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.

Keywords

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Öz

Öğretmen inançları ve bu inançların öğretmen bilişi üzerindeki etkileri son yıllarda eğitimin farklı alanlarında üzerinde durulan konulardan birisidir. Öğretmen inanç, algı, varsayım, ve motivasyon düzeyini saptamaya yönelik araştırmalar, söz konusu faktörlerin öğretmenin sınıf-içi davranış ve tutumları, ve eğitim-öğretime ilişkin düşünceleri üzerindeki etkilerini anlamak açısından büyük önem taşımaktadır. Öğretmen yeterlik inancının, öğretmen ve öğrenci başarısı üzerinde önemli etkileri olduğu bilinmektedir. Bu görüş doğrultusunda ve yabancı dil olarak İngilizce eğitimine artan talep nedeniyle, bu çalışma İngilizce’nin yabancı dil olarak öğretildiği bir ortam olan Türkiye’de İngilizce öğretmenlerinin yeterlik seviyesini ölçmek ve yeterliklerini öngören kurumsal etkenleri araştırmak amacıyla yapılmıştır. İstanbul’daki devlet ve özel üniversitelerin hazırlık okullarında görev yapan 226 İngilizce öğretmeni bu çalışmanın denek grubunu oluşturdu. Çalışmanın verileri nicel metotlar kullanılarak toplanıldı. Çalışmada Ohio Eyaleti Öğretmen Yeterliği Ölçeği (Tschannen-Moran ve Hoy, 2001) ve Okul Düzeyi Çevre Anketi (Fisher & Fraser, 1990) kullanıldı. Bu araçlarla toplanan veriler korelasyon, regresyon ve t-testleri yoluyla analiz edilmiştir.Bu çalışmada elde edilen bulgular, öğretmenlerin profesyonel gelişim için yaptıkları aktivitelerin sayısı, sınıflardaki öğrenci sayısı, öğretmenlerin görevleri, kurum türü, ve cinsiyetin bu çalışmadaki İngilizce öğretmenlerinin yeterliğindeki değişimleri öngören sosyodemografik etkenler olduğunu göstermiştir

Anahtar Kelimeler

• öğretmen yeterliği, kurumsal etkenler, öğrenci desteği, yeniliğe açıklık

Kaynakça

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27. Şenay Yavuz received her B.A. in ELT at Hacettepe University in 1999. Since 1999, she
28. has been working as an instructor at Maltepe University. She has recently completed her
29. MA degree in ELT at Marmara University, with her study the socio-demograprahic and
30. institutional predictors of variations in EFL teachers’ efficacy perceptions.
31. e-mail: [e-mail]