A New Questionnaire to Assess Japanese EFL Learners’ Motivation: Development and Validation

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and validation of a questionnaire designed to assess Japanese EFL learners’ motivation at the tertiary level. The instrument was developed based on self-determination theory (SDT). SDT has frequently been applied in L2 motivation studies in Japan; most of these studies used or adapted one questionnaire (Hiromori, 2006a) and yielded mixed results, both in line and out of line with SDT. Such outcomes suggest the need to reconsider how the theory is understood and how that understanding is reflected in commonly used questionnaires in the Japanese EFL context. The current study described the examination and refinement of the definition of the SDT construct in the Japanese EFL setting and reviews the relevant literature. The process of developing a new questionnaire based on the refined definition was then described in a step-by-step manner. To validate the instrument, three methods were employed: expert judgment, exploratory factor analysis, and computation of reliability coefficients. The results indicate that the new questionnaire has higher validity and reliability than the previous one widely used in the field. The authors argue that the new questionnaire developed in this study, with its refinements and validation, may contribute to expanding the opportunity to enhance the L2 motivation of Japanese university students.