Socio-demographic predictors of EFL teacher efficacy

Abstract

Research on teachers’ beliefs and their impact on teacher cognition has been a relevant topic for educational inquiry for some decades. Teachers’ actions are tied to their beliefs, perceptions, assumptions and motivation levels. Thus, research on teachers’ beliefs is crucial in determining the way teachers understand and organize instruction. One important belief that appears to be an important influence on teacher and student outcomes is teacher efficacy. In accordance with this view and due to the increasing demand for English as a foreign language education, the present study aimed to assess EFL teachers’ efficacy level and explore the socio-demographic predictors of teacher efficacy in an EFL setting, i.e., Turkey. 226 EFL teachers working at the preparatory schools of public and private universities in Istanbul participated in this study. Data were collected by means of quantitative methods; i.e., the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale (adapted from Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) and the School-Level Environment Questionnaire (Fisher & Fraser, 1990).Data collected by means of these instruments were submitted to correlation and regression analysis and independent samples t-tests. Results of the study showed that the number of professional activities teachers were involved in, average number of students in teachers’ classes, working position, type of institution, and gender were the socio-demographic factors that predicted variations in EFL teachers’ efficacy in this study.