ENGLISH READING LITERACY OF MALAYSIAN LOWER SECONDARY STUDENTS USING RASCH MEASUREMENT MODEL BY KAMAL JAMIL IBRAHIM BADRASAWI A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Institute of Education International Islamic University Malaysia APRIL 2012
This document is posted to help you gain knowledge. Please leave a comment to let me know what you think about it! Share it to your friends and learn new things together.
Transcript
ENGLISH READING LITERACY OF MALAYSIAN
LOWER SECONDARY STUDENTS USING
RASCH MEASUREMENT MODEL
BY
KAMAL JAMIL IBRAHIM BADRASAWI
A dissertation submitted in fulfillment of the
requirement for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy
Institute of Education
International Islamic University
Malaysia
APRIL 2012
ii
ABSTRACT
English is an important second language in Malaysia. It is a compulsory school
subject taught to all children in the national primary and secondary schools, to be used
in their personal studies and future workplace/life. Given the importance of English,
the development of English literacy needs to be monitored over time. However, this is
currently done based on their results in national standardized examinations. The input
from these national examinations, though useful, is insufficient to give a complete
picture about the level of students’ performance in English literacy as there are no
national benchmarks at the different levels of schooling. This limitation is especially
critical for students in the lower secondary stage as this level of schooling is
considered as the foundation level in which the development of English literacy is
necessary for their performance in the future at the upper levels of schooling, tertiary
education, and their future career. Thus, this study seeks to examine the performance
of these school children and attempts to answer questions related to their performance
in this skill. Among them are these two major questions: What is the performance
level of Malaysian lower secondary school children in English reading literacy? And
which groups of Malaysian lower secondary school children are at risk of
underachieving in English reading literacy? A sample of 944 Form 1, 2, and 3 students
was selected from 11 national-type schools in two states in Malaysia using the
multistage cluster random sampling procedure. A test of English reading, comprising
60 items, was used. Both RMM and MFRM analyses, in addition to descriptive
analyses, were used to answer the research questions. The results indicated that, in
general, male students slightly outperformed female students, and Form 1 and 2
students outperformed Form 3 students. Closer examination of other demographic
variables including race, school location, parents’ education and SES indicated that
gender does not exclusively influence student performance. The results also showed
that items within the same reading skill categories did not have the same difficulty
level. The most difficult skill category was interpreting information and the easiest
one was finding out word meanings. To conclude, not all males performed better and
not all females were underachieving. The findings show a need for monitoring of
students’ progress over time and the use of a robust measurement model to do so.
Furthermore, the use of the Rasch Measurement Model for test equating and in item
analysis demonstrates the robustness and utility of the model in ensuring fair
measurement. Implications and recommendations are stated for stakeholders.
iii
خلاصة البحث
ينُظر إلى اللغة الإنجليزية كلغة ثانية ىامة في ماليزيا، وتعُتبر من الدوضوعات الدراسية الإجبارية التي تدَُرّسُ لطلبة الدرحلة الأساسية والثانوية، ليتمكن الطلبة من استخدامها في إكمال تحصيلهم الأكاديمي،
ونظرا لأهمية اللغة الإنجليزية، توجد حاجة إلى متابعة تحصيل الطلبة فيها . واستخدامها في مهنة الدستقبلوتَكْمُن الدشكلة في أن معطيات . حيث تتَمُّ ىذه الدتابعة استناداً إلى نتائج الامتحانات الوطنية الدوحدة
ىذه الامتحانات الوطنية، رغم فائدتها، ليست كافية لإعطاء صورة كاملة عن مستوى أداء الطلبة في ىذا القيد أمر . اللغة الإنجليزية؛ بسبب عدم وجود معايير وطنية لذذه الدادة في مختلف مستويات التعليم
بالغ الأهمية وخاصة بالنسبة للطلبة في الدرحلة الثانوية الدنيا، حيث تُ عَدُّ ىذه الدرحلة مرحلة التأسيس، ويعُتبر أداء الطلبة فيها باللغة الانجليزية ضروريا لأدائهم في الدستقبل في مستويات دراسية أعلى، كما في
لذلك يهدف ىذا البحث إلى دراسة أداء . الدرحلة الجامعية والدراسات العليا، وفي وظيفة الدستقبل كذلكما : ومن بين ىذه الأسئلة. الطلبة في الدرحلة الثانوية الدنيا وتحاول الإجابة عن أسئلة متعلقة بهذا الأداء
مستوى أداء طلبة الددارس الثانوية الدنيا في مهارة القراءة في اللغة الإنجليزية؟ وما لرموعات الطلبة التي طالبٍ (944)تعاني من التحصيل الدتدني في مهارة القراءة في اللغة الإنجليزية؟ ىذا وقد تم اختيارُ عيّنةٍ
وتم . مدرسة من ولايتين في ماليزيا باستخدام الطريقة العنقودية العشوائية متعددة الدراحل11وطالبةٍ من وللإجابة على أسئلة البحث تم . سسالاً 60استخدامُ اختبارِ قراءةٍ في اللغة الإنجليزية يحتوي على
استخدام كلٍّ من نموذج راش الخاص بالبيانات الثنائية ونموذج راش متعدد الأوجو، إضافة إلى التحليل وبشكل عام، فقد أشارت النتائج إلى أن الطلاب الذكور تفوقوا قليلاً على الطالبات، وأن طلبة . الوصفي
وبتحليلٍ أعمق للمتغيرات . الصف الأول والثاني الثانوي تفوقوا على طلبة الصف الثالث الثانويتبين أن الجنس (العِرق وموقع الددرسة و الدستوى التعليمي والوضع الاقتصادي للآباء)الديمغرافية الأخرى
وكانت مهارة تفسير الدعلومات الأكثر صعوبة ومهارة إيجاد معنى . حصراً لا يسثر على أداء الطلبةىذا ولم يحصل جميع الطلاب على مستوى أفضل من جميع الطالبات، وليس . الكلمات الأكثر سهولة
وأخيراً، تُظهِرُ النتائج الحاجة إلى متابعة أداء الطلبة مع مرور الوقت . كل الطالبات كان أدااىن متدنياً وعلاوة على ذلك، دلَّ إستخدام نموذج راش للقياس في طريقة التكافس . باستخدام نموذج قياس مناسب
. الرأسي بين الإختبارات وفي تحليل الأسئلة على قوة وفائدة ىذا النموذج في ضمان تحقيق مقياس عادل . واختُتِمت الدراسةُ بالدعاني الدستفادة منها والتوصيات لذوي الاختصاص
iv
APPROVAL PAGE
The dissertation of Kamal J I Badrasawi has been approved by the following:
______________________________
Noor Lide Abu Kassim
Supervisor
_______________________________
Mohamad Sahari Nordin
Supervisor
_______________________________
Ssekamanya Siraje Abdullah
Supervisor
______________________________
Ainol Zubairi
Internal Examiner
______________________________
Arshad Abd Samad
External Examiner
______________________________
Fatimah Daud
Chairman
v
DECLARATION
I hereby declare that this thesis is the result of my own investigations, except where
otherwise stated. I also declare that it has not been previously or concurrently
submitted as a whole for any other degrees at IIUM or other institutions.
