AN INVESTIGATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN EFL TEACHERS’ ENGAGEMENT LEVELS AND THEIR SOCIAL-EMOTIONAL COMPETENCIES

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the correlation between teacher engagement levels and social-emotional competencies in EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teaching. This study also aimed to investigate whether there are significant differences in English language teachers' engagement levels and social-emotional competencies depending on their demographic characteristics such as gender, school type and years of experience. The Research design of the study was based on the survey method. The research sample constituted of 120 Turkish EFL teachers working in Kırşehir. Our data analysis was carried out using the statistical software of SPSS, and the results were presented in tables, figures, and text. In this study, both descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The findings indicated that the majority of EFL teachers showed moderate to high levels of engagement in the classroom and developed adequate social-emotional competencies. The results of this study also uncovered that EFL teachers’ social-emotional competencies significantly differ by gender. Teachers' gender was found to play a role in the development of their social-emotional competencies. Besides, teacher engagement and social-emotional competencies were not found to differ significantly by school type and years of experience.