An Investigation Of EFL Teachers' Self-efficacy In Senior High Schools Of Ethnic Minority Areas

Teachers' self-efficacy is an internal subjective judgment and feeling,which means the perception and evaluation of their teaching ability.It is also an important internal dynamic mechanism for the independent development of teachers and a key factor of the independent professional development.Teachers are the key to the success of education.So as an important internal driving force for the development of teachers,teachers' self-efficacy has also become the key to teaching.Therefore,the task of enhancing teachers' self-efficacy cannot be ignored.This study of teachers' self-efficacy can help teachers better understand themselves,improve their educational ability,and promote the professional growth of teachers fundamentally,and thus improve the quality of education.The research participants of this study were 163 English teachers from 8 high schools in Qiannan area.Using questionnaire method and semi-structured interview research method,a total of 163 valid questionnaires were collected and 6 English teachers were interviewed(by the researcher).The purpose of this study is to investigate and analyze the basic situation and related problems showed by the self-efficacy of English teachers who are from senior high school in ethnic areas.The main questions of this study are:1.What is the current situation of senior high school English teachers' self-efficacy?2.What are the relationships among the dimensions of senior high school English teachers' self-efficacy?3.What are the differences in teachers' self-efficacy at different stages of development?4.What factors affect teachers' self-efficacy?The research results are as follows:1.The self-efficacy of senior high school English teachers in ethnic areas is generally at a high level.Six dimensions including Instructional Strategies,Classroom Organization,Affective Attitudes and Cultural Awareness,Dealing with Teaching Materials,Interaction between Teachers and Students,Students' Involvement are all at high level.2.There is a significant positive correlation among different dimensions of English teachers' self-efficacy in ethnic area.Among them,English teachers' self-efficacy of Classroom Organization and Management has the highest correlation coefficient with Students' Involvement,and the correlation coefficient between Instructional Strategies and Interaction between Teachers and Students are relatively low.3.The self-efficacy of senior high school teachers in ethnic area is obviously different in different stages,and the self-efficacy of novice teachers with teaching age of 0-5 years is the lowest,while the self-efficacy of experienced teachers with teaching age of 11-15 years is the highest.4.Factors affecting teachers' self-efficacy include internal factors as well as external factors,such as teaching experience,physical health condition,students' feedback,school's support and new curriculum reform and so on.Based on the results of the above research,this study puts forward corresponding suggestions for improving teachers' self-efficacy: strengthen teachers' self-development awareness;promote teachers' self-evaluation and reflection;construct English Teacher Learning Community;strengthen school's support;establish reasonable evaluation mechanism.