A Research On College English Teachers’ Sense Of Efficacy And Instructional Achievement Attributions

Teacher efficacy and instructional achievement attributions are two essentialcomponents of teachers’ internal cognition. The concept of teacher efficacy originatedfrom Bandura’s self-efficacy concept, which broadly refers to teachers’ beliefs in theirability to influence students’ academic achievements. The concept of instructionalachievement attributions which originated from attribution theory refers to inferentialunderstanding and responding made by a teacher after class about the causes ofhis/her successful or unsuccessful teaching outcomes. With the rising of socialcognitive psychology in recent years, studies about teacher efficacy and instructionalachievement attributions have become important topics in teacher psychology.Although many researchers are aware that teacher efficacy is an important factor toinfluence teaching and learning and that teachers’ positive instructional achievementattributions also facilitate their teaching, very few researches connect these twofactors together. Besides, the subjects investigated are mostly primary and elementaryteachers. Up to now, researches on teacher efficacy and instructional achievementattributions of college English teachers are still not abundant. To better understandcollege English teachers’ internal world and help them reflect upon their teachingmore effectively, this research attempts to examine college English teachers’ sense ofefficacy and their instructional achievement attributions as well as the relationbetween them, hoping the research will be of some help to college English teachers’teaching and their self-development.Based on previous relevant studies, this research adopts a quantitative approachusing questionnaire to investigate a sample of50college English teachers’ sense ofefficacy and instructional achievement attributions. The author of this thesis attemptsto answer the following questions:(1) What is the overall level of college English teachers’ sense of efficacy?(2) Is there any difference in teacher efficacy among college English teachers withdifferent gender, educational background and years of teaching? (3) How do college English teachers attribute their instructional success andfailure?(4) Is there any difference in instructional achievement attributions among collegeEnglish teachers with different gender, educational background and years of teaching?(5) Is there any correlation between college English teachers’ sense of efficacyand their instructional achievement attributions?The results of the study show (1) college English teachers in general have a highlevel of teacher efficacy, and their personal teaching efficacy level is higher than thatof the general teaching efficacy;(2) there is no significant difference in teacherefficacy related to teachers’ gender and educational background, whereas teachingyear has a significant influence on teacher efficacy;(3) college English teachersgenerally make positive instructional attributions, tending to attribute their success totheir teaching ability and effort, failure to teaching background and luck;(4)significant difference regarding instructional achievement attributions only existsamong college English teachers with different teaching years, whereas teachers’gender and educational background have little or no influence on teachers’achievement attributions; and (5) certain correlations exist between college Englishteachers’ sense of efficacy and their instructional achievement attributions.Based on the discussions on the research results, some tentative suggestions aregiven to both college English teachers and college administrators. For college Englishteachers, they are advised to frequently reflect on their teaching performance,communicate with colleagues as well as enhance their expectations of future successin teaching. For college administrators, they are advised to provide teachers withplatforms for communication, motivate teachers to improve themselves and encouragethem to frequently make positive attributions for both instructional success andfailure.