PERTANIKA JOURNAL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

The Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire (R-SPQ-2F) is a 20-item questionnaire used to measure higher education students' deep and surface approaches to learning. The purpose of the present study was to validate the Malay language version of the R-SPQ-2F factor structure, based on two data sets of Malaysian pre-service teachers. The methods used were: (a) an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) with an oblique rotation with the first data set (n = 221), and (b) a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) with the second data set (n = 231). The factor analytic results showed a four-factor model of the scale data which supported the scale's original factor structure but marked differences were found in terms of the relationships between items and factors (items had moved to different scales). Based on the EFA, the scales were renamed to better reflect the meaning of each factor, but the two main constructs of deep and surface approach remained the same. In the cross-validation study, the results of the CFA suggested that out of three structural models, the best fit was achieved by a first-order four-factor model. Explanation of the Malay language R-SPQ-2F re-specified factor structure for Malaysian pre-service teachers are discussed as it is important that researchers do not blindly import measures used in another culture without adaptation. Included are implications for the Malay language R-SPQ-2F.