Short Report

Initial Validity Evidence for a Japanese
Version of the Motivation to Study
Abroad Scale (MSA)

Aaron C. Sponseller
Osaka Jogakuin University
In recent years, many Japanese universities, recognizing the value of high-impact learning
experiences provided through sojourns abroad, have developed an increasingly wide arrayof study abroad programs. Students have diverse reasons for deciding to study abroad.
However, no instrument which quickly and accurately gauges the strength of the various
motivational factors compelling a student to pursue study abroad opportunities appears
to exist in the Japanese context. Tertiary educators and administrators in Japan might findsuch an instrument useful. This poster presentation shared an initial attempt at validating a
Japanese version of Anderson and Lawton’s (2015) four-factor Motivation to Study Abroad(MSA) scale among Japanese university students (N = 165). The results of both exploratory
and a confirmatory factor model matching the original authors’ conclusions are presented
first, followed by an examination of construct-specific results following the Rasch rating
scale model approach. Initial results, limitations, and future directions for the developmentof this instrument are discussed.

Study abroad programs vary widely in length, destination, and amount andstructure or coursework (Engle & Engle, 2004). Moreover, the objectives of study
abroad vary program-by-program. Options for study abroad, in particular shortstudy tours lasting from several days to a few weeks, are increasing in Japan. This
growth appears fueled, at least in part, by Japanese universities’ desire to maintain
good image among international peers (Yonezawa, 2010).
Research on study abroad abounds, but remains primarily focused on
outcomes related to growth in linguistic proficiency or changes in intercultural
attitudes. There is little empirical evidence exploring what specifically motivates
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students to pursue study abroad opportunities. While the practical implicationsof developing a reliable instrument capable of quantifying such motivations
would clearly be useful for educators and administrators hoping to increase
student engagement in their study abroad offerings, a search for relevant
literature based in the Japanese context yielded no results. Widening the scope
beyond Japan, studies focused on the motivations of sojourners engaged in study
abroad are still relatively few. Three such studies (Anderson & Lawton, 2015;
Nyaupane, Paris, & Teye, 2010; Sanchez, Fornerino, & Zhang, 2006) haveattempted to measure sojourner motivation. Anderson and Lawton’s (2015)
study built its item inventory off the work of Nyaupane, Paris, and Teye (2010)
and Sanchez, Fornerino, and Zhang (2006), and makes a cogent argument thatthe underlying factor structure for each of these respective instruments is quite
similar. This study, therefore, will attempt to build upon Anderson and Lawton’s(2015) work as a step toward a useful instrument in the Japanese context.

Methods
Participants & Procedures
The Motivation to Study Abroad Scale (MSA) was operationalized with first-,
second-, and third-year undergraduate students (N = 165, M age = 19, 66.5%
female) from a national university in western Japan. Participants were frommajors including education, law, science, medicine, and engineering. Around
45% (n = 74) of these students were headed for two-week, university-led study
tours to Australia or Vietnam. Study tours to these destinations were focused
primarily on learning about local culture, though the Australia-bound students
were also to participate in English courses while abroad. These students wererecruited during program-specific pre-departure coursework, thus comprising a
convenience sample. The remaining 55% (n = 91) had no immediate plans tostudy abroad and were recruited from among the general student body throughcompulsory English courses required of all students.
The original English items from the MSA were translated into Japaneseby three individuals before being evaluated by a fourth individual. All those
involved in the translation process translated from English into their L1
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Validating a Japanese Version of the MSA, OCJSI 1, pages 185-199( Japanese). Two were doctoral students studying English language pedagogy
and second language acquisition. The third earned a PhD focused on sociology
and survey methodology from a major research university in the United States.
These translations were then shared with a tenured professor of English language
and literature who drew upon the three translations to arrive at a final judgement
on how the item translations would most appropriately convey the meaning of
the original English items.
All participants in this study were personally informed that their
participation was optional, held no bearing on their grade in any course(s), thatthey could withdraw at any time and for any reason, and that their responses
would remain entirely confidential. Data collection was part of a much larger
project of which the MSA was only a small part. Participants who completed the
MSA were therefore offered a gift card of between 500 and 2000 yen dependingon their level of participation in the larger project. All participants signed
consent forms provided in Japanese. Upon providing consent they were emailed
a link to complete the survey within approximately one week. All responses weregathered online over the course of a three-week period via a survey created using
the Qualtrics.com survey platform, responses to the survey required participants
to provide their email address to ensure responses came from those who had
agreed to participate in the study.
The MSA: An instrument to measure aspects of motivation to
study abroad
The Motivation for Study Abroad questionnaire (Anderson & Lawton, 2015)
consists of 23 Likert-style items measuring underlying motivations for studying
abroad. The instrument yields scores for four underlying dimensions related
to study abroad motivation: World Enlightenment, Personal Growth, Career
Development, and Entertainment. See the appendix for the full list of items inboth English and Japanese.
The original authors employed a five-point response scale ranging from1 (not at all important) to 5 (absolutely essential). The middle point on theoriginal scale (3) was not labeled neutral but as important. However, such a187

