Moderating role of Self-Efficacy in building Professional Identity of Chinese L2 Teachers

Purpose: The L2 teachers face a number of problems and issues in non-native countries in the presence of different religious and cultural views, making it difficult for L2 teachers to build a professional identity. In China there is an attempt to integrate L1 (First Language) with L2 (Second Language) in language classes and facilitate building the professional identity of L2 teachers. This study is an attempt to examine the moderating role of self-efficacy in strengthening the impact of educational orientation and professional commitment variables in building the professional identity of L2 teachers in China. Methodology: A questionnaire was adopted from previous studies to carry out a quantitative study on L2 teachers teaching the English language in different educational institutions in Beijing, China. The purposive and criterion sampling technique was employed to identify the respondents for data collection. 109 useable responses were analyzed on Smart-PLS by assessing the validity and reliability of the constructs and their hypothesized relationship through structural equation model (SEM). Findings: The results of the study revealed that educational orientation significantly influenced the professional identity of L2 teachers while professional commitment was considered as an important factor that influenced their behavior but very insignificantly related to professional identity. The self-efficacy was also found moderating the relationship between educational orientation and professional identity as well as the relationship between professional commitment and professional identity. Implications to research and practice: The current research has provided a ground for the educational institutions to develop effective strategies for incorporating educational orientation and development of professional commitment among L2 teachers. This study has also suggested how to gain self-efficacy among L2 teachers in order to build their professional identity. Future studies may be conducted on other variables and in diverse geographical locations with larger and more diverse sample in order to generalize results.