Innovative Journal Innovative Journal http://www.innovativejournal.in/index.php/ Research Review (Wilmington, N.C.) 2393-7637 https://doi.org/10.52845/CER/2021-4-4-2 Research Article The self-efficacy of English teachers in dealing with students with learning difficulties The self-efficacy of English teachers in dealing with students with learning difficulties Alkhawaldeh Mohammad Abedrabbu 1 Special Education Department, King Khalid University 12 11 2021 4 3 1110 20 8 2021 25 10 2021 30 9 2021 The Authors. Published by Medical Editor and Educational Research Publishers Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) 2021 Abstract

the concept of self-efficacy is considered one of the character’s dimensions of an individual either for teachers or educationalists, as it is related to the individual’s personal belief and expectations regarding their ability to perform and work, and at the end, it determines the nature and the extent of the behavior they will do through choosing experience situations, the effort they intend to do and the strength of their will and persistence to accomplish a situation. Individuals have a system of self-belief that enables them to control their feelings and ideas. (Bandura, 1986).

According to this, how an individual thinks, believes, and feels affects the manner they behave, as these believes form the main key for the driving forces of the individual’s behavior, for the individual works on explaining their accomplishments depending on the abilities they think that they possess which would make them do the maximum effort to achieve success (Bandura 1997).

The effectiveness of self-efficacy can be seen through determining how much effort an individual does in a particular activity, how present they are in facing ordeals and how solid they are in front of difficult situations. The higher your feeling of self-efficacy is the more persistent you are; people. Who possesses high self-efficacy can deal with problems and difficult activities more calmly and discreetly? (pajares, 2018).

Working with people with learning difficulties is considered a work that includes educational and therapeutic services for individuals who need such services. The teacher looks after children who suffer many problems like difficulties in controlling the environment, difficulties in mobility, movement, and learning due to lack of senses, and insecurity and withdrawal. These problems require patience, flexibility, experience, and cooperation with other experts. The teacher, also, needs to understand the nature of the disabled children according to the type of disability, as these children are not very similar (khasawneh, 2021). Each one of them is a world by itself, and each one requires an understanding of their needs and special circumstances. Also, teaching methods related to this group require more complex skills and more diverse methods than an average child needs. (Lee Et Al, 2011)

Self-efficacy is the individual’s beliefs of the abilities they think they possess to manage and apply mental plans to achieve particular aims (khasawneh,2020). The individual's assessment of their self-efficacy is evidence of their knowledge of the abilities they have to do required tasks and control events. It also increases their motivation and ability to achieve their goals (Bandura, 1997). It is, also, based on the individual’s hypothesis about the ability to achieve particular behavioral choices. Thus, it is about the individual realizing and evaluating their abilities which enable them to behave in a particular way successfully. This efficacy, which is evaluated by the individual, affects the type of the accomplished attitude and the ability of endurance when this behavior is done. (khasawneh, 2021).

even and Davis have shown that the challenges faced by the teachers of disabled students seem discouraging. Many of them perceive teaching as one of the most difficult aspects of their jobs (Steven and Davis). Thus, the creation of the appropriate environment for teaching depends on the teacher’s self-efficacy; the teacher who has it helps disables students and develops their motivation and self-confidence. It is not sufficient for the teacher to have the necessary skills and requirements to do their jobs( khasawneh, 2018). They should have faith and confidence in their ability to do the expected work under different difficult circumstances. If teachers do not believe that their actions achieve the desired results, they will have little motivation to continue (Artino, 2012). Dickey has shown that high self-efficacy for teachers who teach students with learning difficulties has an important role in motivating students to learn, interact in the classroom and develop high thinking skills. (Dickey, 2017).

In this field, (   You et al, 2019) sought to determine the relationship between the demographic variables for teachers who teach students with learning difficulties and the beliefs of teachers regarding integrated education and self-efficacy using structural equation modeling. The results of the study showed the experience of teachers does not have any direct relation with self-efficacy in integrated education. Thus, teaching experiences and training have large indirect relation with their self-efficacy through their beliefs in integrated education (khasawneh,2020).

(Nuri, 2017)’s study which aimed at knowing the level of self-efficacy that special education teachers have and the relationship between self-efficacy and psychological pressure for special education teachers in Cyprus. The results have concluded that there is a moderate level of self-efficacy for teachers compared to a high level of psychological pressure, and there is a relation between self-efficacy and psychological pressure.

In (Antoniou et al. 2017)’s study, which aimed at knowing the perceptions and evaluating self-efficacy for special education teachers, the results indicated that the self-efficacy of special education teachers was high. They have also shown that there are no differences with statistical significance attributable to the variables of gender, experience, and age.

