title: Psychometric testing of the English Language Acculturation Scale in first-year nursing students.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This article is a report of the psychometric testing of the five-item English Language Acculturation Scale, an indicator of English language usage as reported by first-year undergraduate nursing students.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Nursing students who have English as an additional language can struggle clinically and academically due to low levels of English language proficiency. A self-report screening tool may provide early identification of nursing students at risk of underperformance.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospective correlational survey design.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study used a prospective, correlational survey design. In 2010 and 2011, 1400 commencing nursing students were surveyed about their English language usage using the English Language Acculturation Scale. In addition to descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses and Cronbach's alpha reliabilities, the relationship between English Language Acculturation Scale score and Grade Point Average at the end of first year was computed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results show good reliability and construct validity of the English Language Acculturation Scale. Principal component analysis yielded only one component in which all five items loaded highly. This was further supported by confirmatory factor analysis, with standardized factor loadings ranging from 0·79 to 0·90. The results also showed strong association between English language use and academic performance; students in the high English Language Acculturation Scale score group were most likely to be in the high Grade Point Average group at the end of first year.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Language screening tools can be an important strategy to identify nursing students at risk of underperforming in their studies. The English Language Acculturation Scale has the potential to be a useful brief self-report measure for commencing nursing students.
authors: Family and Community Health Research Group (FaCH), School of Nursing and Midwifery, University of Western Sydney, Penrith, New South Wales, Australia.
authors: Yenna
authors: Y
authors: Salamonson
authors: Nathan
authors: N
authors: Attwood
authors: Bronwyn
authors: B
authors: Everett
authors: Roslyn
authors: R
authors: Weaver
authors: Paul
authors: P
authors: Glew
mesh_terms: D000069:Acculturation; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D004506:Education, Nursing / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007807:Language Tests / Q000592:standards*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: ELAS; English as an additional language; academic performance; instrument development; nursing; nursing students; psychometrics