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midpoint might represent a de facto neutral option to participants and therefore
the following response scale was employed:
1 – not at all important; 全く重要でない
2 – not important; 重要でない
3 – not very important; あまり重要でない
4 – a little important; 少し重要である
5 – important; 重要である
6 – very important; 非常に重要である
Statistical analysis
The original MSA validation study by Anderson and Lawton (2015) took an
exploratory factor analytic (EFA) approach to reduce an original pool of 53 items
to 23 items and four constructs. They then conducted a confirmatory factor
analysis to test their model. Therefore, an EFA and a CFA were used in this study
to test the Japanese version of that same 23-item model.
Rasch rating scale modeling (Andrich, 1978) was also used to further
explore test item and scale quality. While factor analytic approaches remain
the standard practice throughout the social sciences, they have two flaws. First,
such approaches are predicated on the erroneous assumptions that the data
being analyzed are interval in scale. Such data are actually ordinal. Second,
these approaches fail to provide item level fit statistics. Researchers must thenturn to internal consistency measures such as Cronbach’s Alpha to argue for
unidimensionality of construct, when such measures are actually evidence forlittle more than correlation. Rasch also handles missing data points with easeand quickly identifies extreme outliers.

Results
Exploratory factor analysis
Four distinct factors emerged from an EFA of the 23-item data ( JASP, Version
0.8.6, https://jasp-stats.org/), as expected. Four items (MSA 1, 4, 14, and 19)
showed evidence of potentially loading on two constructs, MSA item 4 (Becomeacquainted with people different from me) loaded more strongly onto Personal
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Growth scale (.444) than on the World Enlightenment scale (.404) in the EFA.
Given the aim of this project was to provide an initial test of Anderson and
Lawton’s (2015) instrument in the Japanese context, and given these loadings
were both relatively low and produced by a fairly small sample of participants,
MSA item 4 was kept with its original construct throughout this study despite
this cross-loading. See Table 1 for item loadings.
Confirmatory factor analysis
Analysis of Moment Structures (AMOS) (Arbuckle, 2014; Version 22) was used
to test the four-factor, 23-item model (See Figure 5). Reliability (Cronbach’s
α and MacDonald’s ω) for Personal Growth (α = 0.861,ω = 0.864), and World
Enlightenment (α = 0.873, ω = 0.882) indicated good (α and ω above 0.8) internalconsistency. Reliability was lower but still good to acceptable for Entertainment(α = 0.804, ω = 0.808) and Career Development (α = 0.800, ω = 0.820).
Goodness of model fit was checked using the following cutoff criteria set by
Hu and Bentler (1999) (see Table 2).
Three within-construct modification indices of the error variance were used
to improve model fit:
Personal Growth:
MSA 1 (Gain maturity) and MSA 14 (Grow as a person)
MSA 20 (Become more independent) and MSA 22 (Learn to stand on my
own two feet)
World Enlightenment:
MSA 8 (Increase my understanding of the world) and MSA 11 (Expand myworld view)
With these modification indices, the finalized CFA fit indices were as
follows: χ2(221) = 100.735, p < .001; χ2/df = 1.937, CFI = 0.872; SRMR =0.088; RMSEA = 0.081. The final fit indices for the Japanese version of the
MSA tested here are lackluster when compared to the fit indices of the original
study (CFI = 0.910; SRMR = 0.062; RMSEA = 0.074). See Figure 1 for the fullmodel.

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Table 1Results of Exploratory Factor Analysis
Components and Item Loadings
Items

1

2

3

4

MSA1 Gain maturity

0.422

0.528

-0.09

0.248

MSA2 Experience the local nightlife (clubs, bars, etc.)

