Unpacking Chinese EFL Students' Academic Engagement and Psychological Well-Being: The Roles of Language Teachers' Affective Scaffolding.

Over the past decade, there has appeared a surge of research interest in language learners' academic engagement and psychological well-being as important factors in improving the quality of education. However, research on the roles of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' affective scaffolding in enhancing the academic engagement and psychological well-being of their students is relatively scant. Inspired by this gap, the current study aimed to investigate the impact of Chinese EFL teachers' affective scaffolding on their learners' academic engagement and psychological well-being. To this end, a total number of 1968 Chinese EFL learners participated in this questionnaire survey. The results of the study showed that EFL teachers' affective scaffolding positively and significantly predicted students' academic engagement and psychological well-being. More specifically, it was found that teachers' affective scaffolding explained about 73% and 65% of variances in EFL students' academic engagement and psychological well-being. Moreover, it was found that psychological well-being and academic engagement were positively correlated and predicted 56% of each other's variances. In accordance with these findings, educators are recommended to build up a harmonious teacher-student relationship to foster students' psych-emotional development.

Competence, preparation, and relaxation: Contributing factors to EFL student teachers' self-efficacy and teaching performance in microteaching training.

Microteaching is called "micro" teaching because it involves teaching a short lesson to a small group of people in a simulated classroom setting, with the goal of improving specific teaching skills or behaviors. Microteaching training represents a significant approach for enhancing the teaching competencies of student teachers. However, there is a scarcity of studies that examine the factors contributing to the self-efficacy and teaching performance of student teachers, both of which are central concerns in microteaching training programs. This study addresses this gap by synthesizing five contributing factors from existing literature, collecting survey responses from 272 English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) student teachers, and employing structural equation modeling (SEM) to analyze the relationships between these factors. The four hypotheses that were rejected yielded unexpected results, indicating negative relationships between participants' teaching experience and EFL speaking competence with their lesson-delivery competence, as well as a negative relationship between lesson-delivery competence and self-efficacy. Interestingly, public speaking anxiety was found to have no statistically significant impact on EFL student teachers' self-efficacy. This study establishes a theoretical framework that can assist decision-makers in enhancing facilitators and overcoming barriers in microteaching training programs. This framework can also be adapted for use in other academic studies.

A theoretical review on the interplay among EFL teachers' professional identity, agency, and positioning.

Language teaching is by nature a complex and social practice with numerous personal and contextual aspects. It hinges upon how teachers perceive themselves, the way they are perceived by others, and their roles and positioning in the classroom and its occurring interactions. Despite the proliferation of research on English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' professional identity, its association to agency and positioning has been widely ignored in academia. Urged by this backdrop, the current study was a bid to theoretically explore the relationship among teachers' professional identity, agency, and positioning in language education. To do so, the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of this line of research are reviewed referring to different definitions, dimensions, approaches, and conceptualizations of each construct. Additionally, to approve their strong linkage, scientific findings from previous studies are built upon. Furthermore, the implications of this line of inquiry for different stakeholders in EFL contexts, especially teachers are presented in detail. Finally, the study enumerates a number of research gaps in this domain and suggests some future directions for enthusiastic scholars.

The role of teacher empathy and immediacy in Chinese EFL students' affective learning outcomes: unveiling the associations.

Introduction: The positive influences of teacher-student interpersonal communication skills on second language (L2) students have been considerably endorsed in the literature. However, the contribution of teacher empathy and immediacy behaviors, as realizations of such skills, to students' affective learning outcomes is unaddressed in L2 research. Methods: To fill this gap, three scales were distributed among a sample of 350 Chinese EFL students to see if teachers' empathy and immediacy correlate with and predict students' affective learning outcomes. Results: The results of correlation analysis revealed strong and positive relationships among teacher empathy, teacher immediacy, and learners' affective learning outcomes. Moreover, the results of multiple regression indicated that Chinese EFL teachers' empathy and immediacy could predict about 65 and 60% of changes in the learners' affective learning outcomes, respectively. Discussion: Implications of the study for EFL teachers' interpersonal communication skills development and emotional literacy are discussed. Future research trends are also presented at the end of the article.

Multiple Perspectives with Online EFL Practicum Technology Learning: Case Study on a Cloud.

This yearlong study describes multiple stakeholders' perspectives of 20 preservice English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, 43 elementary school students, 2 online mentors, and a teacher-researcher during a technology professional development practicum on a cloud. The case study provides qualitative and quantitative data from stakeholders concerning technology integration after participating in online project-based EFL instruction. The participating stakeholders encountered affordances and challenges that enhanced their online learning and teaching repertoires and offered nuanced evidence within this online professional development community. The findings call for continuing exploration of online practicums in preservice (language) teacher education and further research documenting complexities of multiple stakeholders' technology professional development.

