The relationship between EFL teachers' reflective practices and their teaching effectiveness: A structural equation modeling approach

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between English Foreign Language teachers' reflective practices and their teaching effectiveness. Moreover, years of experiences in teachers' reflective practices and their teaching effectiveness were explored. The participants comprised 115 EFL teachers teaching at different language institutes in several cities of Iran. Their selection was based on convenience sampling, and the participation was entirely voluntary. In this study, two instruments were used: the English language teaching reflection inventory and Effective teaching questionnaire. Pearson's correlation coefficient, independent sample t-test, and structural equation modeling (SEM) were run to analyze the causal relationships among the components. Results of structural equation modeling indicated that there was a positive significant relationship between the subscales of teachers' reflective practices and their teaching effectiveness. In addition, there was a strong positive and significant relationship between EFL teachers' level of teaching effectiveness and experience. Also, there was a weak positive and significant relationship between EFL teachers' level of teaching reflectiveness and experience. Finally, these findings were discussed with reference to the context of Iran.