Validation of a Vietnamese Questionnaire on English Learning Investment Among University Students

Abstract Background Accurate measurement is crucial for effective instructional methods. It is essential to have a reliable and validated instrument suited to the specific context. Method This study aims to validate a four-point Likert-scale questionnaire designed to measure language learning investment among undergraduate students in Vietnam. Aimed at assessing the motivation, necessity, engagement, and agency involved in learning English as a compulsory foreign language, the questionnaire was adopted from an original English version and translated into Vietnamese. A sample of 351 students from three universities in southern Vietnam participated in the study. Findings: The results revealed four key dimensions: Motivation, Necessity, Engagement, and Agency in the instrument. Motivation dimension has the most substantial role in boosting students’ learning investment. Fewer items were observed in this validated version. Conclusion motivation, necessity, engagement, and agency are inducive to students’ learning investment with more emphasis on motivation. The results also suggest to redefine these dimensions to minimize cross factor loadings, thereby leading to more refined dimensions for this construct. Recommendations: Future research should include types of motivation in this construct, redefine each dimension, explore additional dimensions, and/or incorporate multiple constructs to examine how undergraduate students study English as a foreign language.