Abstract
Teachers' emotional states such as optimism and commitment have long been approved influential in second/foreign language education. Although many correlational investigations have been conducted on teacher optimism and commitment, their interaction and kinship with teachers' work engagement have been largely ignored in the literature. Considering this situation, the present mini-review aims to present the theoretical underpinnings, definitions, dimensions, and conceptualizations of these three important variables taken from positive psychology. Moreover, the present review can offer a number of practical implications for EFL teachers, teacher educators, program designers, school principals, and L2 researchers, and raise their awareness of the impact of inner emotions on teachers' academic performance. Finally, research gaps and future directions are provided for eager researchers to run similar and complementary studies in EFL contexts.
Highlights
Teaching is one of the most demanding and emotionally-tense occupations in the world whose success depends on numerous internal and external factors (McIntyre et al, 2017; Benevene et al, 2020)
Research shows that optimism causes various positive outcomes in L2 education including teachers’ and students’ improved confidence, self-efficacy, classroom rapport, resilience, well-being, involvement, and academic performance/success (Smith and Hoy, 2007; Hoy et al, 2008; Hoy and Tarter, 2011; Sezgin and Erdogan, 2015; Lu, 2021). Another offshoot of teacher optimism is a sense of academic commitment which is the most basic element of effective teaching (Lu, 2021)
This review study aimed to present the theoretical background of each variable and their possible association and interaction in EFL contexts
Summary
Teaching is one of the most demanding and emotionally-tense occupations in the world whose success depends on numerous internal and external factors (McIntyre et al, 2017; Benevene et al, 2020). Research shows that optimism causes various positive outcomes in L2 education including teachers’ and students’ improved confidence, self-efficacy, classroom rapport, resilience, well-being, involvement, and academic performance/success (Smith and Hoy, 2007; Hoy et al, 2008; Hoy and Tarter, 2011; Sezgin and Erdogan, 2015; Lu, 2021) Another offshoot of teacher optimism is a sense of academic commitment which is the most basic element of effective teaching (Lu, 2021). Commitment is a core power related to teachers’ work performance, attendance, continuation, and inclination toward success and accomplishments (Crosswell and Elliott, 2004) This construct is affected by both internal (personal) and external (contextual) factors that influence a teacher’s work execution and teaching quality (Huang et al, 2016). This review study aimed to present the theoretical background of each variable and their possible association and interaction in EFL contexts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
