English as a Foreign Language Teachers' Immunity and Motivation: Public Schools vs. Private Institutes

Abstract

Recent research has identified many factors influencing language teachers' motivation (e.g., vision, immunity, learners' achievement, teachers' self, job satisfaction, social relationship). Language teachers' immunity is a relatively novel concept and there has been little research to address its connection with motivation. Therefore, the present mixed methods study was set out with the purpose of examining the possible relationship between EFL teachers' motivation and their immunity in two different contexts (public vs. private). To this end, a three-section questionnaire was distributed electronically among Iranian EFL teachers in the two contexts (N = 157) to elicit quantitative data on the possible relationship between immunity and motivation. As for qualitative phase of the study, seven EFL teachers from each context (N = 14) were interviewed, using an interview protocol to find the disturbing and motivational factors among teachers in the path of immunity formation. The results of Pearson Product Moment Correlation indicated a small (r = 0.21) positive relationship between immunity and motivation. Triggering disturbances of language teacher immunity and coupling strategies related to them as well as teachers' motivational factors elicited through interviews are discussed in the paper.

Keywords

• coupling strategies
• efl teacher
• language teacher immunity
• motivation
• private institutes
• public schools