The moderating effect of participation in online learning activities and perceived importance of online learning on EFL teachers' teaching ability.

With the sudden outbreak of COVID-19, many educational contexts shifted from traditional face-to-face instruction to online and remote modes of delivery. This inspired a surge of scholarly attention in various countries to disclose the status and perceptions of stakeholders regarding online education. However, most of the existing studies in second/foreign language contexts are limited to students' and teachers' perceived emotions and experiences in e-instruction. Moreover, the extent to which online participation and the perceived importance of e-education influence teachers' teaching ability has been widely overlooked. To fill this gap, this study explored the moderating influence of EFL teachers' participation in online learning activities and the perceived importance of online learning on their teaching ability. In doing so, a questionnaire was spread and filled in by 453 Chinese EFL teachers with different backgrounds. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) obtained by Amos (v. 24) indicated that individual/demographic factors do not affect teachers' perceived importance of online learning. It was also demonstrated that the perceived importance of online learning and learning time does not predict EFL teachers' teaching ability. Furthermore, the results reveal that EFL teachers' teaching ability does not predict their perceived importance of online learning. However, teachers' participation in online learning activities predicted and explained 66% of the variance in their perceived importance of online learning. The study has implications for EFL teachers and teacher trainers in that it improves their awareness of the value of technologies in L2 education and practice.

The predicting role of EFL teachers' immediacy behaviors in students' willingness to communicate and academic engagement.

BACKGROUND: Teacher-student interactions and proximity have been shown influential in second/foreign (L2) education. However, the role of L2 teachers' immediacy behaviors on students' willingness to communicate (WTC) and academic engagement remains relatively unexamined in the context of English as a foreign language (EFL). PURPOSE: This study intended to examine the association among EFL teachers' immediacy behaviors and students' WTC and engagement. METHODS: In this quantitative study, three online questionnaires were completed by 400 Chinese EFL students in different universities out of which 364 were valid. RESULTS: The results of statistical analysis and structural equation modeling (SEM) indicated that teachers' immediacy behaviors (verbal, nonverbal) had a highly significant influence on EFL students' WTC (ß=0.89, p = .000) and academic engagement (ß=0.71, p = .000). It was also revealed that teachers' immediacy could predict 89% and 71% of variances in students' WTC academic engagement, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the results, I could be concluded that EFL teachers' interpersonal communication abilities (e.g., immediacy) foster the establishment and growth of other positive outcomes among learners. IMPLICATIONS: The study presents some conclusions and practical implications for EFL teachers, materials developers, and trainers to integrate the nonverbal cues of L2 communication into their practices. Such practices have the potential to enhance students' willingness to communicate (WTC) and improve academic engagement.

A Mixed-Methods Study on Senior High School EFL Teacher Resilience in China.

While teacher resilience has gained significant attention in recent years, empirical exploration of this issue is still insufficient, particularly with regard to English as a foreign language (EFL) teacher resilience in China. In this context, this study employed a mixed-methods design to investigate Chinese EFL teacher resilience. Specifically, the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC)-EFL Teacher Survey was distributed to 330 Chinese senior high school EFL teachers. Five volunteers in the survey sample participated in semi-structured interviews. The results revealed that resilience in Chinese senior high school EFL teachers was at a moderate to high level, and there was no significant difference in teacher resilience in relation to gender and years of teaching experience, but a small significant difference with teachers' educational background. Possible reasons for interpreting EFL teacher resilience were provided from personal and contextual perspectives. Finally, the implications of these findings were discussed for developing teacher resilience.

Chinese English as Foreign Language Teachers' Self-Efficacy and Motivation as Predictors of Burnout.

In contemporary education, educators are a central and focal component of academic structures accountable for education growth. Educators have an effective role in presenting and planning an effective and important academic program. However, they usually experience burnout due to their stressful job that affects the procedure of their teaching. So, considering the variables that help them in mitigating their burnout should be taken into account. The concept such as educator efficacy has recently attracted significant attention in education fields which by itself emphasizes educators and gets them into the focus of attention in education. Also, the concept of motivation has a strong relationship with the expert aspect of the educators and its significance for language educators and their students are increasingly gaining respect in various worldwide settings, in which lower educators' motivation is generally a reason for distress. To focus on the predictability role of these constructs on teachers' burnout, 428 female and male Chinese English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from more than 17 cities in nine provinces of China were asked to fill out the three scales, namely, teacher motivation, efficacy, and burnout. The main results of the study, achieved through Pearson Correlation, postulate that the relationships exist among the variables of the study, and by running multiple regression analysis, it is revealed that both variables, namely, self-efficacy and motivation, were the predictors of teachers' burnout, while self-efficacy was a better predictor. Regarding the applications, educator training plans can focus more on educator self-efficacy and motivation, because of their proven important role in decreasing educator burnout.