(Guo et al, 2014) carried out a study aimed at describing the self-efficacy for special education teachers in the early childhood stage, and the relations between self-efficacy and the quality of classes, language acquisition, and illiteracy elimination for students who have language difficulties. The results showed that private education teachers in the early childhood stage had high degrees in the self-efficacy scale, and low levels of self-efficacy for special education teachers in the early childhood stage were linked to a higher level of language acquisition and illiteracy elimination when children who suffer from language difficulties are in classes provided with higher educational support.

 Keywords English Learning Difficulties Self-efficacy Methodology

The methodology of the study

The study used the descriptive-analytical method which describes the desired phenomenon, analyses its data, and illustrates the relations between its components.

Population and Sample

The study sample consisted of 169 male and female English teachers in public schools in the province of Irbid. The table illustrates the demographic variables of the study sample including gender, academic level, and experience years.

Table 1: demographic information if the study sample

</caption> <graphic id="g-3f2bc29f65fd" xlink:href="https://typeset-prod-media-server.s3.amazonaws.com/article_uploads/7208437b-681b-40b5-80b2-8a78225efa24/image/bc7a8b5a-3cc9-4daf-b982-cc72deee8377-uimage.png"/> </fig> <p id="paragraph-7945e0f204c54ea18de7adcc3f8a0f31">Table 1 illustrates that the majority of participants were males, as they were 104 compared to 65 females. On the other hand, regarding the academic level, most participants were BA holders (150) as opposed to only 19 participants who continued their postgraduate education. Furthermore, most participants (85) had less than 5 years of experience, followed by those who had 5-10 years of experience (74). Finally,10 participants had more than 10 years of experience. </p> <p id="paragraph-baaa71ca9b3b4674aa691717890e968c"> <bold id="strong-b3cf35ea0f3f49d4a9f5c1aa80d110c7"> </bold> <bold id="strong-a24d142720c141a3b721705f69372617"> Research instrument</bold> </p> <p id="paragraph-99f8c98d2b0042a68fd109401acd9006">This study was based on the questionnaire designed by (Riggs, 1991) and developed by the researcher to match the study purposes. The questionnaire consisted of 9 clauses including self-efficacy for English teachers who work with students with learning difficulties. Note that this scale was used by many studies regarding the self-efficacy of teachers, and the articles of the questionnaire were answered by the study sample using the liker scale which consists of 5 degrees between 1 “never” and 5 “always”. The questionnaire was delivered online to the public-school teachers in Irbid. The researcher used the statistical package for the social science program (Spss) to extract the results of the current research. The study was based on multiple statistical tests like mean, deviations, percentages, and (independent sample t-tests) and the (one-way ANOVA) test.</p> <p id="paragraph-52a65e198a81408bb021db3fd06d41b8"> <bold id="strong-87f01c88ebe54949a0b4364e102ff2aa">Findings and Discussion </bold> </p> <p id="paragraph-8af949fbeb6f48f596affa87544f233e">The current research aims at knowing the self-efficacy of English teachers in dealing with students with learning difficulties. In this section, we present the results according to the research questions.</p> <p id="paragraph-9b1e7eca04a84ba3abda908a9d6b3a1e"> Question 1: what is the level of self-efficacy that English teachers have in dealing with students with learning difficulties?</p> <p id="p-9081097663bf">Table 2 illustrates the means, deviations for English teachers in dealing with students who have learning difficulties.</p> <fig id="f-d2ace1b1074a" position="anchor" orientation="portrait" fig-type="graphic"> <label>Figure 2 </label> <caption id="c-f274bede5a83"> <title id="t-7d99c4278498"/> </caption> <graphic id="g-25f72443446d" xlink:href="https://typeset-prod-media-server.s3.amazonaws.com/article_uploads/7208437b-681b-40b5-80b2-8a78225efa24/image/1c003c9b-a367-4d2d-b276-0d0dada86bc5-uimage.png"/> </fig> <p id="paragraph-507a1ee9a8f24156a2b3379ead3f49ef"> Table 2 illustrates that participants try to attract the students to studying and teaching and to consult them, as this had the highest mean (4.13). Others stated that they use suitable methods so students can understand difficult concepts with a mean of (4.10), followed by the teacher's knowledge of the necessary steps to teach scientific concepts to students who have learning difficulties with a mean of (4.08). Some participants answered that they can answer the students’ questions with a mean of (4.04). This was followed by using more effective methods to enhance the grades of the students with a mean of (4.01). Overcoming shortcomings through good teaching had an important place, as it scored a mean of (4.00). Searching for the best methods to teach students came with a mean of (3.97). Others showed that they consider the questions of their students with a mean (3.68). Some teachers indicated that they have the necessary skills to teach students with learning difficulties with a mean (3.34).</p> <p id="paragraph-113ed7ba676748bcb6c635bf6fdd4b25">Question 2: Are there differences with statistical significance for the self-efficacy of English teachers attributable to the academic level?</p> <p id="p-897abc184a7d">Table 3 illustrates the (t-test) to find the differences between the answers of the study sample attributable to the variables of gender and academic level.</p> <fig id="f-2223a92e7c0f" position="anchor" orientation="portrait" fig-type="graphic"> <label>Figure 3 </label> <caption id="c-547ea8e57908"> <title id="t-02364d64d5d8"/> </caption> <graphic id="g-763b7213745f" xlink:href="https://typeset-prod-media-server.s3.amazonaws.com/article_uploads/7208437b-681b-40b5-80b2-8a78225efa24/image/ce9d0176-184f-4a67-95cc-911ea892d53f-uimage.png"/> </fig> <p id="paragraph-ba3ec1d09f4944c2a729d149305d321d">Table 3 illustrates that there are no differences with statistical differences for the self-efficacy of English teachers attributable to the variable of gender. The value of t was .079 which is low. Also, there are no differences with statistical significance for the self-efficacy of English teachers attributable to the variable of (the academic level). The value of t was .689.</p> <p id="paragraph-d8b369665a3c4afb8d94a7e180f65038">Question 3: Are there differences with statistical significance for English teachers attributable to the years of experience?</p> <p id="p-e3873c810a78">Table 4 illustrates the (Anova) test to find the differences between the answers of the study sample attributable to the variable of the years of experience </p> <fig id="f-3ed01105c768" position="anchor" orientation="portrait" fig-type="graphic"> <label>Figure 4 </label> <caption id="c-d618dcdb4c00"> <title id="t-fa606d8d380b"/> </caption> <graphic id="g-bf5ca0923386" xlink:href="https://typeset-prod-media-server.s3.amazonaws.com/article_uploads/7208437b-681b-40b5-80b2-8a78225efa24/image/f8f33c16-4c47-4a36-b6d7-67a1f30048bc-uimage.png"/> </fig> <p id="paragraph-33b6fd987c9f4246b6efeb07da5cab08">Table 4 illustrates that there are no differences with statistical differences in the answers of the study sample about the self-efficacy attributable to the variable of the years of experience. The value of f was .966 which is low.</p> </sec> <sec> <title id="title-64c2ea8887f34c5bbc870ae23e629c4e">Discussion

