Rasch Measurement for English teachers' self-confidence in Inner-Mongolian

Mongolia is an under-developed province in China. The common languages used in Inner-Mongolia are Monoglian language and Putonghau. Therefore, teachers and students in there mainly communicate in these two languages in the classroom. Owing to geographical and economic problems, Inner-Mongolia English teachers can only learn good knowledge of written English from the textbooks and reading materials, but they do not have many opportunities to practise their spoken English. A team of volunteers held an eight-day English summer programme to provide lectures, workshops and demonstration of English teaching for about seventy Inner-Mongolian English teachers in Chifeng, Inner-Mongolia. All of the volunteers and participants are required to communicate in English during the programme. An authentic English environment is therefore created for enhancing teachers' confidence in English. After the programme, it is expected that teachers' confidence in using English will be improved. A pre-test and post-test one-group quasi-experimental design is used to investigate the impact of the English programme on the self-confidence of teachers in using English. Rasch measurement is a quality control mechanism and is prominent in diagnosis. The diagnostic information obtained can be used to understand Inner-Mongolian English teachers' self-confidence in using English. Consequently, the volunteers can evaluate effect of the intervention adopted to enhance the English teachers' confidence in using English. The aim of this study is to measure the change in the self-confidence of Inner-Mongolian English teachers. The measures can be generated from Rasch measurement using the Winsteps software. Based on this analysis, volunteers can better understand Inner-Mongolian English teachers’ confidence in using English and some suggestions will be provided to improve their confidence in the future.