Proceedings of The 7th International Conference on Advanced Research in Education, Teaching and Learning
Year: 2023
DOI:
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Building Successful EFL Teams: Validation and Testing of the L2 Group Cohesion Scale
Deborah Maxfield
ABSTRACT:
Many English as a Foreign Language (EFL) classes require peer-to-peer cooperative learning and teamwork, and group cohesion has repeatedly been proven essential for motivation and task success in second-language (L2) contexts. Though various psychometric scales were developed to measure aspects of student L2 learning experience, such as L2 anxiety and motivation, the L2 Group Cohesion Scale (L2GCS, 2022) appears to be the first scale of its kind to evaluate student experiences of teamwork and peer support in EFL classes. The L2GCS was developed from an initial pool of 14 items using exploratory factor analysis, from which the best-performing six items mapped onto the twin factors of Collaboration and L2 Anxiety Mitigation, and demonstrated excellent reliability (α = .88). As the scale can be rapidly conducted and its results interpreted without in-depth statistical analysis, it can be quickly and easily utilized by teachers to evaluate, isolate, and address issues with cohesion, L2 anxiety, and peer support in EFL classes. However, further validation studies must be undertaken in order to confirm the emergent factor structure and to test the validity of this measure in another population. This study tested the same initial item pool in a larger sample (N = 180) of undergraduate students, finding a similar factor structure and strong psychometric properties, as well as trialed practical strategies by which EFL teachers can interpret the results of the L2GCS to identify and target issues with group dynamics and L2 learning.
keywords: Team-Building, L2 Anxiety, Student Motivation, EFL Motivation, Goal-Setting