The results have revealed that English teachers have high self-efficacy which matches the study done by (Antoniou et al, 2017) and (Guo et al,2014) and disagrees (Nuri, 2017)’s study. This indicates that English teachers have the self-efficacy to care for students with learning difficulties. This results from the fact that teachers have received theoretical and practical training and teaching necessary to deal with students who have learning difficulties at college which include multiple methods to deliver information and concepts to students and to be ready for answering all the questions asked by students. This would make teachers achieve self-fulfilling and achieve the goals they seek through teaching students who have learning difficulties. This would also make teachers realize the knowledge-based skills and their efficacy in teaching, so they can invest them in the desired manner with students who have learning difficulties.

Although the results showed that teachers have self-efficacy in dealing with students with learning difficulties, it is worth noting how serious it is to give teachers training courses and to inform them about everything new related to their students who suffer from learning difficulties. Results have also shown that teachers, in general, have teaching skills for students who have learning difficulties modestly, thus, it is necessary to provide them with the skills and knowledge necessary in dealing with these students.

 Conclusion.

This research sought to know the self-efficacy of English teachers in dealing with students who have learning difficulties. The results of the research concluded that teachers have self-efficacy which makes them eligible to work with those who have learning difficulties. One of the most important factors that teachers should consider is the ability to attract students who have learning difficulties to the teaching process, as it is a very basic task for the teacher to be able to use other methods and to make students understand lessons and concepts presented in the class. If the students had no desire in the educational process, either way, will not work. These ways effectively help overcome the shortcoming which students with learning difficulties suffer from. This makes us realize the importance of preparing teachers who are capable of dealing with all the students who suffer from learning difficulties. Each student has a problem that requires teachers to find a solution through the knowledge and the skills they possess.

 Acknowledgment

The authors extend their appreciation to the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Khalid University for funding this work through Big Research Groups under grant number (RGP.2 /103/42).

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