Perceived emotional intelligence and self-efficacy among novice and experienced foreign language teachers

Abstract

The current study aimed to investigate the perceived self-efficacy and emotional intelligence (E.I.) among novice and experienced foreign language teachers and the correlations among Self-efficacy subscales and Trait E.I. subscales. The short form of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (T.E.I.Q.ue.) and the modified version of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (T.S.E.S.) were administered to a sample of 213 foreign language teachers. The analyses revealed that experienced teachers exhibited significantly higher scores for the self-control and sociability factors of the T.E.I.Q.ue., as well as for the efficacy in classroom management factor of the T.S.E.S., than novice foreign language teachers. The data supported the theoretical expectation of a linkage between E.I. and teacher self-efficacy. The results show a positive association between E.I. and self-efficacy. The findings provide support for developing training programs for foreign language teachers.

Keywords:

• novice and experienced teachers
• foreign language
• self-efficacy
• emotional intelligence (E.I.)

1. Introduction

Teachers’ actions and behaviours are tied to their beliefs, perceptions, assumptions, and motivation levels. Teachers are often emotionally overwhelmed by having to meet the demands and expectations set by the education system, parents, colleagues and learners. They experience intense, emotion-laden interactions on a daily basis and experience a great number of emotional demands compared to other professionals (Coetzee & Harry, 2014). Thus, research on teachers’ beliefs is crucial in determining the way teachers understand and organise instruction. Emotional intelligence (E.I.) and self-efficacy beliefs are important psychological concepts whose detailed understanding is necessary to enhance teachers’ effectiveness.

1.1. Teacher self-efficacy

One important belief that appears to be a significant influence on teacher and student outcomes is teachers’ sense of efficacy. In the last couple of decades, the concept of self-efficacy has attracted much attention as being a main measure for understanding and predicting human behaviour and its assumed consequences.

According to Bandura (1997), self-efficacy beliefs steer human behaviour and are generative, creative, proactive, and reflective in their condition to the human mind. Teacher efficacy is a conceptual strand of self-efficacy theory, which emphasises the exercise of human agency, that is, the idea that individuals can exercise some influence over their actions (Bandura, 2006, p. 33). He postulated sources of efficacy expectations as mastery experience, also called enactive self-mastery, vicarious experience, also called role-modelling, social or verbal persuasion, and arousal or physiological and emotional states.

In recent years a relevant body of research has focused on the concept of teachers’ self-efficacy. According to Gibson and Dembo (1984), teachers with high self-efficacy are better able to keep students engaged in learning activities; teachers with lower self-efficacy, on the other hand, feel a sense of helplessness when it comes to dealing with difficult and unmotivated students. Bandura (1997) pointed out that self-efficacy theory predicts that teachers with a higher sense of efficacy work harder with students and persist longer even when students are challenging to teach. He yields that teachers’ sense of efficacy is reciprocally determined for it affects teachers’ behaviour and pedagogical actions. Furthermore, teachers with a high sense of self-efficacy are confident that even the most difficult students can be reached if they exert extra effort; whereas teachers with low self-efficacy demonstrated a lack of persistence and used criticism in feedback given to students (Gibson & Dembo, 1984). A number of studies have shown that students of highly efficacious teachers outperform other students (Anderson, Greene, & Loewen, 1988; Moore & Esselman, 1992; Ross, 1992; Ross, Cousins, & Gadalla, 1996) have found that teachers’ self-efficacy affects teachers’ personal characteristics such as gender, grade level taught and work experience. Some research indicates that teacher efficacy is situation specific, subject specific and differ across tasks (Cantrell, 2003; Skaalvik & Bong, 2003).

It is important to understand teachers' perceptions and beliefs. Teachers involved in various teaching, learning processes are practitioners of educational theories, and their primary role is to determine what would work best with their students (Jia, Eslami, & Burlbaw, 2006). According to some research teachers' perceptions and beliefs are related to their students' achievement (Johnson, 1992; Moore & Esselman, 1992; Ross, 1992). Darling-Hammond (2000) stated that there is substantial evidence that teacher effectiveness contribute a great role to influence students’ academic outcomes. Effective teachers know how to develop their self-efficacy and generate a suitable learning environment (Schutte et al., 2001). Developing and improving an individual’s self-efficacy creates a regulation of self-awareness, which is essential in developing emotions. Sutton and Wheatley (2003) noted that researchers know surprisingly little about the role of emotions in learning to teach, and about how teachers’ emotional experiences relate to their teaching practices. A teacher’s interpretation of student emotion is linked to her thinking and decisions about educational content, curriculum, and pedagogy (McCaughtry, 2004). Martin and Lueckenhausen (2005) reported that excellence in university teaching involves mastery of the subject matter as well as enthusiasm and other emotions.

