Predicting English as a foreign language learners’ motivation through teachers’ credibility and self-efficacy: Using structural equation modeling

To boost students’ motivation, educators have a noteworthy impact on this progress, and various aspects associated with teachers such as their traits and beliefs in their abilities. For a long time, it has been broadly acknowledged that self-efficacy is an essential element of motivation that impacts how students engage with their studies. Also, another element is the credibility of the teacher, which pertains to how much the students believe in the teacher. As a result, this study was carried out to inspect the impact of EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and credibility on learners’ motivation. Accordingly, 316 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners participated in the research. Three scales were given to the students and the gathered information was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM). The findings indicated that both teachers’ credibility and self-efficacy have been proven to impact learners’ motivation in the EFL educational field. 68% of changes in the EFL students’ motivation can be predicted by their teachers’ credibility, and about 71% of changes in the EFL learners’ motivation can be predicted by their teachers’ self-efficacy. The outcomes of the study and their implications for teaching were presented, and suggestions for future studies were also provided.