Abstract:

The Student Leadership Practices Inventory (SLPI) is one of few questionnaires measuring leadership development of post-secondary students. The measurement in this instrument is based on the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI) developed using the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership framework.

The following five leadership practices in this transformational leadership model have been identified as key to developing successful leaders:
(1) Model the Way;
(2) Inspire a Shared Vision;
(3) Challenge the Process;
(4) Enable Others to Act; and,
(5) Encourage the Heart.

Despite numerous empirically tested data from various studies conducted across a wide range of student populations in the United States and elsewhere in the world, the officially translated versions of the instrument are available in Mandarin (Simplified), Arabic, Spanish (Latin America), and Portuguese (Brazilian). Translation and validation of questionnaire from a source language (SL) into a target language (TL) should follow standard practices before it can be used in data collection. Adherence to such practices is important in order to ensure that the translated version in the TL maintains the psychometric properties of the original version in the SL. This paper presents the details of the translation and validation of SLPI from English into Malay. Procedures involved in the translation and validation processes are explained and aided by illustrations. Although the procedures apply to SLPI instrument, the guidelines may be generalized to other contexts of study and will be useful in studies that require the use of bilingual or multilingual questionnaires.

Keywords:

Leadership, university students, translation, validation, questionnaire, Student Leadership Practices Inventory.