1.2. Emotional intelligence

Last decades has seen impressive growth of E.I. as a topic of interest in the fields of psychology, organisation and education (Matthews, Zeidner, & Roberts, 2002; Dewaele, 2017; Law, Wong, & Song, 2004; Mayer, Roberts, & Barsade, 2008; Petrides et al., 2016). Trait E.I. (or trait emotional self-efficacy) is formally defined as a constellation of emotional perceptions located at the lower levels of personality hierarchies (Petrides, Pita, & Kokkinaki, 2007). The construct, describes our perceptions of our emotional world; how good we believe we are in terms of understanding, managing, and utilising our own and other people’s emotions. According to Revelle and Scherer (2009), the roots of trait E.I. lie in the longstanding study of emotions within personality psychology.

In the literature, there is a clean-cut conceptual distinction between ability E.I. and trait E.I. In the first case, the ability E.I. perspective conceptualises E.I. as a constellation of cognitive-emotional abilities located in frameworks of human intelligence (Petrides, 2009). This ability-based approach concerns the actual cognitive processing of emotional information as measured through maximal performance tests (Mayer et al., 2003), in which participants rate the emotional content of various stimuli and solve problems involving emotional understanding and reasoning (Mayer et al., 2003; MacCann et al., 2014).

The ability E.I. perspective should be distinguished from the trait E.I. approach on the basis of distinct conceptual definitions and methods of assessment. The trait E.I. perspective conceptualises E.I. as a collection of affective-motivational dispositions located in existing frameworks of human personality (Petrides & Furnham, 2001; Petrides, 2009).

Trait E.I. is assessed through questionnaires and rating scales (Petrides, Pérez-González, & Furnham, 2007). The Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (T.E.I.Q.ue.) has been translated in many languages and proved to be reliable and valid in different cultural and linguistic contexts (Martskvishvili, Arutinov, & Mestvirishvili, 2013; Gökçen, Furnham, Mavroveli, & Petrides, 2014; Stamatopoulou, Galanis, Tzavella, Petrides, & Prezerakos, 2018).

There is robust empirical evidence suggesting that trait E.I. can be developed in adults (Mikolajczak & Pena-Sarrionanda, 2015) with effects that are relatively long lasting. Kotsou, Nelis, Grégoire, and Mikolajczak (2011) demonstrated that a well-designed intervention leads to an average increase of 12% in trait E.I. scores, after a few weeks of training. These effects remained evident for at least a year and were accompanied by improvements in participants’ physical and psychological well-being. According to Perry, Ball, and Stacey (2004) E.I. skills can be taught. Individuals can learn and improve their competence in each branch of E.I.

Some researchers have argued that trait E.I. facilitates emotion regulation necessary to face academic stress and achieve academic success (Saklofske, Austin, Mastoras, Beaton, & Osborne, 2012). Trait E.I. has been shown to predict important factors for a successful teaching and learning experience, such as creative skills (Sanchez-Ruiz, Hernández-Torrano, Pérez-González, Batey, & Petrides, 2011), and academic self-efficacy (Adeyemo, 2007). Abraham (2000) reported that more emotionally intelligent teachers have greater commitment and higher levels of job satisfaction to their teaching profession. In addition, teachers with high levels of E.I. tend to exhibit their positive emotions to face obstacles (Carmeli, 2003). We believe that when E.I. skills are a focus of learning, teachers and students are building human development behaviours that are related to the positive outcomes of achievement. Claims regarding the strong relationship between E.I. and work performance have also stimulated interest among consultants and practitioners, who have made E.I. a widely used tool for personnel hiring and training (Fineman, 2004). Despite the impressive commercial success of E.I., some scholars (Locke, 2005; Murphy, 2006) have levied criticisms against the construct. They stated that E.I. has definitional ambiguities and that there is considerable overlap between E.I. and related constructs of personality and general mental ability/intelligence.

EI and self-efficacy merge as an individual interprets organisational realities by the ability to recognise thoughts, feelings and behaviours through self-awareness, regulation and control (Bandura, 1997). This study enriches the literature regarding teachers' E.I. and self-efficacy by exploring the existence and extent of the relationship between these two variables.

