Design, Construction, and Validation of a Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire in Iran

Abstract

The application of the principles of critical pedagogy to the field of ELT in the last few decades has contributed to the immergence of critical perspectives toward ELT industry and the role of English in the world. These views known as the critical standpoint acknowledges the existence of non-neutral hidden aspects in ELT and regards English as a tool to promote selected ideologies and to pursue hidden goals. Despite the rapid spread of English in Iran and the relevance of the issues addressed by the critical standpoint in ELT to this specific context, few studies have been conducted to survey Iranian EFL teachers' critical attitude towards ELT industry and the lack of an instrument to measure their critical attitude was highly remarkable. The present study, therefore, aimed at developing a Critical Pedagogy Attitude Questionnaire that could be used to evaluate Iranian ELT community’s critical attitude towards ELT industry. The newly developed questionnaire was validated by administering it among 100 English professors and institute teachers in 21 cities of Iran. This study investigated the internal consistency and the construct validity of the newly-developed instrument which both indicated acceptable results.