Self-efficacy and Anxiety Perceptions of pre-service EFL Teachers

Self-efficacy and Anxiety Perceptions of pre-service EFL Teachers

Fatih, Gungor
Demet, Yayli

In social cognitive theory, teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs have been associated with positive teaching behaviours and student outcomes (Bandura, 1997). Since efficacy affects the effort teachers invest in teaching, the goals they set and their aspiration (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001), it is vital to check pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy levels to be able to see whether they are individuals who are burdened by self-doubts about their capabilities and also are likely to be more conscientious in their future undertakings or whether they are open to new experiences and more social in their interpersonal relationships (Bandura, 2012). Therefore this study aims to examine a group of pre-service teachers’ self-efficacy levels in an EFL context by asking them to assess their capability concerning instructional strategies, student engagement and classroom management (Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, 2001). Additionally, anxiety experienced by pre-service EFL teachers while teaching the target language is another variable that is believed to interact with self-efficacy. In view of the above, this study was designed to probe into pre-service EFL teachers’ perceptions of self-efficacy and anxiety. The data for the study were collected via two scales: (a) Turkish versions of the Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale, which was prepared by (Tschannen-Moran, Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) and adapted by Çapa, Çakıroğlu & Sarıkaya (2005), and (b) Foreign Language Teaching Anxiety Scale, which was prepared by İpek (2006). The sample is comprised of 90 pre-service teachers, 4th year students in the programs of English Language Teaching at three state universities in Turkey. This is a correlation study which aims to assess the relationship between self-efficacy and teaching anxiety levels of the participants. Hence, the data gathered will be statistically analyzed and the relationship between pre-service EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and anxiety perceptions will be discussed. Finally, some conclusions based on the analyses conducted will be drawn.

Conference or Workshop Item
PeerReviewed

2012-05

796