Teacher well-being and burnout in English Language Teaching (ELT)

Teacher burnout is an increasingly pressing concern in English Language Teaching (ELT), with wide-ranging implications for educators’ mental health, professional sustainability, and student learning outcomes. This narrative literature review explores the causes, dynamics, and mitigation strategies of burnout in ELT contexts. Two guiding questions shape the review: (1) What are the primary factors contributing to burnout among ELT teachers? and (2) What strategies have been proposed to mitigate burnout and enhance their well-being? The review synthesizes literature published between 2000 and 2024, drawing from education, psychology, and applied linguistics. Key factors identified include excessive workload, emotional labor, institutional pressures, job insecurity, and sociocultural stressors. The review also incorporates emerging constructs such as emo-educational divorce, teacher motivation types, emotional intelligence, feedback receptivity, and assessment beliefs, offering a more nuanced and comprehensive understanding of burnout in ELT. This review goes beyond description to critically compare its findings with traditional burnout models, showing that ELT teachers face context-specific emotional and relational challenges that require specialized support. The discussion highlights the need for reforms in teacher development, feedback systems, and institutional leadership. Limitations of the review include its narrative approach and focus on English-language sources, which may limit generalizability. The paper concludes with practical recommendations and identifies directions for future research, including the need for longitudinal, mixed-methods, and cross-cultural studies that further explore psychological and emotional dimensions of burnout in ELT.