The Role of EFL Teachers' Emotioncy in Preventing Students' Boredom and Pessimism.

It is widely approved that emotions play a critical role in language education. This inspires EFL teachers to establish a classroom oriented toward students' emotions and senses involved in the teaching/learning processes. Such an emotioncy-based pedagogy can bring about various positive outcomes in second/foreign language education. In tune with this, the present study briefly reviews the definitions, models, roots, and potentials of emotioncy in stopping student' boredom and pessimism. Moreover, it makes some references to empirical inquiries in this line of research to strengthen its scientific basis. Finally, the study presents a number of implications for teachers, teacher educators, and researchers in language education urging them to focus on students' emotions and senses more than before.

English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Well-Being, Their Apprehension, and Stress: The Mediating Role of Hope and Optimism.

Studies have shown that teachers' wellbeing has a positive effect on teachers' learning quality and learners' performance. Nevertheless, teaching is a stressful and exhausting profession at all academic level with special difficulties about the nature of language education. Tension and fear are still classic challenges in learning, though the concepts such as hope and optimism are core issues in assisting teachers to feel happy during instruction and work longer. The present review makes efforts to provide the most current confirmation on the interface of hope and optimism with educational issues since they are progressively documented as significant emotional capitals for educational success, job growth, and presentation. It is worth mentioning that the current review of research can benefit educational administrations, and other stakeholders and officials in the educational community to contemplate the functions of constructive emotions in the process of learning to decrease and even diminish stress and apprehension that consequently lead to flourishing.

The Role of Connectedness and Psychological Hardiness in EFL Teachers' Pedagogical Effectiveness.

The role of emotions in EFL teachers' pedagogical success and efficacy has long been emphasized in the literature. However, the power and impact of teachers' positive psycho-emotional factors like sense of connectedness and hardiness have been marginally explored in EFL contexts. Against this shortcoming, the present mini-review article made an attempt to provide the theoretical and research underpinnings of three prominent teacher-related factors, namely, connectedness, psychological hardiness, and pedagogical effectiveness as well as their interplay. Moreover, the research trends, gaps, and future directions are provided for enthusiastic researchers. Finally, some practical implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and SLA researchers are offered to raise their awareness of psycho-emotional factors in second/foreign language education.

A Theoretical Review on the Role of English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Self-Disclosure in Shaping Classroom Climate and Immediacy.

Teachers' interpersonal communication skills and strategies have been widely considered effective pedagogical tools in academia. Despite the growing research in this area, unraveling the power of English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers' self-disclosure in shaping classroom climate and immediacy has been relatively left intact. To fill the gap and provide new insights into this strand of research, the present article was an effort to present a theoretical analysis of the interplay of self-disclosure, classroom climate, and immediacy. In so doing, the definitions, conceptualizations, dimensions, underlying theories, and empirical evidence in support of the interaction among these three constructs were presented. Moreover, practical implications for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, and L2 scholars were provided to raise their awareness of interpersonal communication skills and their outcomes in academia. Finally, the study provided some suggestions for further research in this line of inquiry.

A Theoretical Analysis of the Preventive Role of English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Occupational Adjustment and Psychological Hardiness in Their Job Burnout.

Teaching has long been considered as one of the most challenging professions worldwide due to the involvement of numerous linguistic, socio-political, social, and psych-emotional factors. Because of these factors, english as a foreign language (EFL) teachers are psychologically, emotionally, and physically pressed in their job. These damaging pressures often result in negative academic outcomes for teachers, students, and educational systems. Despite dire consequences, few studies (if any) have examined the role of psycho-emotional factors in improving teaching performance and reducing negative emotions at the workplace. To fill this gap, this mini-review article aimed to present a theoretical analysis of three constructs of occupational adjustment, psychological hardiness, and burnout. In so doing, the definitions, conceptualizations, dimensions, and empirical studies related to each variable were presented. The study ends with the existing research gaps and offers some implications for EFL teachers and other stakeholders by increasing their knowledge of emotions in occupational environments and the consequences that such emotions can have for an organization.

Moving toward a spiritual pedagogy in L2 education: Research, practice, and applications.

Spiritual pedagogy (SP) as a new educational theory aims to apply cultural and spiritual values in classroom practices. It has been the focus of research in different fields such as counselling, management, and science in the past decades. However, its application in second/foreign language research and practice has been widely overlooked by L2 researchers, to date. To fill this gap, the present study made an effort to provide a theoretical analysis of the conceptualizations, scientific background, benefits, and practical techniques to implement SP in the context of L2 education. In so doing, this paper suggests a number of practices through which SP can be integrated into L2 education among which positive psychology (PP) was more highlighted. Additionally, some practical implications were provided for EFL teachers, teacher trainers, students, curriculum designers, and researchers to enhance their knowledge of spirituality and education. In the end, different suggestions for future research were presented to move this research domain forward.

