A Study on College EFL Teachers' Self-Efficacy: Its Causal Relationship with Antecedents and Teaching Behaviors

• Main Authors: Fang-Yu Chang, 張芳瑜
• Other Authors: Wen-Ta Tseng
• Format: Others
• Language: en_US
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/05368879258664853203

碩士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 英語學系 === 98 === Researchers have suggested that teachers’ perception of their self-efficacy would likely affect their teaching behaviors, pedagogical actions, and students’ learning achievement (Ross, 1992; Tschannen-Moran et al., 1998; Chacón, 2005; Eslami &Fatahi, 2008). However, studies which have empirically documented cause and effect of teachers’ perceived self-efficacy are scarce. Therefore, the aim of this study attempts to explore the causal relationship between antecedents and college English teachers’ perceived self-efficacy and between college English teachers’ perceived self-efficacy and their use of motivational strategies in language classrooms. This research employed a quantitative method—a questionnaire survey. The survey comprised of three sets of questionnaires including demographic information and antecedents of teachers’ self-efficacy, teachers’ self-efficacy scale, and teachers’ motivational strategy measure. A total of 112 teachers teaching English in college or university around Taiwan were involved in this study. The quantitative analysis of the questionnaires was conducted through descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis in order to indicate the direction and the causal relationship between antecedents and teachers’ self-efficacy and between teachers’ self-efficacy and teachers’ use of motivational strategies. The findings revealed that teachers perceived themselves to have higher efficacy for instructional strategies and to use strategies to generate students’ initial motivation and to maintain and protect students’ motivation more frequently. Moreover, antecedents were found to significantly predict teachers’ self-efficacy, and teachers’ perceived self-efficacy successfully made a prediction of teachers’ motivational teaching behaviors. To conclude, this study may be of importance in understanding the causal relationship between antecedents and teachers’ self-efficacy and between antecedents and teachers’ motivational teaching behaviors. It is hoped that with these understandings in mind, teachers can take action to enhance their self-efficacy and improve their use of motivational strategies.