CoDiLe: An instrument for evaluating the Spanish-language disciplinary knowledge of pre-service teachers.

Abstract

In recent decades, several studies have focused on assessing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge, especially in Science and Mathematics. However, with regards to languages, few studies have designed and validated instruments for this purpose. This paper aims to advance in this line of research: a questionnaire is designed and validated to evaluate pre-service teachers’ content knowledge in Spanish language. Spanish undergraduate and master students, as well as experts on the topic and tests, participated in the experiment. For the analysis of content validity, the Delphi method was used. For the study of consistency over time, a psychometric analysis using the test-retest reliability method was applied. The instrument was found to be consistent and valid. The results on the assessment of students’ knowledge were below expectations and revealed that the sample showed a clear deficit in Spanish language content knowledge. These data seem to be in line with those obtained in other studies. Therefore, CoDiLe may contribute to define and address these potential shortcomings and provide teachers with consistent data to improve their practices.