An attitude scale for measuring language attitudes at South African tertiary institutions

This article presents findings based on an exploratory factor analysis of the results of a mini-survey conducted at the University of South Africa (UNISA). The factor-analytic results are subjected to an item analysis, which allows for the construction of an attitude scale that can be usefully employed to measure the attitudes of L1 African-language students towards the use of African languages as Languages of Learning and Teaching (LOLT) at South African tertiary institutions. The article includes an overview of the context in which the research was conducted, deals briefly with the applicability of exploratory factor analysis for this form of research and then presents the necessary data; i.e. the results of the factor and item analyses as well as the final attitude scale. The procedures followed during the course of both the factor analysis and item analysis are given explicit treatment in the article, since it is hoped that a full exposition of the processes involved will encourage more extensive use of these methods among linguists working in relevant sub-disciplines in South Africa. Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 2004, 22(1&2): 43–6