Georgia’s Rural Foreign Language Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy and How It Relates to Teacher Attrition
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2010
Abstract
Foreign language teachers are in critical need in many parts of rural America. Using Bandura’s conceptual framework of self-efficacy teaching languages as a theoretical lens, the researchers created a scale to measure foreign language teacher efficacy and administered alongside a well-known efficacy survey to in-service rural teachers (N = 167) in Georgia. Data analysis indicates that the new instrument is psychometrically sound and there are two dimensions to language teacher efficacy: Content Knowledge and Facilitating Instruction. Positive correlations between the two surveys suggest that teaching languages is more than just strength of content knowledge and FL teachers may need assistance engaging students. Additionally, it appears female novice Spanish teachers are more prone to attrition than teachers of other languages. This research holds implications for professional development opportunities as well as teacher preparation programs.
Recommended Citation
Swanson, Peter and Huff, Robin, "Georgia’s Rural Foreign Language Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy and How It Relates to Teacher Attrition" (2010). World Languages and Cultures Faculty Publications. 54.
https://scholarworks.gsu.edu/mcl_facpub/54
Comments
Author Accepted Manuscript version of an article originally published in:
Swanson, P., & Huff, R. (2010). Georgia’s rural foreign language teachers’ sense of efficacy and how it relates to teacher attrition. The Rural Educator, 31(3), 16-29.