English language teachers’ self-efficacy and teaching practice in Ethiopian secondary schools: A mixed-method study design of language teaching skills and instructional strategies

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine level of self-efficacy, teaching practices, and relationships, focusing on language teaching skills and instructional strategies. A total of 186 English teachers were identified in the study where 123 English language teachers completed a validated questionnaire on self-efficacy and teaching practice. Explanatory sequential mixed design with a cross-sectional design for quantitative data and a phenomenological design for qualitative data were employed. Structured questionnaire and semi-structured interview and classroom observation were conducted to obtain quantitative and qualitative data, respectively. Thus, descriptive statistics (frequency and mean) and inferential statistics (correlation, two ways ANOVA and regression analysis) were used to analyze quantitative data, and thematic analysis was used to analyze the qualitative one. In the end, the quantitative result indicated that EFL teachers perceived high level of self-efficacy and utilization of communicative language teaching approach whereas the qualitative result indicated that EFL teachers had poor teaching practice in teaching language skills and utilization of instructional strategy. The qualitative result also showed that EFL teachers usually use non-communicative language teaching approach. This shows there is discrepancy between quantitative and qualitative reports. Further, the findings indicated that the correlation analysis showed moderate association between (language teaching skill and instructional strategy). The regression model had a significant explanatory potential for predicting secondary school EFL teachers’ teaching practice. Both language teaching skill and instructional strategy were a significant positive predictor of teaching practice. Ultimately, it is recommended that there is a need to work on providing professional development-oriented language training to fill in the observed gaps. Additionally, this study will serve as a springboard for potential researchers who wish to investigate further issues related to teaching English in Ethiopian school contexts at different levels.