Investigating the Validity and Reliability of the Persian Version of the Short Form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (S-FLES)

Objective — Standardization of a short and reliable instrument for assessing foreign language enjoyment can rapidly facilitate research in the field of foreign language learning at a minimal cost. Therefore, this study focused on investigating the psychometric properties of the Persian version of the Short Form of the Foreign Language Enjoyment Scale (S-FLES). Methods — The statistical sample included all the students of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences who were enrolled in 2024. Among these students, 304 participants were selected by convenience sampling and completed the S-FLES, the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale – 21 Items (DASS-21) questionnaire, and Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale (RSE). Internal consistency was used to assess the reliability of the S-FLES, while convergent validity, discriminant validity, and confirmatory factor analysis were employed to assess the validity of the S-FLES. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 25 and LISREL version 10. Results — The results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the three-factor structure of the S-FLES (teacher appreciation, personal enjoyment, and social enjoyment). The internal consistency using Cronbach’s alpha was 0.85 for the total score, 0.84 for the personal enjoyment subscale, 0.81 for the teacher appreciation subscale, and 0.81 for the social enjoyment subscale, respectively. The S-FLES demonstrated a direct statistically significant correlation (p<0.05) with self-esteem and an inverse significant correlation (p<0.05) with depression, stress, and anxiety, thereby indicating good convergent and discriminant validity of the S-FLES. Conclusion — Our findings confirmed the factor structure, reliability, as well as convergent and discriminant validity, of the S-FLES. Consequently, we recommend the use of this tool for the advancement of emotion research in applied linguistics.