What is it about?
This study, focusing on primary English education in Japan, has demonstrated non-specialist teachers’ characteristics that are likely to influence their sense of self-efficacy for teaching English. Findings will contribute to our understanding of the challenges non-specialist English teachers face and how to improve the support they need to better serve their students.
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Why is it important?
The teaching of English to primary school children has been rapidly growing in many English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) countries around the world, but a shortage of specialist teachers remains a persistent challenge. Consequently, non-specialists, such as homeroom teachers initially trained as generalists, are more often required to teach English. Few studies have examined the potential factors that influence those non-specialist English teachers’ sense of self-efficacy.
Perspectives
Non-specialist teachers are often considered “under-qualified” due to their limited English teaching knowledge and skills, but this study has demonstrated that they may function effectively and confidently in terms of student engagement. I hope this article will be of some use in making a decision about who should teach English to primary school children.
Shoichi Matsumura
Ryukoku University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Self-efficacy beliefs among non-specialist teachers in primary English education, Language Teaching for Young Learners, December 2021, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/ltyl.21010.mat.
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