Kamal J I Badrasawi
Signature .................................................. Date ………………………………
vi
INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVERSITY
MALAYSIA
DECLARATION OF COPYRIGH AND
AFFIRMATION OF FAIR USE OF UNPUBLISHED
RESEARCH
Copyright@2012 by International Islamic University Malaysia. All rights
reserved.
ENGLISH READING LITERACY OF MALAYSIAN LOWER
SECONDARY STUDNETS USING RASCH MEASUREMENT MODEL
I hereby affirm that The International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM) hold
all rights in the copyright of this work and henceforth and reproduction or use in
any form or by means whatsoever is prohibited without the written consent of
IIUM. No part of this unpublished research may be reproduced, stored in a
retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form of by means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise without prior written permission of the
copyright holder.
Affirmed by Kaml J I Badrasawi
………………………….. …………………………
Signature Date
vii
This study is dedicated to:
My beloved prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him),
the first and best role model teacher, and the source of
knowledge, wisdom, purification and mercy,
“Allah did confer a great favour on the believers when He sent among them an
apostle from among themselves, rehearsing unto them the Signs of Allah,
sanctifying them, and instructing them in Scripture and Wisdom,
while, before that, they had been in manifest error” ( Qur’an 3:164)
all who have contributed directly and indirectly
to the success of this work:
parents, teachers, brothers, sisters, wife, daughters, friends, and
my late father in law, Abu Mohammad
viii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, all praise belongs to Allah, the Lord of the Universe, whose mercy,
guidance and blessings have enabled me to complete this study successfully.
I would like to express my everlasting and heartfelt gratitude to my
supervisor, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Noor Lide Abu Kassim for all her highly appreciated
guidance, invaluable comments and constant encouragement. Her approaches and
character will influence my future career.
My deepest and heartfelt gratitude are also extended to my supervisory
committee members Prof. Dr. Mohamad Sahari Nordin and Assoc. Prof. Dr.
Ssekamanya Siraje Abdullah for their constructive comments, distinguished support
and encouragement. Special thanks go to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ainol Zubairi for her
insightful feedback, and Prof. Mike Linacre for the great clarification throughout the
course of this study.
My sincere thanks go to the International Islamic University Malaysia,
particularly the Institute of Education (INSTED), for giving me a partial scholarship
and the opportunity to pursue my PhD study, and I would like to thank all the lecturers
and staff for their great efforts, help and sincerity. I cannot forget to send my best
Doa’ and prayers to the soul of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ahmad Marzouki, for his
commitment, encouragement, support and gentleness.
I would always be grateful to all principals, teachers and students, who
accepted to participate in the study, for their kind cooperation.
Many thanks are extended to my colleagues, friends and lecturers from several
countries for their moral support, and Dr. Ahmad Asa’d, Dr. Kaseh Abu Bakar, Dr.
Enas AbdAllah, Dr. Sharifah Sariyah, Dr. Mohammad HajHamad, Ustaz Ismail
Abdullah, Mr. Nassir Abu Saa’, Mohammad Muslim, Mohammed Borhandden,
Muhajir Bin Taslikhan, Omran Musleh, Noor Sharifah Kamaruddin, Huda Skaik,
Sheila Lallmamode, Hafsah Mwita, Harith Zyood and Marwan Badran in particular.
I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family: parents, Jamil and
Nemah, sisters and brothers, who have always wished me success in my entire life. I
would never forget my parents’ in law continuous prayers for my success. My wife,
Manal, deserves all my great acknowledgement and thanks for her support and
patience. My eternal love goes to my two daughters Nematullah and Menatullah.
Finally, I would also like to thank many other people who have contributed in
the completion of this work. Their names are deeply rooted in my heart.
May Allah SWT bless you all.
ix
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Abstract .............................................................................................................. ii
Abstract in Arabic .............................................................................................. iii
Approval Page ..................................................................................................... iv
Declaration Page ................................................................................................ v
Copyright Page .................................................................................................... vi
Dedication .......................................................................................................... vii
Acknowledgements ............................................................................................ viii
List of Tables ...................................................................................................... xiii
List of Figures .................................................................................................... xv