A Review of the Relationship Between EFL Teachers' Academic Buoyancy, Ambiguity Tolerance, and Hopelessness.

Second/foreign language education has been approved emotionally tense due to its inherent challenges, adversities, complications, and ambiguities. These factors can affect various language teaching and learning domains. Hence, it is critical for EFL teachers to be buoyant and tolerant of ambiguity so that they can teach efficiently and prevent a sense of hopelessness that can damage everything. Although there are investigations on these variables in L2 contexts, their main focus has been on EFL students and teachers' perspectives have been largely ignored. Against this shortcoming, this study aimed to review the definitions, conceptualizations, and research findings related to teachers' academic buoyancy, ambiguity tolerance, and hopelessness. Moreover, practical implications for EFL teachers and teacher trainers are presented to increase their awareness of language teaching challenges and ways to overcome them. Finally, the study provides directions for future research.

A Theoretical Analysis of Approaches to Enhance Students' Grit and Academic Engagement.

The role of teachers in developing positive traits in EFL students has been widely endorsed in the literature. Two such traits that have pivotal roles in language teaching and learning are grit and academic engagement. Despite the proliferation of correlational studies on these constructs, theoretical and systematic review studies on the role of EFL teachers' approaches in strengthening and enhancing these variables are scant. To fill this wide gap, the present study aimed to review the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of students' grit and engagement and their teachability. In so doing, the definitions, conceptualizations, and dimensions of the two variables were presented. Moreover, a number of practical teaching approaches were suggested to EFL teachers in various contexts. Finally, implications, research gaps, and future directions of this research strand are provided to enhance EFL stakeholders' knowledge of teachability of grit, engagement, and many other positive psychological traits.

School EFL Teachers' Research Identity Construction in the Chinese University-School Community.

Despite a relatively large number of studies on teachers' identity development in the University-School community, few studies have explicitly focused on school EFL teachers' research identity construction. This study adopts the Activity Theory and examines three English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers from three middle schools in a University-School community in China. It investigates how three teachers constructed their research identity and what factors influenced the construction of their identities within the University-School activity system from the dual perspectives of the school and university teachers. Data are collected through semi-structured narrative interviews, triangulated by documents such as meeting minutes, and then analyzed by NVivo 12. The findings of this study show that (1) the University-School collaborative program helps form a University-School community of both teaching and research; (2) in this community, school EFL teachers continuously construct their identities in a spiral process of "practitioner" and "researcher"; (3) it highlights the internal factors containing the research experience and the stage of career and the external factors including the curriculum reform context and the communication in the community. The findings carry important implications for school EFL teachers' research identity construction and professional development in the University-School cooperation.

College EFL teachers' demotivation to conduct research: A dynamic and ecological view.

Competences for conducting research is vitally important for college EFL teachers' career development, but many college English teachers are demotivated in academic research. To investigate teachers' motivation on academic activities, this study firstly explored motivational changes of college EFL teachers (mean age 37.39, SD 9.77) for conducting research in their teaching career, and then delved into the factors underlying their demotivation by sending questionnaires. In the end, several English teachers and officers managing research projects were interviewed to elicit solutions to overcome EFL teachers' demotivation to conduct research. This study found that college EFL teachers had large possibilities to suffer from demotivation to conduct research. Exploratory factor analysis indicated five factors causing their demotivation, including weak research ability, negative emotions and attitudes, poor research surroundings, research management problems and insufficient resources. Thematic analysis demonstrated that ecological solutions should be taken by different stakeholders in EFL teachers' working ecology, including universities, research communities, government, and publishers. This study problematized the static view on teachers' demotivation to conduct research and provided some insights and implications for reasons and solutions for demotivation.

Unraveling EFL Teacher Buoyancy in Online Teaching: An Ecological Perspective.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, online teaching became a significant method at different levels of education across the globe. The transition from traditional offline to online educational environments brought new challenges for language teachers. Buoyancy plays a crucial role for teachers to bounce back from challenging situations. However, there is a scarcity of empirical research on language teacher buoyancy in online contexts from an ecological perspective which is conducive to unfolding the complex and dynamic nature of buoyancy. To fill this gap, the current study utilized a qualitative research method to investigate the factors influencing English teacher buoyancy in online teaching and how they shape and exercise buoyancy in their negotiation with different ecological systems in online teaching guided by Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory. The findings revealed that teachers experienced multiple challenges from different ecological systems, such as ineffective classroom interaction, work-life imbalance, heavy workload, and higher school requirements. Additionally, teacher buoyancy was shaped by the dynamic interaction between teachers and ecological systems and was not only viewed as the individual's ability but as a socio-ecological product. Based on the above findings, the paper provides some implications for developing and researching language teacher buoyancy in the future.