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There is nowadays a burgeoning research base, mostly in mainstream education, acknowledging that teachers have the most important impact on students' achievement outcomes. This line of research, however, has not yet found its way into second language pedagogy and little, if any, empirical evidence exists on which set of EFL teacher characteristics promotes positive student learning outcomes. In line with this argument, the present study investigated three important teacher-related variables, i.e. teaching styles, teachers’ sense of efficacy, and teacher reflectivity to see how they relate to student achievement gains in ELT. 30 EFL teachers teaching in Ilam (Iran) high schools participated in this study. The final exam score of the participants' students served as the dependent variable of the study. The results of multiple regression analysis (R=.91) showed that the three variables investigated can significantly predict student achievement outcomes. Besides the R value, the results showed individual correlations between each pair of the variables which reveal interesting relationships. 

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In recent years the notion of teachers' professional development has featured regularly in the field of second language teaching and received great attention as a result of concerns for teacher education, particularly factors affecting teacher's principled pragmatism in the postmethod era. One such factor functioning as the focus of this study is teacher efficacy. Using Dellinger, Bobbett, Olivier, and Ellett's (2008) Teachers’ Efficacy Beliefs System-Self Form (TEBS-Self) (consisting of the six sub-scales of communication/clarification, management/climate, accommodating individual differences, motivation of students, managing learning routines, and higher order thinking skills), this study investigated the relationship between EFL teachers' expectation of their efficacy and the three teacher variables of gender, years of experience in EFL teaching, and relatedness of their education to ELT. As many as 59 EFL teachers were administered the TEBS-Self. Results showed that the three selected teacher characteristics did not affect teachers' evaluation of their efficacy. The findings imply that teachers need reflective teaching practice to develop a good understanding of their efficacy.

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Nowadays, teachers are receiving more attention in the studies done in mainstream education since it is believed that they play the most important role in educational settings, and therefore their different aspects, such as teacher efficacy, burnout, teaching style, and emotional intelligence, have received great attention. Moreover, demographic characteristics of teachers are more examined these days since they are thought to play major roles in teachers’ performance in the classroom. Despite great attention to different aspects of teachers and their demographics in mainstream education, such studies are rare in the English Language Teaching field. This study was therefore designed to explore possible relationships among English language teachers’ sense of efficacy, burnout, teaching style, and emotional intelligence on the one hand, and to document probable differences among them with respect to teachers’ gender, degree, and experience on the other hand. To this end, four different instruments, one for each of the variables, were administered among 264 Iranian English language teachers. The findings showed significant even though not high correlations among some of the components of teacher efficacy, burnout, teaching style, and emotional intelligence, as well as significant differences among some the components of these variables with respect to teachers’ gender, degree, and experience. The results of this study can help teacher educators in dealing with different teachers since they will know about the variations among teachers’ performances in the classroom and the problems any teacher with certain characteristics may have.  

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The aim of this qualitative study is to explore the role of the micropolitics of schools for gifted students in the EFL teachers’ professional interests in the workplace. Results of interviews revealed that to establish their professional interests, teachers involved in conflict and rivalry as well as collaboration and coalition. Furthermore, teachers’ micropolitical actions were interrelated with their efficacy beliefs. Self-interests such as public recognition and high visibility were sought as they provided a positive feedback on teachers’ professional behavior and substantiated their efficacy. Material interests such as the use of the smart boards, the Internet, and extra resources were further means through which they could present their informed and efficacious character to others. Organizational interests also confirmed teachers’ efficacy since only effective teachers were recruited in schools for gifted students. Teachers’ social interests achieved through developing affinity and rapport with others, particularly the principals, were the prerequisite for the establishment of all other professional interests. The findings were discussed with reference to the importance of fostering micropolitical literacy and the effect of information on school micropolitics on teachers’ ability to develop appropriate coping strategies.