Exploring the factors of the English Comprehension Test

dc.contributor.authorArendse, Danille Elize
dc.contributor.authorMaree, David J.F.
dc.date.accessioned2019-03-07T07:58:02Z
dc.date.available2019-03-07T07:58:02Z
dc.date.issued2019-09
dc.description.abstractThe empirically designed English Comprehension Test was initially developed as a means of assessing individual’s English comprehension skills. The test development of the English Comprehension Test led to the piloting of two test versions of the English Comprehension Test, namely, version 1.2 and version 1.3. The purpose of this study was to statistically explore the factors emerging from the two test versions of the English Comprehension Test. This study is the initial step towards establishing the construct validity, which forms part of the validation of the English Comprehension Test. This quantitative study involved an exploratory inspection of the factors of the English Comprehension Test, with the use of factor analyses. It also employed two factor extraction methods (Principal Component Analysis and Principal Axis Factoring) for comparison. These two factor extraction methods used for the exploratory factor analyses revealed a dominant factor for both test versions of the English Comprehension Test, thereby endorsing an argument for unidimensionality of the English Comprehension Test. The similarities between the results for the two test versions confirmed the existence of an inherent structure for the English Comprehension Test, despite the differences between the two test versions. The labelling of the factors of the test also suggests that the English Comprehension Test could be an assessment of cognitive (verbal) aptitude. A major limitation of this study is the restriction of range and lack of generalizability. The contribution made by this study will enhance psychometric validation studies in South Africa as well as increasing literature on South African test construction for multicultural and multilingual individuals.en_ZA
dc.description.departmentPsychologyen_ZA
dc.description.librarianhj2019en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://journals.sagepub.com/home/sapen_ZA
dc.identifier.citationArendse, D.E. & Maree, D. 2019, 'Exploring the factors of the English Comprehension Test', South African Journal of Psychology, vol. 49. no. 3, pp. 376-390.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn0081-2463 (print)
dc.identifier.issn2078-208X (online)
dc.identifier.other10.1177/0081246318805268
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/2263/68599
dc.language.isoenen_ZA
dc.publisherSageen_ZA
dc.rights© The Author(s) 2018en_ZA
dc.subjectComprehensionen_ZA
dc.subjectFactor analysisen_ZA
dc.subjectPrincipal axis factoringen_ZA
dc.subjectPrincipal component analysis (PCA)en_ZA
dc.subjectPsychometricsen_ZA
dc.subjectTest developmenten_ZA
dc.titleExploring the factors of the English Comprehension Testen_ZA
dc.typePostprint Articleen_ZA

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