The Vietnamese educational context and University teacher’s sense of self – efficacy in teaching English as a foreign language

Journal of Science and Technology, Vol.37, 2019

© 2019 Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

THE VIETNAMESE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXT AND UNIVERSITY

TEACHERS’ SENSE OF SELF-EFFICACY IN TEACHING ENGLISH AS

A FOREIGN LANGUAGE

NGA THI TUYET PHAN, HOANG LE THI TUYET, HOANG THI PHONG LINH

Faculty of Foreign Languages, Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh City

[email protected]

Abstract: The study examined how the Vietnamese educational context affected the self-efficacy in

teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) of a group of university teachers. It adopted a qualitative

approach, using focus group discussions, individual interviews, observation and journaling as researching

tools. Data were gathered from eight teachers who taught EFL at a technical university in the South of

Vietnam. Findings suggest that a number of factors mediated the teachers‟ beliefs in their ability to teach

effectively, including student engagement, working conditions, the status of EFL, the dominance of the

Grammar Translation Method in teaching English, and teachers‟ perceptions of their pedagogical

knowledge. The study gives rise to several pedagogical implications in relation to enhancing the self￾efficacy in teaching of not only EFL teachers in Vietnam but also other teachers in similar settings.

Keywords: teachers‟ self-efficacy, Vietnam, EFL, qualitative, context

1 INTRODUCTION

In academic literature, self-efficacy, a facet of Bandura‟s socio-cognitive theory [1], is defined as

“teachers‟ beliefs in their capabilities of supporting learning in various task and context-specific

cognitive, metacognitive, affective and social ways” [2]. Many scholars have investigated the impact of

certain features of context, such as school context (e.g. teaching resources, student factors), academic

climate (e.g. emphasis on academic achievement), and principal behaviour on teacher self-efficacy.

Specifically, student misbehaviour, e.g. distractibility and disobedience, is known to cause a low sense of

self-efficacy among teachers, typically characterised by forms of emotional exhaustion such as

helplessness and hopelessness. Teachers‟ perceptions of student achievement affect their sense of self￾efficacy [3]. When teaching highly able students or students with a strong academic background, teachers

display a strong sense of self-efficacy. In contrast, working with a high percentage of students from low

income areas with cultural and linguistic diversity and low learning backgrounds seems related to a

diminished sense of self-efficacy in teachers [4], [5]. The availability of teaching resources can decrease

or increase the self-efficacy of teachers [4]. A supportive school climate and a strong academic emphasis

appear to be conducive to teachers‟ beliefs that they can teach different age-groups effectively in different

teaching situations [6]. However, in a review, [7] have reported that most teacher self-efficacy studies to

date have been conducted in Westernised settings and measurement instruments have been developed

with largely European participants in mind. Little attention has been paid to understanding how efficacy

beliefs might operate in non-Western settings, e.g. Asian EFL contexts. References [8] and [9] supported

this view by stating that research on teacher self-efficacy beliefs in EFL contexts is extremely scarce.

Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to explore how the Vietnamese educational context affects the

self-efficacy in teaching English as a Foreign Language of a group of university teachers. It was hoped

that the findings would suggest ways of strengthening the sense of self-efficacy beliefs among such

teachers. The study addressed the following questions:

1. What are teachers‟ perceptions of contextual factors that increase their self-efficacy?

2. What are teachers‟ perceptions of contextual factors that decrease their self-efficacy?