2. The study

The current study assessed novice and experienced teacher self-efficacy and E.I. beliefs in teaching foreign languages.

Literature on the relationship between E.I. and teacher self-efficacy is scarce. The current research adds to this strand of literature by exploring the perceived self-efficacy and E.I. among novice and experienced foreign language teachers and the correlations among self-efficacy subscales and trait E.I. subscales.

To this end, the purpose of this research study was to identify and describe:

1. The levels of perceived self-efficacy among novice and experienced foreign language teachers;

2. The levels of perceived E.I. among novice and experienced foreign language teachers; and

3. Correlations among self-efficacy subscales and trait E.I. subscales.

3. Method

3.1. Participants

Participants in the current study were 75 elementary, 74 secondary and 64 university E.F.L. teachers from the region of Istria, Croatia. They were teaching English, Italian, German, French and Russian languages. The participants comprised 213 individuals, of who 152 were female and 58 male (three participants did not record their gender). Eleven percent of the sample reported having taught EFL for more than 30 years while 16% of participants reported teaching languages for five years or less, which places these individuals into the novice category as defined in the literature (Theobald & Michael, 2001). Teachers were teaching foreign language courses including all the language skills and sub-skills based on their institutes’ pre-specified schedules. The participants were solicited to participate voluntarily in the study.

3.2. Instruments

Two anonymous self-report questionnaires and a demographic questionnaire, served as the research tool in this study.

The long version of the Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale (T.S.E.S.) (Tschannen-Moran & Woolfolk Hoy, 2001) was adapted to fit the context of E.F.L. The scale containing 24 items was used in order to measure teachers’ self- perceptions of teaching efficacy.

The scale includes three subscales:

1. Efficacy in student engagement (e.g., How much can you do to get students to believe they can do well in your class?);

2. Efficacy in instructional strategies (e.g., How much can you do to adjust your lessons to the proper level for individual students?); and

3. Efficacy in classroom management (e.g., How well can you establish a classroom management system with each group of students?).

The items measuring use a 5-point scale with anchors at 1 = nothing, 2 = very little, 3 = some influence, 4 = quite a bit, and 5 = a great deal. The measure was chosen for this study based on its relevance to a wide range of teachers and the adequate reliability for the items comprising the scale. The reliability of the instrument was assessed by computing Cronbach alpha coefficients each of the three major subscales, which resulted in .87 for FL teachers' self-efficacy in engagement, .88 for their self-efficacy in management, .86 for self-efficacy in implementing instructional strategies. The reliability obtained in this study was similar to those reported by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001), the range of reliability was from 0.86 to 0.90 for the subscales of teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs measure.

Global Trait E.I. was assessed using the short form of the T.E.I.Que. (Petrides, 2009). It consists of 30 items arranged on a 5-point Likert scale (from strongly agree to strongly disagree). The T.E.I.Q.ue.-S.F. is derived from the full form of the T.E.I.Q.ue., which covers 15 distinct facets. Two items from each of the 15 facets of the T.E.I.Q.ue. were selected for inclusion, based primarily on their correlations with the corresponding total facet scores (Cooper & Petrides, 2010; Petrides & Furnham, 2001). According to Petrides (2009) although the T.E.I.Q.ue.-S.F. is designed to measure global trait E.I., four subscales can be derived through a priori scoring based on the scoring key of the full form of the inventory.

The four subscales are well-being, self-control, emotionality, and sociability.

1. The well-being factor (e.g., I feel that I have a number of good qualities) comprises three subscales (self-esteem, optimism, and happiness);

2. The self-control factor (e.g., I’m usually able to find ways to control my emotions when I want to) comprises three subscales (stress management, impulsiveness, and emotional regulation);

3. The emotionality factor (e.g., Expressing my emotions with words is not a problem for me) comprises four subscales (emotion perception, emotion expression, empathy, and relationship skills); and

4. The sociability factor (e.g., I can deal effectively with people) comprises three subscales (social competence, assertiveness, emotion management). The overall reliability of this instrument is high with a Cronbach alpha of 0.89.

The demographic form asked about the participants’ demographic information including gender and years of teaching experience.

3.3. Procedure

Prior to data collection, the researcher obtained approval from the head of each school/department. The author briefly outlined the project during routine staff meetings in each school. All participants having provided their informed consent were asked to read the instructions at the top of the form and to attempt to answer all questions.

It was also explained that the results would consist of group data and that individual participants and school/department would not be identified. Finally, in order to answer the research inquiry, the responses obtained from the questionnaires were tabulated and analysed.

