Article published In:
Journal of Second Language Pronunciation: Online-First Articles

Language teacher self-efficacy beliefs for pronunciation instruction

The case of ESL teachers in Canada

ORCID logo | Thames Valley District School Board
 | Western University
Studies on language teachers’ self-efficacy (LTSE) have gained attention in recent years; however, limited research has explored LTSE in specific domains of language instruction, particularly pronunciation. The present study employs a domain-specific survey to measure English as a second language (ESL) teachers’ self-efficacy in pronunciation instruction (PI) in Canadian classrooms. Data from the survey and follow-up interviews were analyzed to explore ESL teachers’ overall self-efficacy beliefs, relationships with language, and pronunciation proficiencies. The findings reveal that ESL teachers in Canada generally report high levels of self-efficacy for teaching pronunciation. While the correlation between general language proficiency and self-efficacy was not significant, the correlation between their pronunciation proficiency and self-efficacy for teaching pronunciation was significant, even though it falls below the benchmark for small effect size.
Keywords: language teacher self-efficacy (LTSE), pronunciation instruction, teacher language proficiency, pronunciation proficiency, English as a second language (ESL)
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
    • 1.1Teacher self-efficacy
    • 1.2Self-Beliefs in pronunciation instruction
    • 1.3Teachers’ language proficiency and pronunciation proficiency
  • 2.Research questions
  • 3.Methodology
    • 3.1Participants
    • 3.2Research instruments
    • 3.3Data analysis
  • 4.Results
    • 4.1Levels of self-efficacy among ESL teachers for pronunciation instruction
      • Overall level of confidence
      • Beliefs and opinions
    • 4.2Relationships between ESL teachers’ self-ratings on language and pronunciation proficiencies and their levels of self-efficacy for pronunciation instruction
      • Self-Reported level of language and pronunciation proficiencies
      • Relationship between ESL teachers’ self-reported language and pronunciation proficiencies and their levels of self-efficacy beliefs in pronunciation instruction
  • 5.Discussion
    • 5.1Self-Efficacy beliefs in pronunciation teaching among ESL teachers in Canadian classrooms
      • Overall self-efficacy beliefs in PI
      • Differential confidence in specific areas
    • 5.2Relationship between ESL teachers’ self-reported language and pronunciation proficiency and self-efficacy in pronunciation instruction
      • Relationship between language proficiency and self-efficacy
      • Relationship between pronunciation proficiency and self-efficacy
  • 6.Limitations and future research
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgement
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 31 October 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/jslp.22026.zha
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