Burnout Levels of EFL Instructors in Relation to Organizational Context
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to investigate the burnout levels of English as Foreign Language (EFL) instructors at foundation universities in Istanbul, and also, explore whether there are any differences between low and high burnout EFL instructors in terms of their organizational context. This study aims to find the answers for these research questions: (1) to what extend is the level of job burnout perceived by EFL instructors? (2)Is there a significant difference between EFL instructors experiencing high and EFL instructors experiencing low burnout in terms of (each three dimensions of) burnout and (the six areas of) worklife? If so, what might be the reasons behind this difference? A sample of eighty-one EFL instructors (22 male and 59 female) participated in this study. The quantitative data were obtained through The Maslach Burnout Inventory – Educators Survey (MBI-ES) and Areas of Work life Survey (AWS) questionnaires while the qualitative data were collected from semi-structured interviews administered to eighteen volunteer instructors. The findings of the study showed that most of the instructors had moderate and high levels of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and only a quarter of participants had higher sense of personal accomplishment. On the other hand, EFL instructors who reported high levels of burnout had a significantly more negative perception of the organizational environment they worked in. The findings of the study were discussed in relation to different dimensions of burnout affecting different domains of work environment.
Keywords
Burnout,Teacher Burnout,English as a Foreign Language (EFL),EFL Instructors,MBI-ES,AWS
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