Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context
In recent years, the topic of language teacher motivation has garnered significant attention within the realm of language teacher psychology. Researchers have delved into various aspects, including teachers’ commitments to the teaching career, teachers’ teaching motivation, and teachers’ professiona...
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MDPI AG
2025-04-01
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| Series: | Behavioral Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/473 |
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| author | Lixiang Gao Honggang Liu Zizheng Shen |
| author_facet | Lixiang Gao Honggang Liu Zizheng Shen |
| author_sort | Lixiang Gao |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In recent years, the topic of language teacher motivation has garnered significant attention within the realm of language teacher psychology. Researchers have delved into various aspects, including teachers’ commitments to the teaching career, teachers’ teaching motivation, and teachers’ professional development motivation. Nevertheless, the motivation of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to engage in ongoing in-service learning, particularly the pursuit of a Master of Education (Ed.M.) degree, has received comparatively less scrutiny. To bridge this gap, the present study adopted Boshier’s Education Participation Scale (EPS) and Liu’s seven-dimensional motivation framework to explore the motivation of 529 Chinese EFL teachers in their quest for an Ed.M. degree. Utilizing Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM), the analysis revealed seven types of key motivation: cognitive interest, social responsibility, academic information acquisition, academic achievement acquisition, school context, rival demand, and significant others. An examination of differences in EFL teacher motivation in terms of gender and school type showed that male teachers perceived significantly higher levels of cognitive interest and rival demand than female teachers did. And, teachers in regular schools reported significantly higher levels of significant others than those in key schools. We propose some future directions for EFL teacher motivation research. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-deb7033ef6274c56b195c7d2f840a7ce |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2076-328X |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Behavioral Sciences |
| spelling | doaj-art-deb7033ef6274c56b195c7d2f840a7ce2025-08-20T02:24:39ZengMDPI AGBehavioral Sciences2076-328X2025-04-0115447310.3390/bs15040473Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese ContextLixiang Gao0Honggang Liu1Zizheng Shen2School of Foreign Languages, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang 236037, ChinaSchool of Foreign Languages, Soochow University, Suzhou 215008, ChinaSchool of Foreign Languages, Soochow University, Suzhou 215008, ChinaIn recent years, the topic of language teacher motivation has garnered significant attention within the realm of language teacher psychology. Researchers have delved into various aspects, including teachers’ commitments to the teaching career, teachers’ teaching motivation, and teachers’ professional development motivation. Nevertheless, the motivation of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers to engage in ongoing in-service learning, particularly the pursuit of a Master of Education (Ed.M.) degree, has received comparatively less scrutiny. To bridge this gap, the present study adopted Boshier’s Education Participation Scale (EPS) and Liu’s seven-dimensional motivation framework to explore the motivation of 529 Chinese EFL teachers in their quest for an Ed.M. degree. Utilizing Exploratory Structural Equation Modeling (ESEM), the analysis revealed seven types of key motivation: cognitive interest, social responsibility, academic information acquisition, academic achievement acquisition, school context, rival demand, and significant others. An examination of differences in EFL teacher motivation in terms of gender and school type showed that male teachers perceived significantly higher levels of cognitive interest and rival demand than female teachers did. And, teachers in regular schools reported significantly higher levels of significant others than those in key schools. We propose some future directions for EFL teacher motivation research.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/473motivation for pursuing Ed.M.motivational factorsChinese EFL teachers |
| spellingShingle | Lixiang Gao Honggang Liu Zizheng Shen Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context Behavioral Sciences motivation for pursuing Ed.M. motivational factors Chinese EFL teachers |
| title | Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context |
| title_full | Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context |
| title_fullStr | Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context |
| title_full_unstemmed | Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context |
| title_short | Unraveling EFL Teacher Motivation for Pursuing a Master of Education Degree in the Chinese Context |
| title_sort | unraveling efl teacher motivation for pursuing a master of education degree in the chinese context |
| topic | motivation for pursuing Ed.M. motivational factors Chinese EFL teachers |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-328X/15/4/473 |
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