3.4. Data analysis

The questionnaire data were coded, computed, and analysed using S.P.S.S. for Windows (Statistical Package for Social Sciences). Both descriptive and inferential statistics (correlation analysis) were used.

4. Results and discussion

Data analysis was conducted followed by comparison of means for independent groups and examination of the correlation between self-efficacy beliefs and E.I.

In order to compare the self-efficacy beliefs scores for novice and experienced teachers the independent sample t-test was conducted.

Statistical comparison of the two groups showed statistically significant difference in the mean score for the efficacy in classroom management factor of the T.S.E.S. (t (2.07) = 0.02, p > 0.05). Such conclusion is based on the computed t-test of the differences between the two groups (2 – tailed significance levels) shown in Table 1. Multivariate analysis showed that experienced teachers (m = 3.85) exhibited significantly higher scores for the efficacy in classroom management factor of the T.S.E.S. than novice foreign language teachers (m = 3.39).

Table 1. F.L. novice and experienced teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs.

	Participants	M	SD	t	p
Efficacy in classroom management	Novice	3.39	0.80	2.07	0.02
	Experienced	3.85	0.79
Efficacy in student engagement	Novice	3.57	0.63	0.93	0.35
	Experienced	3.46	0.90
Efficacy in instructional strategies	Novice	3.62	0.82	0.96	0.30
	Experienced	3.68	0.96

Note: p < 0.05 on paired t-tests.

No significant differences between the experienced and novice foreign language teachers were observed on the efficacy in instructional strategies factors, (t (0.96) = 0.30, p > 0.05), although the mean score for the experienced teacher (m = 3.68) was slightly higher than for the novice (m = 3.62). Similarly, no significant differences between the experienced and novice foreign language were observed on the efficacy in student engagement factors, (t (0.93) = 0.35, p > 0.05), with the mean scores being slightly higher for the novice teachers (m = 3.57) than for the group of experienced foreign language teachers (m = 3.46).

According to the computed p-values, experienced teachers have shown improved quality in classroom management in relation to novice educators. It seems that experienced teachers express more confidence in establishing routines to keep activities running smoothly. We assume that they are able to control disruptive behaviour in the classroom while maximising the behaviours that facilitate or enhance learning.

These findings are in line with those of Chan (2008). The author realised that while experienced teachers are generally provided with information about how best to teach, prospective and novice teachers generally do not have this source of information. Chan (2008) stated that experienced teachers have an abundance of mastery experience to develop their teaching efficacy, on the other hand novice teacher do not have it at least not until they have had their teaching practice in school during which time they receive emotional arousal and verbal persuasion, including performance feedback from supervisors, classroom teachers, and other peers. Studies of novices and experts (Cohen, Manion, & Morrison, 2007; Fantilli & McDougall, 2009) indicate many distinguishing characteristics of their cognitive processes, organisations and classroom management. Novices tend to present the domain specific problem in a fragmented manner; experts pay more attention to the presentation of the problem and planning.

Our results are similar to those presented in the work of Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001). The authors emphasised that the experienced teachers had higher self-efficacy beliefs in instructional strategies and efficacy for classroom management. This result corroborates previous researches (Campbell, 1993, Hoy & Woolfolk, 1993) that found positive correlation between years of teaching experience and personal teaching efficacy. In his research, Campbell (1993) assessed experience differences among teachers in the U.S. and in Scotland and stated that teachers with more experience were more efficacious. He concluded that more experienced teachers are exposed to an increasing number of ideas and strategies that will assist in confidence development. We believe that novice teachers should cooperate with experienced teachers because they will be able to learn from competent or experienced teachers. According to Gilbert (2005) cooperation with experienced teachers would be useful for novice teachers because they have problems in applying pedagogical teaching strategies in particular.

The findings of the study conducted by Imants and De Brabander (1996) using a modified version of the T.S.E.S., confirmed that years of teaching experience influence teacher self-efficacy. Based on his research Tsui (1995), found that years of teaching experience in a teaching setting is very important factor in moulding one’s feelings of teaching efficacy. Bandura (1997) stated that experience might be a key ingredient in teacher’s sense of efficacy.

The results were in conflict with those of (Guskey, 1988; Pajares, 1997) that found that efficacy beliefs of practicing teachers tend to be stable as they grow in years. A number of authors (Chan, 2004; Rastegar & Memarpour, 2009) suggest that efficacy in teaching is independent of age and teaching experience but rather associated to individual differences in self-efficacy. The findings from our study suggest that more attention needs to be given to provide novice teachers with meaningful opportunities for their professional learning and development. We should adopting approaches that will help make their transition from novices to experts more smoothly and less problematically.

