language teacher immunity

It is utterly proclaimed that the effectiveness of teachers in their professional roles is deeply intertwined with psycho-emotional constructs such as reflective practice and immunity. Given the notable significance and scarcity of research on the correlation between reflective practices and immunity among English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers, this study investigated whether Iranian EFL teachers' reflective practice exhibited a significant association with their immunity. To accomplish this objective, the convenience sampling method was employed to select a group of 204 EFL teachers (78 males and 126 females) from private language institutions across various provinces in Iran. Data were collected through surveys and subsequent interviews conducted with the participating teachers. The correlational analysis revealed significant positive relationships between teachers' immunity and all reflection subscales, except for critical reflection. The multiple regression analysis further confirmed that metacognitive and cognitive reflection strongly predict EFL teachers' immunity. Interviews emphasized the contribution of specific subcomponents of reflective practice to teachers' immunity. These findings emphasized the significance of merging reflective approaches and bolstering immunity within teacher growth schedules. Furthermore, they provided new opportunities to implement positive psychology criteria in foreign language teacher education.

Language teacher immunity (LTI) develops in language teachers as a protective reaction to high-threatening disturbances. Teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) at university might place instructors in highly challenging and critical situations. This study aims to ascertain the dominant type of LTI among Iranian ESP instructors and the triggering disturbances that contribute to its development. To this end, an explanatory mixed-method approach was adopted.  The Hiver’s LTI questionnaire was administered and 44 university ESP instructors who were convenient responded to the questionnaire to explore the dominant type of LTI in Iranian ESP instructors. Furthermore, a semi-structured interview with 10 ESP instructors was conducted to find out the triggering disturbance leading to LTI and the coping strategies adopted by ESP teachers to deal with them. Clustering of the data gathered by the questionnaire revealed that adaptive LTI among EGP instructors teaching ESP was the dominant type, while content instructors tended to exhibit the maladaptive form. Analyzing the interviews demonstrated that regardless of instructors’ classification to content and EGP types, there are some common disturbances among most ESP instructors including students’ low proficiency level in general English, paltry payment for a highly demanding job, and insufficient time to teach ESP during a course. However, other disturbances were specific to teachers' expertise type. The coping mechanisms that were most commonly utilized to manage stress-inducing factors by ESP teachers in both groups were embracing the stressor without taking any action, incorporating fresh teaching materials, and evading challenges by declining situations that could result in challenges. The findings of this research can be beneficial for macro policymakers, educational managers, curriculum developers, and instructors themselves to create conducive environments promoting the development and maintenance of adaptive LTI.

Teachers have the power to change their students' lives for the better, therefore teachers should be armed with some skills to be effective. Reflective teaching as one of these skills empowers teachers to observe and evaluate themselves. Although research on reflective teaching has a long tradition, little is known about whether it could be a significant predictor of language teacher immunity and work motivation as two important factors determining the success or failure of teachers, particularly in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) context. Thus, the present study aimed at examining the possible association among reflective teaching, language teacher immunity, and work motivation through path analysis. To this end, English Language Teacher Reflective Inventory (ELTRI), Language Teacher Immunity Instrument (LTII), and Multidimensional Work Motivation Scale (MWMS) were administered to 320 Iranian EFL teachers. Data analysis revealed that teachers with higher reflective teaching practices are more immunized and motivated. Moreover, the significant role of language teacher immunity on work motivation was discovered. The implications of the present study may shed new light on the significance of incorporating reflective approach into teacher development programs as a core subject.

As a novel concept in teacher psychology, language teacher immunity is a strong indicator of how teachers thrive or survive in the face of adversity. Research on language teacher immunity is still in its nascent stage, and the present qualitative study tries to fill the gap in the existing literature. This study aimed to investigate the possible sources of immunity among Iranian EFL teachers, the impact immunity may have on teachers’ classroom practices, and intervention strategies EFL teachers suggested to influence the development of immunity. Based on interviews with 13 seasoned high school EFL teachers, we found that four main stressors, namely, personal-level, school-level, organization-based, and sociocultural stressors, were the sources of maladaptive immunity development. The only cause for the development of positive immunity in EFL teachers was altruistic motivation. It was further found that those EFL teachers with positive immunity kept functioning effectively in their classrooms, whereas teachers with maladaptive immunity set into a state of indifference towards their students and complacency without exercising agency. These teachers had surrendered in the face of a multitude of adversities they faced during their professional life. The findings also indicated that in order to influence the development of immunity formation process to gear it towards an adaptive one, teachers’ economic situation should be improved by increasing their salaries, praising and appreciating their efforts, organizing practical in-service teacher training courses, and supporting them at schools by principals and other educational authorities.

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.

Language teacher immunity has recently attracted the attention of the scholars interested in teacher psychology. Following the previous line of research in teacher psychology, the present study explored the immunity types among 260 Iranian EFL teachers working in schools and language institutes. Drawing on Hiver’s (2017) categorization, this study found that the participants were classified into productively and maladaptively immunized teachers through cluster analysis. It was also found that gender played a significant role, and female participants were more productively immunized than men. Regarding the role of teaching experience, it was found that EFL teachers’ immunity fluctuated in the late stages of their practice to a more fossilized, negative one. Regarding age differences, the results also suggested different immunity types among the participants of different age groups. The results implied that teacher education programs should enhance EFL teachers’ understanding of language teacher immunity as an important factor in their effectiveness and well-being as well as students’ achievement.

The present study explored the development of language teacher immunity among Iranian in-service English as a Foreign/Second Language (EFL) teachers (N=15) working at public high schools. Drawing on semi-structured interview data, the study found that low self-confidence, students’ demotivation, low income, limited facilities, lack of enough time to teach English, parental expectations, and negative attitudes toward English were the main triggers of language teacher immunity among the participants. Reflecting on those disturbances, the participants employed certain coping strategies such as prior preparation, establishing a good rapport with learners, and exercising agency in providing required facilities and negotiating objectives with learners’ parents. The strategies adopted by the participants revealed that reflective practice should be an integrated undertaking involving reflection on personal, sociocultural, and educational factors rather than being limited to practice per se. The study introduced imposed maladaptive immunity as a transitional stage from exercising agency to setting into a state of complete indifference due to lack of support from macro-level educational policy makers. Finally, the study implied that language teacher education programs should raise EFL teachers’ awareness of the developmental stages of language teacher immunity as an integrated reflective practice.