AN EXPLORATORY FACTOR ANALYSIS EXAMINING MANDARIN AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (MFL) LEARNERS’ SELF-EFFICACY AT MALAYSIAN PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Background and Purpose: Self-efficacy is one of the aspects of human behaviours related to performance in social cognitive theory. It has been studied in social sciences, education, and languages. There are a variety of self-efficacy scales available in the English and French languages to test one’s self-belief in their ability to learn the target language. To date, no self-efficacy scale catered to the unique characteristics of Mandarin as a foreign or third language (MFL). The objective of this study is to give practical recommendations on creating valid self-efficacy instruments of MFL and making judgments on factor extraction, factor rotation, and factor labelling based on the foreign language literature.   Methodology: This quantitative study gathered information through an administration of a survey. The multipart survey consists of the demographic information section and the MFL self-efficacy scales distributed to MFL learners in Malaysian public universities. Data were collected randomly from 614 participants studying MFL at three different levels. Items for MFL self-efficacy were examined using SPSS version 25.0 software. Findings: The final 13 MFL self-efficacy items were reduced to four factors with a total variance of 68.99%. The Promax rotation matrices revealed the presence of a simple four-factor structure, exhibiting the degree of strong factor loadings. The four factors were MFL Speaking, MFL Listening, MFL Reading, and MFL Writing.   Contributions: This research provides valid self-efficacy scales for MFL learning. The skill-based Scale could contribute to MFL teaching literature in the Malaysian context. Additionally, the study proposes future investigations which involve learning Mandarin with more emphasis on Chinese Characters.   Keywords: Mandarin as a foreign language, self-efficacy, exploratory factor analysis, non-native speaker, scale development.   Cite as: YanJu, S., Yusuf, M., YanMei, S., & Abdullah, H. (2023). An exploratory factor analysis examining Mandarin as a foreign language (MFL) learners’ self-efficacy at Malaysian public universities. Journal of Nusantara Studies, 8(2), 425-440. http://dx.doi.org/10.24200/jonus.vol8iss2pp425-44

Electromechanical stability of compressible dielectric elastomer actuators

The constitutive relation and the electromechanical stability of Varga–Blatz–Ko-type compressible isotropic dielectric elastomers undergoing large deformation are investigated in this paper. Free energy in any form, which consists of elastic strain energy and electric field energy, can be applied to analyze the electromechanical stability of dielectric elastomers. The constitutive relation and the electromechanical stability are analyzed by applying a new kind of free energy model, which consists of elastic strain energy, composed of the Varga model as the volume conservative energy and the Blatz–Ko model as the volume non-conservative energy, and electric field energy with constant permittivity. The ratio between the principal planar stretches, the ratio between the thickness and length direction stretches, and the power exponent of the stretch are defined to characterize the mechanical loading behavior and compressible behavior of the dielectric elastomer. Along with the increase of these parameters, which determine the shape or volume of the elastomer, and the Poisson ratio, the critical nominal electric field is higher, which indicates a more stable dielectric elastomer electromechanical system. In contrast, with the decrease of the dimensionless material parameter α of the Varga elastic strain energy, the critical nominal electric field increases. The coupling system becomes more stable. We further demonstrate that the critical nominal electric field of the compressible dielectric elastomer electromechanical coupling system is significantly influenced by the ratio between the principal planar stretches