5. Cohen, L. (2007). Research Methods in Education. New York, NY: Routledge.
6. CONEVAL. (2014). Manual para el diseño y la construcción de indicadores. México,
Distrito Federal: Consejo Nacional de Evaluación de la Política de Desarrollo Social.
7. Creswell, J. W. (2012). Educational Research Planning, Conducting, and Evaluating
Quantitative and Qualitative Research. Pearson.
8. Educación, M. d. (2015). Ministerio de Educación. Obtenido de Ministerio de Educación
Ecuador: https://educacion.gob.ec/estadistica-educativa/
9. Educación, M. d. (2016). Boletín Estadístico Nº 11. Dirección de Planificación Gerencia
de Monitoreo, Evaluación y Estadísticas Educativas, 1.
10. Educación, M. d. (2018). Boletin Estadístico Nº 34. Direccion de Planificacion , 1.
11. Fraenke, J. R. (2012). How to Design and Evaluate Research in Education. New York,
NY: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
12. Gardner, R. C. (2010). Foreign Language Teaching Methods. Obtenido de
https://coerll.utexas.edu/methods/modules/learners/02/integrative.php
13. Grafica, L. P. (24 de Noviembre de 2014). El Salvador rezagado en la enseñanza del
inglés. Obtenido de La Prensa Grafica: https://www.laprensagrafica.com/elsalvador/El-
Salvador-rezagado-en-la-ensenanza-del-ingles-20141124-0048.html
14. Hong, Y. C. (2017). To Investigate ESL Students’ Instrumental and Integrative
Motivation towards English Language Learning in a Chinese School in Penang: Case
Study. Malaysia : Universiti Sains Malaysia.
15. Jiménez, P. K. (s.f.). Exploring Students’ Perceptions About English Learning in a Public
University. Tunja, Colombia: Universidad Pedagógica y Tecnológica de Colombia.

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16. Proficiency, E. S. (2019). EF. Obtenido de EF:

https://www.ef.com.ec/__/~/media/centralefcom/epi/downloads/full-reports/v9/ef-epi-
2019-spanish-latam.pdf
17. Sampieri, R. H. (2014). Metodologia de la Investigacion. McGRAW-HILL.
18. Yuntao, W. (2019). Non-English Major Students’ Perception of Factors Influencing
English Proficiency in China. Malaysia : SEGI University.

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Appendixes

Appendix 1
Review of the Literature-Definition of Variables

Definitions

Attitude towards
English Acquisition
The Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics and Language Teaching (2002, p.297) defines language
attitudes as follows: “the attitudes which speakers of different languages or language varieties have towards
each other’s languages or to their own language.”

Integration (Integrative motivation type)

Gardner and Lambert (1972) described it as follows:
“Learners who are integratively motivated want to learn the language because they want to get to know the
people who speak that language.”

Rewards (Instrumental motivation type)

Gardner and Lambert (1972) described it as follows:
Learners with an instrumental motivation want to learn a language because of a practical reason

Field dependency
The British Council defines field dependence as a relative inability to distinguish detail from other information
around it
Field independency
The British Council defines field independence as a tendency to separate details from the surrounding context.

Communicative strategies
These are defined as strategies that learners use to overcome communication problems caused by a lack of
linguistic resources, in order to convey their intended meaning.

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Appendix 2
Precoding of the Items
Variables Items Categories Codes Line
Attitude towards learning Phra. 1 __No response 7
English
(Consider) __Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 1
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Attitude towards learning Phra. 2 (Prefer) __No response 7
English
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 2
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Integrative Motivation for Phra. 3 (Learn) __No response 7
Learning of English
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 3
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Integrative Motivation for Phra. 4 (Allow) __No response 7
Learning of English
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 4
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Integrative Motivation for Phra. 5 __No response 7
Learning of English learn (Moving)
__Responded incorrectly 6
English. 5
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2

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__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Instrumental Motivation for Phra. 6 __No response 7
Learning of English (University)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 6
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Instrumental Motivation for Phra. 7 __No response 7
Learning of English (Postgraduate)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 7
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Instrumental Motivation for Phra. 8 (Job) __No response 7
Learning of English
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Totally disagree 1
__Disagree 2 8
__Somewhat agree 3
__Agree 4
__Definitely Agree 5
Field-dependency traits Phra. 9 __No response 7
(Explain)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 9
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Organizational learning Phra. 10 __No response 7
(Translate)
__Responded incorrectly 6
10
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10

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__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14

Organizational learning Phra. 11 __No response 7

(Textbook
__Responded incorrectly 6
translate)
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 11
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Organizational learning Phra. 12 __No response 7
(Online
__Responded incorrectly 6
translation)
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 12
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-dependency traits Phra. 13 __No response 7
(Repetition)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 13
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-dependency traits Phra. 14 __No response 7
(Understand)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 14
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-independent traits Phra. 15 __No response 7
(Autonomy)
__Responded incorrectly 6 15
__Never 9

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__Hardly ever 10
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-independent traits Phra. 16 __No response 7
(Journal)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 16
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Attitude towards learning Phra. 17 __No response 7
English (Collaboration)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 17
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-independent traits Phra. 18 (Apps) __No response 7
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 18
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-independent traits Phra. 19 __No response 7
(Videos)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 19
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Field-independent traits Phra. 20 (TV) __No response 7
__Responded incorrectly 6 20
__Never 9

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__Hardly ever 10
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Attitude towards learning Phra. 21 __No response 7
English (Books)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 21
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14
Integrative Motivation for Phra. 22 (Social __No response 7
Learning of English Network)
__Responded incorrectly 6
__Never 9
__Hardly ever 10 22
__Sometimes 11
__Usually 12
__Always 14

Appendix 3
Validation of Items and Test of Reliability
In order to establish the validity and reliability of this instrument, two methods to
approaches to measure these aspects are to be applied. Firstly, the importance of this process relies
on assessing the validation of data. In other words, variables are measured accordingly and
appropriately so that further results are more straightforward to analyze and interpret. On the other
hand, the reliability is important in order to verify the consistency of the results and that these
results provide the test-administer with the capacity to trust on this instrument.
The first method to test whether the instrument is reliable and valid, the alpha of Cronbach
will be used. A first set of students will be administered and then, based on the results, the value
of reliability which should be obtained, being of 0.6 (H. Sampieri, pg. 295) which will refer as an
acceptable value of reliability. The farther it gets from zero, the more reliable the instrument is.
The formula to obtain is as follows:

𝒌 𝚺𝐯𝐢
∝= (𝟏 − )
𝒌−𝟏 𝐯𝐭

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Where K represents the numbers of items in the questionnaire, divided by the number of items
minus the unit. Having obtained the preliminary result, individual variances (vi) are obtained by
the use of Excel or SPSS. Then every individual variance is added up. The results obtained per
subject is added, and then by applying the correspondent formula in Excel (=Var(Values)), the
Total Variance is obtained (vt). This value will divide the addition of individual variances and
being subtracted by the unit. The result obtained in parentheses multiplied by the previous
operation will be expected to give the value of reliability.
If the result gives negative numbers, a redesign of the test will be required, and the same
formula to be applied. To extend the chances of obtaining reliable results, a test-retest method
will be as well used to verify the consistency of results.

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