THE IMPACT OF TEACHER SELF-EFFICACY ON TEACHING TECHNIQUES: TRADITIONAL OR CONTEMPORARY?

Abstract

There are countless factors that impact the process of second language learning and teaching in both positive and negative ways. These factors are not limited to only student-oriented factors since some of them might stem from teachers themselves as well. One of the teacher-oriented factors that shape the learning/ teaching process is teacher’s levels of self-efficacy. For decades, teacher self-efficacy has been holding its position as being one of the most popular topics of investigation. Many studies have been conducted to further understand its effect on classroom environment. These studies have put forward a great deal of invaluable findings. However, only a few examined its effects on teaching methods and techniques used in the classroom. The present study set out to investigate this issue by collecting data from 64 EFL teachers, using both quantitative and qualitative methods with a three-staged survey. The findings showed: 1) Turkish EFL teachers have moderately high teacher self-efficacy, 2) age and gender are not factors affecting teacher self-efficacy while teaching experience is, 3) teachers with high self-efficacy use more modern techniques in their lessons and 4) high self-efficacy leads teachers to more implementations of communicative and collaborative tasks. The findings have numerous implications for further research that will be conducted in Turkey as they shed light on the relationship between teacher self-efficacy and teaching methods. Teachers of foreign languages should also be aware of the teaching implications that have been suggested throughout the study and criticize their teaching techniques in terms of traditional or contemporary, by bearing in mind their levels of self-efficacy. 
 
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