Abstract:

Schools labelling themselves to be English medium with a perception that all textbooks are taught in English are required to understand that claiming English medium school is much beyond the teaching of textbooks in the English language. Considering this issue, a self-assessment tool or a checklist is required, which enables the schools to evaluate their schooling position if meet the requirements of English medium school. The present study aimed at developing a scale that enabled the English Language Teaching practitioners to explore if schools in countries where the English language is being taught as the second language successfully fulfilled the claim they did to be English-medium. The scale construction methodology was used to carry out this investigation. The sample was based on 134 participants including school principals, coordinators, and teachers selected randomly using the convenient and purposive sampling methods. To establish the authenticity and applicability of the tool, reliability and validity of the items in the scale were measured. The validity of the scale was tested through the Content Validity Ratio applied in three stages. In the final stage, 18 items were deleted based on low CVR. The reliability of the scale was measured through the application of two tests including Inter-Rater Reliability and Test-Retest Reliability. The satisfactory score of Test-Retest Reliability revealed the scale as a good fit to evaluate school support for English as second language learning. Therefore, the scale can be stated as acceptable based on its psychometric properties. Various demographic variables should be used for the use of this scale in practice to understand the differences can be found based on gender, age, experience, discipline, etc. Nevertheless, the most important use of this scale is to evaluate how a group of schools is promoting the English as a second language in the countries in which English is taught as second language. Considering this perspective, the scope of this study is applicable, but not limited to the School Heads, ELT Practitioners, and Policy Makers.

Keywords:

English language, Official Language policy, Scale construction, School assessment, SESSELL/ SELL.