In order to compare the E.I. scores for novice and experienced teachers the independent sample t-test was conducted.

The mean scores and standard deviation for T.E.I.Q.ue. and their subscales are presented in Table 2. Multivariate analysis showed that experienced teachers exhibited significantly higher scores for the self-control (t (2.08) = 0.02, p > 0.05) and sociability factors (t (2.02) = 0.01, p > 0.05) of the T.E.I.Q.ue., than novice foreign language teachers.

Table 2. Perceived F.L. novice and experienced teachers’ E.I.

	Participants	M	SD	t	p
Well-being	Novice	3.61	0.70	0.45	0.63
	Experienced	3.64	0.82
Self-control	Novice	3.41	0.82	2.08	0.02
	Experienced	3.87	0.83
Emotionality	Novice	3.33	0.86	0.43	0.61
	Experienced	3.17	0.93
Sociability	Novice	3.19	0.90	2.02	0.01
	Experienced	3.69	0.82

Note: p < 0.05 on paired t-tests.

No significant differences between the experienced and novice foreign language teachers were observed on the well-being factors, (t (0.45) = 0.63, p > 0.05), although the mean score for the experienced teacher (m = 3.64) was slightly higher than for the novice (m = 3.61). Similarly, no significant differences between the experienced and novice foreign language teachers were observed on the emotionality factors, (t (0.43) = 0.61, p > 0.05), with the mean scores being slightly higher for the novice teachers (m = 3.33) than for the group of experienced foreign language teachers (m = 3.17).

The self-control factor refers to one’s degree of control over their urges and desires. Individuals with a high self-control score have the ability to manage and regulate external pressures. It seems that experienced teachers express more confidence in finding ways to regulate their emotions and dealing with stress. We may assume that they are able to influence the way other people feel and stand up for their rights more than novice teacher stands.

The sociability factor focuses on one’s social relationships and social influence. It evaluates one’s influence in a variety of social contexts. Individuals with a high sociability score are good listeners and effective communicators. Analysing the results, we may conclude that experienced teachers appear sure of themselves in social interactions, are able to affect others’ emotions, and are effective at social interaction in comparison to the novice teacher.

According to Goleman (1998), our level of E.I. is not fixed genetically, nor does it develop only in early childhood. E.I. seems to be largely learned, and it continues to develop as we go through life and learn from our experiences. Mayer, Caruso, and Salovey (1999) asserted that in order for E.I. to be considered a standard intelligence, it should increase with age and experience. The authors stated that there is a positive relationship between E.I. and work experience. In a research done by Day and Carroll (2004), experience was positively correlated with three of the four E.I. scales.

A limited amount of studies has examined the relationship between E.I. and novice and experienced teachers’ experience. Intuitively, one might assume that E.I. will increase as teaching experience increases. We believe that teachers who intentionally develop emotional skills and model emotionally intelligent behaviour on a daily basis experience more success and satisfaction in their professional career and life. However, further research is warranted.

The correlations among the total score and the three factors of the T.S.E.S. and the total score and the four factors of the T.E.I.Q.ue. are summarised in Table 3.

Table 3. Correlations among self-efficacy subscales and trait E.I. subscales.

Variables	Well-being	Self-control	Emotionality	Sociability	TEIQue total
Efficacy for engagement	0.20	0.21	0.17	0.18	0.34*
Efficacy for management	0.18	0.30*	0.20	0.31*	0.29*
Efficacy for instructional strategies	0.19	0.19	0.18	0.33*	0.31*
TSES total	0.20	0.19	0.18	0.32*	0.37*

Note: *Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed).

Positive Pearson Product-Moment correlation were found between E.F.L. teachers' perceived self-efficacy beliefs and E.I. (r = 0.37, p > 0.05). The size of this correlation indicates that generally high levels of E.I. are related to high levels of personal teacher efficacy beliefs. The correlation coefficients were statistically significant between the total T.E.I.Q.ue. score and the teachers' sense of efficacy for orchestrating instructional strategies (r = 0.31, p > 0.05), student engagement, (r = 0.34, p > 0.05) and classroom management (r = 0.29, p > 0.05). We believe that assisting teachers to further develop their E.I. may have a positive influence on their sense of efficacy. As teacher self-efficacy is associated with student achievement, enhancing teachers’ E.I. appears to be a mean of achieving improved student outcomes.

