Investigating measurement invariance in PIRLS 2021 across English and isiZulu language groups
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Date
Authors
Mthimkhulu, Sinethemba
Roux, Karen
Mihai, Maryke Anneke
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS
Abstract
BACKGROUND: PIRLS 2021 results revealed that South African Grade 4 learners performed
significantly lower compared to other countries in reading comprehension and that they did
not reach the standardised international mean score of 500. It was also evident from the results
that English learners performed relatively higher than isiZulu learners.
OBJECTIVE: This study was initiated to investigate whether possible measurement invariance can
help explain the difference in the scores of English and isiZulu learners. Measurement invariance
is concerned with the metric and functional equivalence of the items in the two languages examined.
METHOD: A quantitative approach was utilised to reanalyse the PIRLS 2021 numerical data sets.
Descriptive statistics were used to analyse the mean and raw scores. Rasch analysis was
conducted to look for any Differential Item Function (DIF) in the items.
RESULTS: Statistics revealed that there is a significant difference in the mean scores of the two
languages. Analysis of raw scores provided evidence that some of the items lacked metric
equivalence. Rasch analysis displayed that some of the items lacked functional equivalence.
CONCLUSIONS: The significant difference found in the scores implies that Grade 4 learners need
more attention mastering the skill of reading literacy. The lack of metric and functional
equivalence suggests that items in the passages need to be investigated and improved.
CONTRIBUTIONS: This study has contributed to the International Large-Scale Assessment
literature specifically relating to the equivalence of ILSA across languages. A significant gap in
the learners’ scores was identified and measurement invariance helped explain the gap in the
learners’ reading scores.
Description
Keywords
Differential item functioning, Equivalence, Measurement invariance, PIRLS 2021, Reading literacy, Validity, SDG-04: Quality education
Sustainable Development Goals
SDG-04:Quality Education
Citation
Mthimkhulu, S., Roux, K. & Mihai, M. 2024, ‘Investigating measurement invariance in PIRLS 2021 across English and isiZulu language groups’, Reading & Writing, vol. 15, no. 1, art. 455, doi : 10.4102/rw.v15i1.455.