Publication: A preliminary study on translating, adapting, and assessing nursery teachers’ knowledge and attitudes towards childhood hearing loss in Malaysia
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Date
2025-07
Authors
Said, Nurul Aina Syafiqa Mohd
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Abstract
This preliminary study aimed to adapt, translate, and validate a hearing-related questionnaire to assess nursery teachers’ knowledge and attitudes in Malaysia about childhood hearing loss. The English version of the questionnaire was translated into Malay and administered to 25 female nursery teachers in Kelantan through both online and face-to-face distribution. The translation process involved forward, and backward translations carried out by two bilingual translators from the School of Languages, Literacies, and Translation, Universiti Sains Malaysia, and one TESL student from Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin. Content validity was evaluated by two expert panels (an audiologist and an educational administrator), achieving excellent results with Scale Content Validity Index (S-CVI) scores of 1.00 for relevance and cultural suitability, and 0.94 for clarity. Reliability testing yielded a Cronbach’s alpha of 0.69 for both knowledge and attitude scales, indicating moderate internal consistency.
The participants consisted mainly of SPM and Diploma holders with varying teaching experience. Statistical analysis, as determined by One-Way ANOVA, showed no significant differences in knowledge or attitudes based on educational level or teaching experience (p > 0.05). For the knowledge scale, items were scored as Yes = 1, No/Not Sure = 0, with mean scores falling below 1.0, indicating limited knowledge. For the attitude scale, items were rated on a 5-point Likert scale (Strongly Disagree = 1 to Strongly Agree = 5), with average scores slightly below 4, reflecting moderate but not strongly positive attitudes. These findings suggest that the adapted Malay questionnaire is a culturally appropriate tool for future research and highlight the need for targeted professional development in hearing health awareness among early childhood educators.