Issues in Language Teaching

Investigating the Effects of English Language Teachers’ Professional Identity and Autonomy in Their Success

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

Ali Derakhshan 1
Christine Coombe 2
Ali Arabmofrad 1
Mohammadsadegh Taghizadeh 3

1 Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of English Language and Literature, Golestan University, Gorgan, Iran

2 Associate Professor of General Studies, Dubai Men's College, the United Arab Emirates

3 Allameh Tabataba'i University (ATU), Tehran, Iran

https://doi.org/10.22054/ilt.2020.52263.496
Abstract
Because of the importance of instructor success in the adequacy of instruction and learning, this study aimed to explain the impact of two factors, namely language teachers’ professional identity and autonomy, with respect to their success. To this end, 190 Iranian EFL teachers, including university lecturers and language institute teachers, participated in this study. As for data collection, the Teacher Autonomy Questionnaire (TAQ), the Teacher Professional Identity Scale (TPIS), and the Characteristics of Successful Language Teachers Questionnaire (CSLTQ) were distributed among the respondents. Using Cronbach’s alpha estimates and correlational analyses, the reliability of the questionnaires and the associations among the TAQ, TPIS, and CSLTQ were examined, respectively. The results of Pearson correlations revealed that there were significant positive correlations among all three teacher factors. These findings were also confirmed by Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) results; teacher success was predicted positively and significantly by both professional identity and autonomy. Outcomes of this research suggest that teachers’ professional identity and autonomy are highly beneficial to their success. This study also outlined the elements of teachers’ professional identity that could be more useful for their success. In the end, relevant pedagogical implications are discussed.

Keywords

teacher professional identity
teacher autonomy
teacher success
English language teaching
Subjects
Issues in Language Teaching
Volume 9, Issue 1
June 2020
Pages 1-28

Home

Journal Policies

Submit Manuscript

Contact Us