0.115

0.029

0.721

0.065

MSA3 Prepare for my career

0.276

0.16

0.182

0.718

MSA4 Become acquainted with people different from me

0.409

0.444

0.243

0.185

MSA5 Better understand myself

0.238

0.669

0.145

0.151

MSA6 Increase my self-confidence

0.088

0.791

0.196

0.191

MSA7 Enhance my employment prospects

0.145

0.224

0.173

0.753

MSA8 Increase my understanding of the world

0.827

0.043

0.132

0.046

MSA9 Gain career skills

0.244

0.092

0.008

0.817

MSA10 Have a romantic encounter

0.112

0.173

0.638

0.096

MSA11 Expand my world view

0.769

0.225

-0.014

0.11

MSA12 Go out drinking

0.084

0.039

0.865

0.037

MSA13 Make my friends a little envious of me-0.069

0.149

0.712

-0.032

MSA14 Grow as a person

0.433

0.632

0.033

0.117

MSA15 Enhance my understanding of global affairs and events

0.791

0.176

0.048

0.075

MSA16 Do some serious partying

0.003

0.217

0.682

0.268

MSA17 Gain in-depth knowledge in my chosen field-0.025

0.141

0.003

0.726

MSA18 Interact with people from other countries

0.554

0.353

0.022

0.259

MSA19 Build my resume-0.101

0.325

0.42

0.502

MSA20 Become more independent

0.248

0.739

0.255

0.113

MSA21 Better understand different cultures

0.704

0.324

0.055

0.04

MSA22 Learn to stand on my own two feet

0.31

0.668

0.261

0.221

MSA23 Learn about the world

0.813

0.222

0.033

0.128

Notes: Extraction Method: Principal Component Analysis. Rotation Method: Varimax with Kaiser
Normalization. Rotation converged in 5 iterations.

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Table 2
Hu and Bentler’s (1999) Suggested Cutoff Criteria for Evaluating Goodness of CFA Model Fit
MeasureTerrible

Acceptable

Excellent

CMIN/DF

>5

>3

>1

CFI

< 0.90< 0.95> 0.95

SRMR> 0.10> 0.08< 0.08RMSEA> 0.08> 0.06< 0.06

PClose< 0.01< 0.05> 0.05Figure 1. CFA with standardized estimates for a Japanese version of the MSA.

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Rasch rating scale modeling
The technical quality of items was evaluated using Winsteps (Linacre, 2006;
Version 3.73). Appropriateness of rating scale functioning was confirmed using
Linacre’s (2002) criteria for minimum number of observations (10), outfit meansquare (< 2.0 at all levels), and level gaps (between .59 and 5 logits). The item
fit criteria (Infit MNSQ ranging from .6 to 1.4) advised by Smith (2001) wasused. Item reliability of 0.90 or greater and person reliability of 0.80 or greater
are commonly used as reliability thresholds. See Table 3 for item and person
reliability and separation.
The item reliability and separation on these constructs appear good-to-great.
Each construct also shows strong evidence of being unidimensional.
Unfortunately, the response scale functioning was inadequate for both
Personal Growth and World Enlightenment. The minimum number ofobservations at response 1 and 2 were not met for either scale, which resulted
in the collapsing of the three negatively valenced response scale categories into asingle category in order to meet the minimum threshold for subsequent analysis.
The low use negatively valenced response categories indicates that items on these
constructs were easily endorsed by almost all participants. While rating scale
use was adequate at all levels for the construct Entertainment, that scale had the
opposite problem in that its items were almost universally unendorsed. Career
Development items had adequate rating scale functioning, person reliability,
and item reliability. However this scale also had one rather large gap between
Table 3Item and Person Reliability and Separation
Item
reliability

Itemseparation

Personreliability

Personseparation

Personal Growth

.97

6.13

.75

1.73

World Enlightenment

.94

3.81

.77

1.81

Entertainment

.95

4.17

.80

1.98

Career Development

.98

6.58

.80

1.99

Scale

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its most difficult to endorse item (build my resume) and its second most difficult
to endorse item (gain in-depth knowledge in my choice field). Each of these
constructs, therefore, appears to suffer from an item pool that is inadequate
insofar as the items either skew heavily one direction or leave large logit gaps
which would ideally be filled with an additional item(s). Figures 1 through 4
show item-person maps (also called Wright maps) for each of the four constructs.

Figure 2. Item-person map of the Personal Growth construct193

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Figure 3. Item-person map of the World Enlightenment construct.

