<p>In the majority of the schools in South Africa (SA), learners commence education in English. This English milieu poses a considerable challenge for English second-language speakers. In an attempt to bridge the gap between English as the main medium of instruction and the nine indigenous languages of the country and assist with the implementation of mother-tongue based bilingual education, this study focuses on the cross-validation of a monolingual English test used in the assessment of multilingual or bilingual learners in the South African context. This test, namely the Woodcock Mu&ntilde / oz Language Survey (WMLS), is extensively used in the United States in Additive Bilingual Education in the country. The present study is a substudy of a broader study, in which the original WMLS (American-English version) was adapted into SA English and Xhosa. For this specific sub-study, the researcher was interested in investigating the scalar equivalence of the adapted English version of the Verbal Analogies (VA) subscale of the WMLS across English first-language speakers and Xhosa first-language speakers. This was achieved by utilising differential item functioning (DIF) and construct bias statistical techniques. The Mantel-Haenszel DIF detection method was employed to detect DIF, while construct equivalence was examined by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) utilising an a priori two-factor structure. The Tucker&rsquo / s phi coefficient was used to assess the congruence of the construct across the two language groups</p>

<p>This study formed part of a larger project that is concerned with the adaptation of a test of cognitive academic language proficiency, the Woodcock Mu&ntilde / oz Language Survey (WMLS). The WMLS has been adapted from English into isiXhosa and the present study is located within the broader study that is concerned with establishing overall equivalence between the two language versions of the WMLS. It was primarily concerned with the Verbal Analogies (VA) scale. Previous research on this scale has demonstrated promising results, but continues to find evidence of some inequivalence. This study aimed to cross-validate previous research on the two language versions of the WMLS and improve on methodological issues by employing matched groups. It drew upon an existing dataset from the larger research project. The study employed a monolingual matched two-group design consisting of 150 mainly English speaking and 149 mainly isiXhosa learners in grades 6 and 7. This study had two sub aims. The first was to investigate item bias by identifying DIF items in the VA scale across the isiXhosa and English by conducting a logistic regression and Mantel-Haenszel procedure. Five items were identified by both techniques as DIF. The second sub aim was to evaluate construct equivalence between the isiXhosa and English versions of the WMLS on the VA scale by conducting a factor analysis on the tests after removal of DIF items. Two factors were requested during the factor analysis. The first factor displayed significant loadings across both language versions and was identified as a stable factor. This was confirmed by the Tucker&rsquo / s Phi and scatter plot. The second factor was stable for the English version but not for the isiXhosa version. The Tucker&rsquo / s phi and scatter plot indicated that this factor is not structurally equivalent across the two language versions</p>

<p>In the majority of the schools in South Africa (SA), learners commence education in English. This English milieu poses a considerable challenge for English second-language speakers. In an attempt to bridge the gap between English as the main medium of instruction and the nine indigenous languages of the country and assist with the implementation of mother-tongue based bilingual education, this study focuses on the cross-validation of a monolingual English test used in the assessment of multilingual or bilingual learners in the South African context. This test, namely the Woodcock Mu&ntilde / oz Language Survey (WMLS), is extensively used in the United States in Additive Bilingual Education in the country. The present study is a substudy of a broader study, in which the original WMLS (American-English version) was adapted into SA English and Xhosa. For this specific sub-study, the researcher was interested in investigating the scalar equivalence of the adapted English version of the Verbal Analogies (VA) subscale of the WMLS across English first-language speakers and Xhosa first-language speakers. This was achieved by utilising differential item functioning (DIF) and construct bias statistical techniques. The Mantel-Haenszel DIF detection method was employed to detect DIF, while construct equivalence was examined by means of exploratory factor analysis (EFA) utilising an a priori two-factor structure. The Tucker&rsquo / s phi coefficient was used to assess the congruence of the construct across the two language groups</p>

