On the Role of Academic Buoyancy and Self-Efficacy in Predicting Teachers’ Work Engagement: A Case of Chinese English as a Foreign Language Teachers

Abstract

A plethora of scientific evidence has pinpointed that teaching English as a foreign or second language (EFL) is difficult, challenging, and emotionally burdensome. Nevertheless, most English language teachers remain committed to the teaching profession and actively engage in the instructional environment. This has inspired several scholars worldwide to explore what personal, emotional, and psychological factors motivate English language teachers to engage enthusiastically in their workplace. While a large body of studies have to date examined the personal, emotional, and psychological predictors of English language teachers’ work engagement, to our knowledge, no inquiry has investigated the role of academic buoyancy and self-efficacy in predicting EFL teachers’ work engagement. Furthermore, the potential impact of demographic variables on the interplay between EFL teachers’ academic buoyancy, self-efficacy, and work engagement has been disregarded. To bridge this gap, we examined the interplay of these three constructs among Chinese EFL teachers. To do so, we administered three pre-designed questionnaires to 242 EFL teachers working in Chinese schools and universities. The collected data were then analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The outcomes of SEM divulged positive and strong relationships between Chinese EFL teachers’ academic buoyancy, self-efficacy, and work engagement. The SEM results also indicated that academic buoyancy and self-efficacy could strongly and favorably predict Chinese EFL teachers’ work engagement. Additionally, the study outcomes disclosed that demographic variables, including gender, educational degree, and teaching experience, directly impacted the interplay between Chinese EFL teachers’ academic buoyancy, self-efficacy, and work engagement. These results may have significant implications for English teachers, teacher trainers, and educational principals.

Chinese Pre-University Teachers' Foreign Language Anxiety, Teaching Anxiety, and Teacher Self-Efficacy

“…Moreover, most existing research focuses on pre-service teachers (e.g., Alrashidi, 2022;Hoang & Wyatt, 2021;Li et al, 2023). Given the significant difference between pre-service and in-service language teachers (Horwitz, 1996), it is necessary to conduct more research on in-service FL teachers (e.g., Liu et al, 2022;Zhi et al, 2023). In view of these gaps, this study aimed to explore the relationships among Chinese pre-university EFL teachers' TFLA, TA and TSE.…”

“…Empirical studies on FL teachers' self-efficacy have been conducted through questionnaires, interviews, class observations and so on (e.g. Deng et al, 2022;Hoang & Wyatt, 2021;Zhi et al, 2023). These studies have identified several factors that influence language teachers' self-efficacy, such as affective states (Phan & Locke, 2015), previous experiences (Hoang & Wyatt, 2021), language proficiency (Choi & Lee, 2016), emotional intelligence (Moafian & Ghanizadeh, 2009), emotion regulation (Deng et al, 2022), and so on.…”

“…Teachers' self-efficacy (TSE) is another key construct that influences teachers' mental health, work engagement and teaching effectiveness (e.g., Klassen & Tze, 2014;Zhang et al, 2023;Zhi et al, 2023). Teachers with high levels of self-efficacy believe in their ability to organize teaching activities and to construct positive teacher-student relationships (e.g., Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001;Tschannen-Moran et al, 1998).…”

Understanding the influencing factors of foreign language teachers’ work engagement: A meta-analytic structural equation model

“…Additionally, emotional intelligence plays a pivotal role in moderating self-efficacy and burnout. On the one hand, some studies demonstrated that teachers' emotional intelligence is positively associated with self-efficacy [ [54] , [55] ]. Anwar et al [ 56 ] carried out research examining the mediating role of emotional intelligence in enhancing the teaching effectiveness of foreign language educators.…”