Developing An Instrument to Measure Teacher Attitudes Toward Multilingual Pedagogies

<p>In an increasingly globalized world, substantial numbers of multilingual learners occupy K–12 and higher education spaces bringing diverse linguistic resources that, when intentionally and appropriately leveraged, can significantly enhance English language learning outcomes. Multilingual pedagogies, which honor and build upon students' full linguistic repertoires, are essential for fostering equitable and inclusive learning environments. This quantitative exploratory study investigated teachers' attitudes toward multilingual teaching with the goal of developing a reliable survey instrument—the Multilingual Pedagogy Scale (MPS)—to measure how teachers perceive language learning in multilingual classrooms and what they report doing in their classrooms.</p> <p>First, a review of the research helped identify five key constructs that served as the foundation for the initial instrument: beliefs, knowledge, openness, confidence, and positionality. I created an initial survey comprising 45 survey items with 8 - 10 questions per construct. I collected 220 responses from participants using convenience and snowball sampling methods. After collecting the responses, I tested the psychometric properties and conducted an exploratory factor analysis to assess the reliability of the tool and examine the relationships between the items. The analysis resulted in a shorter, 15-item survey with three main areas: (a) Collaboration and Community, (b) Instruction, and (c) Beliefs About Language Learning.</p> <p>The instrument that was developed can be used as a summative tool to assess teachers’ attitudes toward multilingual pedagogies. It can also be used formatively to design professional development initiatives related to teaching multilingual students and then, to evaluate these development initiatives. In short, the instrument constructed in this dissertation study can help ensure that more appropriate and effective teaching strategies will be used with multilingual learners across both K–12 and higher education contexts.</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

PhD Leadership Studies

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation: Open Access

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Leadership Studies

Year dc:date.available

2025

Author dc:creator

• Ramers, Lauren H

• multilingual pedagogy
• translanguaging
• teacher ideologies
• scale development
• exploratory factor analysis
• K-12
• community college
• higher education
• ESL
• Adult and Continuing Education
• Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching
• Bilingual, Multilingual, and Multicultural Education
• Higher Education and Teaching
• Junior High, Intermediate, Middle School Education and Teaching
• Other Teacher Education and Professional Development
• Secondary Education
• Secondary Education and Teaching
• Teacher Education and Professional Development

Repository record dc:identifier

https://digital.sandiego.edu/dissertations/1079

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:digital.sandiego.edu:dissertations-2091