ABSTRACT
While self-efficacy beliefs are a key indicator of teachers’ self-perceptions of success in the classroom, novice teacher self-efficacy is recognized as being more susceptible to fluctuations as these teachers build experience and confidence within their role. Qualitative insight into language teacher self-efficacy (LTSE) beliefs remains underdeveloped, and much LTSE beliefs research concerns “global” self-efficacy, with limited consideration being given to how task-, domain-, and context-specific factors may influence perceptions of self-efficacy. This chapter reports on a qualitative, longitudinal research study and documents the shifting perceptions of self-efficacy of five novice EFL teachers. It highlights the variation in LTSE – both individually and across the group – in relation to task-, domain-, and context-specific factors. Participants’ LTSE beliefs shifted in response to various stimuli, including pre-service education, in-service experiences, and social support, whilst social support and the workplace atmosphere emerged as particularly influential factors in shaping perceptions of efficacy. Additionally, it was also clear that such perceptions were closely bound with the nature of teaching tasks the novice teachers were completing, the type of students they taught, and the contexts in which they were working. This chapter therefore supports other contemporary research in calling for greater consideration of task-, domain-, and context-specific self-efficacy in LTSE research.
