Summary


EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION SKILLS SCALE: A VALIDITY AND RELIABILITY STUDY

Communication is the process of information exchange between the source and the receiver in which people transfer their feelings, thoughts, knowledge, wishes and dreams to each other in a verbal, non-verbal or written form. Communication is the key to success and building social relationships. Strong or weak communication leads to the concept of effective communication. People with strong communication skills express themselves better, take care to listen and understand others, and empathize. It is of particular importance to raise students successfully in terms of communication skills at the secondary school level, which forms the basis for many learning. One of the main goals of language teaching is to bring individuals who can communicate effectively and accurately into society. The aim of this study was to develop an Effective Communication Skills Scale for middle school students. In line with the data of the study, a total of 817 secondary school students were reached, 411 for exploratory factor analysis, 311 for confirmatory factor analysis, and 95 for test-retest applications. Different sample groups were used at each stage. As a result of the exploratory factor analysis, a 15-item Effective Communication Skills Scale consisting of a single factor was obtained. The total variance value of the scale was found to be 35.69%. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the exploratory factor analysis structure (X2=115.11, X2/sd= 1.308, RMSEA=.032, Standardized RMR= .045, NFI=.92, NNFI=.97, CFI= .98, GFI= .95, AGFI= .94, IFI= .98, PNFI= .77, PGFI= .70). In addition, it was determined that Cronbach's Alpha value was .87 and the correlation value obtained from the test-retest applications was .75. Therefore, it was seen that the reliability values determined were also good. As a result, a 15-item Effective Communication Skills Scale for middle school students was obtained. It is thought that this scale can be used to determine middle school students' perceptions of effective communication skills.

Keywords

Communication, effective communication, scale

References