ÂÜÀòÉç

Saudi Female Teachers’ Self-Efficacy in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in Early Childhood Classrooms

The purpose of this quantitative, cross-sectional study was to investigate the self-efficacy beliefs of female Saudi EFL teachers in early childhood classrooms, as English instruction was introduced in Grade 1 under Saudi Vision 2030. Bandura’s social cognitive theory was used as the theoretical framework to understand teachers’ perceived capability to meet these new instructional demands.

Data were collected from 104 Saudi female early childhood EFL teachers in Taif, Saudi Arabia, using an adapted 20-item bilingual questionnaire. Data were analyzed using exploratory factor analysis, descriptive statistics, and nonparametric group comparisons.

The findings showed that teachers’ responses formed two related dimensions: instructional efficacy and practice in early childhood EFL, and student engagement and classroom management efficacy, both with high reliability. Teachers reported generally high self-efficacy in both dimensions, with adapting instruction to students’ varying language needs as the lowest-rated area. Self-efficacy did not differ by age, prior EFL-related training, or academic qualification; only teaching experience was associated with student engagement and classroom management efficacy, with teachers with 15 or more years of experience reporting higher scores than those with 10–14 years.

The results have important implications for teacher education in Saudi Arabia. Professional development should emphasize differentiated early EFL instruction, mentoring, peer observation, and sustained school-based support. Because the factor structure is exploratory and the sample came from one city, confirmatory research with larger and more diverse samples is recommended.