Dispositions toward loving pedagogy, emotion regulation, and self-efficacy as predictors of EFL teachers’ work engagement: A multinational study

Previous research has certified the interconnection of psycho-affective factors and English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ emotions and practices. However, there is insufficient evidence regarding the correlates and determinants of teacher work engagement across cultures. To fill this gap, the present multinational study aimed to investigate the correlations and predicting roles of EFL teachers’ dispositions toward loving pedagogy (DTLP), self-efficacy, emotion regulation, and work engagement. A total of 779 EFL teachers were selected from China, Iran, and Turkey to complete the surveys. The results of confirmatory factor analysis and correlation analysis showed significant relationships among teachers’ DTLP, self-efficacy, emotion regulation, and work engagement. Moreover, multiple regression analysis suggested that teacher work engagement could be predicted by all three antecedents. The study discusses the findings and outlines implications for EFL teachers and teacher educators, and it is hoped that, in future research, scholars from different educational backgrounds will further explore the role of psycho-affective factors and emotionality in EFL teachers’ professional development and work engagement.