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Verschiedene Schulleistungsstudien stellten für Kinder mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache bereits in der Grundschule substanzielle Disparitäten im Bereich Mathematik fest. Diese Disparitäten führten zu der Frage, ob die verwendeten Testverfahren zu hohe sprachliche Hürden für Kinder mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache aufweisen und daher nicht ausreichend in der Lage sind, die Kompetenzen dieser Gruppe valide zu erfassen. In dieser kumulativen Arbeit wurde geprüft, inwiefern die sprachliche Komplexität von Mathematikaufgaben in der Grundschule einen benachteiligenden Einfluss auf die Erfassung der Mathematikleistung von Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache darstellt. Zunächst wurde geprüft, ob die in nationalen Schulleistungsstudien verwendeten Aufgaben für diese Gruppe differenziell valide sind. Daran anschließend wurde untersucht, ob sich itemspezifische Kompetenznachteile durch die sprachlichen Merkmale der Aufgaben erklären lassen. In der vorliegenden Arbeit konnte gezeigt werden, dass die differenzielle Validität der betrachteten Testverfahren für Kinder mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache insgesamt gering ausgeprägt ist. Ferner wurde festgestellt, dass sich die einzelnen sprachlichen Merkmale der Aufgaben sowohl spezifisch als auch gemeinsam auf die differenzielle Validität auswirken. Der größte Anteil der itemspezifischen Kompetenznachteile wurde durch mehrere Merkmale gemeinsam aufgeklärt. Eine experimentelle Teilstudie zeigte, dass eine sprachliche Vereinfachung nicht geeignet scheint, um die Kompetenznachteile von Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache substanziell zu verringern. Ein Vergleich der Effekte sprachlicher Merkmale von Mathematikaufgaben auf die Mathematikleistungen von Kindern mit nicht-deutscher Familiensprache zwischen der dritten und der vierten Klassenstufe ergab, dass sich die sprachliche Komplexität der Aufgaben vor allem für jüngere Grundschulkinder unabhängig von ihrer Familiensprache benachteiligend auswirkte. / Large-scale assessment studies have repeatedly documented performance disadvantages of language minority students in German elementary schools. The substantial achievement gap has led to concerns regarding the validity of large-scale assessment items for language minority students. It may be the case that these performance differences are, in part, due to high language demands of the test items. These items may selectively disadvantage language minority students in the testing situation. This dissertation project investigated the connection between the academic language demands of mathematics test items and the test performance of monolingual students and language minority students. First, it was investigated whether the test items were differentially valid for language minority students. Moreover, the connection between the differential validity and the linguistic complexity of the test items was tested. The findings indicated that overall, differential validity of the examined tests for language minority students was low. However, the test items’ language demands were related to differential validity. The largest proportion of item-specific performance disadvantages was explained by confounded combinations of several linguistic features. Additionally, unique effects of descriptive, lexical, and grammatical features were identified. An experimental study showed that linguistic simplification did not seem to be a promising method to substantially reduce the performance differences between language minority students and German monolingual students. A comparison of differential effects of mathematics items’ language demands for language minority students over two adjacent grade levels indicated that the impact of academic language demands seemed to depend on grade level rather than on language minority student status. Regardless of their home language, younger students seemed to struggle more with linguistically complex test items than older students.

The present study examined the factor structure and measurement invariance of the revised version of the Athletic Coping Skills Inventory (ACSI-28), following adjustment of the wording of items such that they were appropriate to assess Coping Skills in an educational setting. A sample of middle school students (n = 1,037) completed the revised inventory. An initial confirmatory factor analysis led to the hypothesis of a better fitting model with two items removed. Reliability of the subscales and the instrument as a whole was acceptable. Items were examined for sex invariance with differential item functioning (DIF) using item response theory, and five items were flagged for significant sex non-invariance. Following removal of these items, comparison of the mean differences between male and female coping scores revealed that there was no significant difference between the two groups. Further examination of the generalizability of the coping construct and the potential transfer of psychosocial skills between athletic and academic settings are warranted.

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