Conclusion

The results presented here represent an initial step toward the developmentof an instrument capable of measuring different aspects of Japanese students’motivation(s) to engage in sojourns. The MSA results presented here are far fromcomplete. While there is evidence the four motivational constructs theorized in
the original study might be valid in the Japanese context, collection of a larger
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Figure 4. Item-person map of the Entertainment construct.

sample, expansion of the item pool, and possibly revising the Japanese translationof some problematic items (perhaps items MSA10, MSA16, and MSA19) could
potentially address some of these issues exposed by the CFA and Rasch analyses.
Such efforts are valuable, as a validated MSA promises to be a parsimonious
instrument capable of differentiating between aspects of motivation which
inform student desire to study abroad.
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Figure 5. Item-person map of the Career Development construct.

References

Anderson, P. H., & Lawton, L. (2015). Student motivation to study abroad andtheir intercultural development. Frontiers: The Interdisciplinary Journal of
Study Abroad, 26, 39-52.
Arbuckle, J. L. (2014). Amos (Version 22.0) [Computer Program]. Chicago:
IBM SPSS.
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Hu, L. T., & Bentler, P. M. (1999). Cutoff criteria for fit indexes in covariancestructure analysis: Conventional criteria versus new alternatives. Structural
Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 6(1), 1-55. https://doi.
org/10.1080/10705519909540118
Linacre, J. M. (2002). Optimizing rating scale category effectiveness. Journal ofApplied Measurement, 3(1), 85-106.
Linacre, J. M. (2006). WINSTEPS Rasch measurement [Computer program].
Chicago.
Nyaupane, G. P., Paris, C. M., & Teye, V. (2010). Study abroad motivations,destination selection and pre-trip attitude formation. International Journalof Tourism Research, 13(3), 205-217. https://doi.org/10.1002/jtr.811
Sanchez, C. M., Fornerino, M., and Zhang, M. (2006) Motivations and theintent to study abroad among U.S., French, and Chinese students. Journal of
Teaching in International Business, 18(1), 27-52. https://doi.org/10.1300/
J066v18n01_03
Smith, E. V., Jr. (2001). Evidence for the reliability of measures and validity ofmeasurement interpretation: A Rasch measurement perspective. Journal ofApplied Measurement, 2(3), 281-311.
Yonezawa, A. (2010). Much ado about ranking: Why can't Japanese universities
internationalize? Japan Forum, 22(1), 121-137. https://doi.org/10.1080/0
9555803.2010.488948

Author bio

Aaron C. Sponseller is a lecturer at Osaka Jogakuin College and University. He
holds an MA TESOL from San Francisco State University and is a PhD candidate at
Temple University. His research interests include study abroad and novel approaches
to early childhood L2 literacy development. sponseller@wilmina.ac.jp
Received: November 4, 2018
Accepted: April 23, 2019197

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Appendix
Motivation to Study Abroad (MSA) items listed by construct
PERSONAL GROWTHMSA 1 Gain maturity (成長すること)
MSA 5 Better understand myself (自分をよりよく知る)
MSA 6 Increase my self-confidence (自信を高める)
MSA 14 Grow as a person (人として成長する)
MSA 20 Become more independent (より自立する)
MSA 22 Learn to stand on my own two feet (自立する事を学ぶ)
WORLD ENLIGHTENMENTMSA 4 Become acquainted with people different from me (自分から人と知り合いになる)MSA 8 Increase my understanding of the world (世界をより理解する)
MSA 11 Expand my world view (世界を見る目を広げる)
MSA 15 Enhance my understanding of global affairs and events (世界的な出来事や事柄をより理解する)
MSA 18 Interact with people from other countries (他国の人々と交流する)
MSA 21 Better understand different cultures (多文化を理解する)
MSA 23 Learn about the world (世界を学ぶ)
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
MSA 3 Prepare for my career (自分のキャリアの準備)
MSA 7 Enhance my employment prospects (就職の将来性を高める)
MSA 9 Gain career skills (職業的スキルを上げる)
MSA 17 Gain in-depth knowledge in my chosen field (自分の専攻における知識を増やす)MSA 19 Build my resume (履歴書に書く)
ENTERTAINMENTMSA 2 Experience the local nightlife (clubs, bars, etc.) (その地域のナイトライフ
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（クラブ、
バーなど）
の体験)

MSA 10 Have a romantic encounter (異性との出会い)
MSA 12 Go out drinking (飲みにいく)
MSA 13 Make my friends a little envious of me (友だちに少し羨ましいと思わせる)
MSA 16 Do some serious partying (パーティーをする)199