On the other hand, the T.S.E.S. total score was positively correlated only with the sociability factor of the T.E.I.Q.ue. (r = 0.32, p > 0.05). The sociability factor of the T.E.I.Q.ue. was positively correlated with two factors of the T.S.E.S. (student management, r = 0.31, p < 0.05 and instructional strategies, r = 0.33, p < 0.05). Sociability factor revealed that it refers to dimensions such as the ability to assert oneself, or to influence other’s emotions and decision. We may suppose that teachers with high sociability factor are able to respond to difficult questions from their students, provide an alternative explanation or appropriate challenges for very capable students. We assume that they are capable to make their expectations clear about students’ behaviour in their class and properly respond to defiant students.

The self-control factor of the T.E.I.Q.ue. was positively correlated with the efficacy for management factor of the T.S.E.S. (r = 0.30, p > 0.05). Efficacy in classroom management is related to items such as ‘how well can you find ways to control the emotions’, and ‘how well can you deal with stress’. This means that teachers with high self-control are more able to regulate their emotions and handle stressful situations. Emotionally intelligent teachers are more resilient and proactive in responding to stressors and less likely to react to stress. We believe that they are characterised by intentional reflective behaviour and assertive communication. According to results presented in previously, mentioned table there is no statistically significant correlation between other variables.

Our results are in line with those presented in the study of Chase, Lirgg, and Carson (2001). The authors yield that teachers with a high self-efficacy score have been found to improve student behaviour, learning, and management in the classroom. The results of our study are similar to those presented by Rastegar and Memarpour (2009). They found that there is significant and positive relationship between E.I. and English teachers’ self-efficacy. The researchers did not find significant difference between E.I. and teachers’ self-efficacy with variables such as gender, age, and teaching experience. Brown, George-Curran, and Smith (2003) indicated that E.I. and self-control are positively related to decision making, while use of emotion and self-control has a negative relation with commitment. Chan (2004) suggested that teachers’ general self-efficacy was positively predicted by positive regulation reflecting teachers’ optimism. Moafian and Ghanizadeh (2009) concluded that there is a significant correlation between E.I. and teachers’ self-efficacy. The authors found out that dimensions of emotional self-awareness, interpersonal relation, and problem solving are significant predicators of teachers’ self-efficacy. Sutton and Wheatley (2003) reported that the variation in teacher efficacy is closely connected with teachers’ emotions. Therefore, it seems that teachers with high capabilities in different aspects of E.I. improved their teaching and add their successful experience. We may conclude that the development of E.I. is an intentional, active and engaging process.

5. Conclusion

The teacher is one of the most important factors influencing students’ achievement. However, teachers’ performance itself is the result of interaction between many personal and psychological factors, including teachers’ beliefs. E.I. and self-efficacy are two important structures to be taken into account while studying the causes of academic success or failure.

The current research aimed to investigate, in a sample of Croatian teachers, the relationship between E.I. and self-efficacy among novice and experienced foreign language teachers. The main results of the current study showed a positive correlation between E.I. and self-efficacy among F.L. teachers. In addition, experienced teachers exhibited higher scores for the self-control and sociability factors of E.I., and the efficacy in classroom management factor of the T.S.E. Knowledge of teachers’ emotions, besides knowledge of teachers’ motivation and cognition, is essential in understanding teachers and teaching. It is important to find ways to enhance efficacy for teachers who are less experienced. Carre (1993) states that many problems experienced by new teachers is a result of their deficiency in terms of the application of knowledge and skills. Classroom management is an area that new teachers may experience problems with in the classroom, which also interferes with timing and planning and may lead to other problems (Fantilli & McDougall, 2009).

Teacher training programs should consider the findings of this study. This provides support for developing training programs to teach the skills associated with E.I. for enhancing teachers’ sense of efficacy, particularly focused on improving the skills of novice teachers.

Irrespective of how future research develops, deeper analysis of relationship between E.I. and self-efficacy in the specific context of foreign language teaching merit careful consideration by those involved in educational policy, planning, and delivery.

5.1. Limitations of the study

There are several limitations of this study. Future research may put the emphasis on the selection of a larger sample. All study variables were measured through self-reports, which potentially introduced a ‘shared method covariance’ bias. It is, therefore, recommended that future studies, use theoretically and empirically robust measurement tools on large sample sizes, allowing for both group specific analyses.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).