Construction and Validation of Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Development Questionnaire

Document Type : Research article

Authors
L. Amiri Shayesteh 1
S. Baleghizadeh 2
1 Ph.D. in TEFL, Department of English Language & Literature, Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran
2 Associate Professor of TEFL, Department of English Language & Literature, Faculty of Letters & Human Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University, Tehran, Iran.
10.48311/LRR.14.1.113
Abstract
The present study aimed to develop our understanding of various aspects of EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development in Iran using mixed-methods design. After a review of current literature and questionnaires, in the qualitative phase of the study, interviews were conducted with 12 EFL teachers and teaching experts. The data obtained from the interviews was subject to content analysis and the results revealed 4 major themes. In the quantitative phase, based on the findings of the qualitative phase and the supporting literature, a 74-item questionnaire was constructed and administered to 250 participants, after pilot testing and reviewing of the items. The quantitative data was analyzed through Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA), Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and a 4-factor structure was identified. After modifications in the questionnaire, the final version of the questionnaire was administered again to the participants and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) confirmed the construct validity of the EFL TPPD questionnaire and the four components. The results revealed that professional development activities, benefits, needs and barriers are the major dimensions of Iranian EFL teachers’ perceptions of professional development. The proposed model can have theoretical and practical contributions to EFL teacher professional development.


Keywords

Subjects

Adams, L. T. (2014). Teacher and policy alignment: A phenomenological study highlighting title I high school teachers' professional development experiences. Issues in Teacher Education, 22(2), 117-138.
Adekola, O. A. (2007). Language, literacy, and learning in primary schools: Implications for teacher development programs in Nigeria. Washington, DC: World Bank.
Alibakhshi, G., & Dehvari, N. (2015). EFL teachers’ perceptions of continuing professional development: A case of Iranian high school teachers. PROFILE Issues in Teachers' Professional Development, 17(2), 29-42.
Al-Lamki, N. (2009). The beliefs and practices related to continuous professional-development of teachers of English in Oman (Doctoral dissertation). University of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.
Arbuckle, J. (2009). Amos 18 user’s guide. Armonk: SPSS Incorporated.
Askari, H. (2015). Native and non-native teachers’ perception of their cognition, PD, and identity (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). Shahid Rajaee University, Tehran, Iran.
Avidov-Ungar, O. (2016). A model of professional development: Teachers’ perceptions of their professional development. Teachers and Teaching, 22(6), 653-669.
Ajzen, I. (2012). Values, attitudes, and behavior. In S. Salzborn, E. Davidov, & J. Reinecke (Eds.), Methods, theories, and empirical applications in the social sciences (pp. 33-38). Wiesbaden, Germany: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.
Bachman, L. F. (2001). Some construct validity issues in interpreting scores from performance assessments of language ability. New Perspectives and Issues in Educational Language Policy, 2001, 63-90.
Badri, M., Alnuaimi, A., Mohaidat, J., Yang, G., & Al Rashedi, A. (2016). Perception of teachers’ professional development needs, impacts, and barriers: The Abu Dhabi case. SAGE Open, 6(3), 1–15.
Bolam, R. (2002). Professional development and professionalism. In T. Bush & L. Bell (Eds.), The principles and practice of educational management (pp. 103-118). London: Paul Chapman.
Borg, S., Clifford, I., & Htut, K. P. (2018). Having an effect: Professional development for teacher educators in Myanmar. Teaching and Teacher Education, 72(1), 75-86.
Cirocki, A., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2019). Professional development of secondary school EFL teachers: Voices from Indonesia. System, 85, 1–14.
Day, C. (2004). A passion for teaching. London, UK: Routledge Falmer.
Dornyei, Z. (2003). Questionnaires in Second Language Research: Construction,
Administration, and Processing. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc,
Publishers.
Dörnyei, Z., & Taguchi, T. (2009). Questionnaires in second language research: Construction, administration, and processing. New York: Routledge.
Guskey, T. R. (2000). Evaluating professional development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press.
Harper-Hill, K., Beamish, W., Hay, S., Whelan, M., Kerr, J., Zelenko, O., & Villalba, C. (2020). Teacher engagement in professional learning: what makes the difference to teacher practice? Studies in Continuing Education, 1-14.
Kane MT (2006) Validation. In: Brennan RL (ed.) Educational Measurement, 4th edn. Westport, CT: Praeger, 17-64.
Kairuz, T., Crump, K., & O'brein, A. (2007). Tools for data collection and analysis. The
Pharmaceutical Journal, 278, 371-373.
Komba, W. L., & Nkumbi, E. (2008). Teacher professional development in Tanzania: Perceptions and practices. Journal of International Cooperation in Education, 11(3), 67-83.
Kuijpers, J. M., Houtveen, A. A. M., & Wubbels, T. (2010). An integrated professional development model for effective teaching. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26, 1687–1694.
Messick S. (1989) Validity. In: Linn RL (ed.) Educational Measurement. New York: Macmillan, 13-103.
Mislevy, R.J. (2009) Validity from the perspective of model-based reasoning. CRESST report 752. Los Angeles: National Center for Research on Evaluation, Standards, and Student Testing.
Nasser, I., Kidd, J. K., Burns, M. S., & Campbell, T. (2015). Head Start classroom teachers’ and assistant teachers’ perceptions of professional development using a LEARN framework. Professional Development in Education, 41(2), 344-365.
Noonan, J. (2019). An affinity for learning: Teacher identity and powerful professional development. Journal of Teacher Education, 70(5), 526-537.
Pallant, J. (2011). SPSS survival manual: A step by step guide to data analysis using SPSS
(4th edition ed.). Crows Nest Austrailia: Allen & Unwin.
Pickens, J. (2005). Attitudes and perceptions. Organizational behavior in health care, 4(7), 43-76.
Richards, J. C., & Farrell, T. S. C. (2005). Professional development for language teachers. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
Hartono, R. (2016). Indonesian EFL teachers' perceptions and experiences of professional development. Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
Soodmand Afshar, H., & Ghasemi, S. (2018). Developing and validating a model for exploring Iranian EFL teachers’ perception of professional development. Journal of Teaching Language Skills, 37(3), 169-210.
Thompson, B. (2004). Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis: Understanding concepts and applications. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Tabachnick, B. G., Fidell, L. S., & Ullman, J. B. (2007). Using multivariate statistics (Vol. 5, pp. 481-498). Boston, MA: pearson.
Torff, B., Sessions, D., & Byrnes, K. (2005). Assessment of teachers’ attitudes about professional development. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 65(5), 820-830.
Torff, B., & Sessions, D. (2009). Teachers’ attitudes about professional development in high-SES and low-SES communities. Learning Inquiry, 3(2), 67-77.
Language Related Research
Volume 14, Issue 1 - Serial Number 73
March and April 2023
Pages 113-143