Home Linguistics & Semiotics Contributions of significant others to second language teacher well-being: a self-determination theory perspective
Article
Licensed
Unlicensed Requires Authentication

Contributions of significant others to second language teacher well-being: a self-determination theory perspective

  • Mostafa Nazari ORCID logo , Sedigheh Karimpour ORCID logo EMAIL logo and Peter I. De Costa ORCID logo
Published/Copyright: April 22, 2024

Abstract

The present study explores the contributions of significant others to 10 Iranian English language teachers’ well-being by drawing on self-determination theory. We define significant others as individuals who play a key role in the emotional dynamics that teachers experience and serve as the impetus for those emotional experiences. Data were collected from questionnaires, narrative frames, and semi-structured interviews. Analyses of the data revealed that significant others contributed to the teachers’ competence (becoming more agentic), autonomy (alignment and emotion labor), and relatedness (interpersonal emotionality) in relation to their well-being. Our findings indicate that significant others define teachers’ relational well-being through shaping their identities, agencies, and emotions in interpersonal interactions and relationships. We also discuss implications for pre-service and in-service teachers as well as for teacher educators, and emphasize the need to develop a more nested understanding of well-being and the myriad of factors influencing it.


Corresponding author: Sedigheh Karimpour, Department of English Language, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Sari, Iran, E-mail:

References

Adams, Nicole, Todd Little & Richard Ryan. 2017. Self-determination theory. In Michael Wehmeyer, Karrie Shogren, Todd Little & Shane Lopez (eds.), Development of self-determination through the life-course, 47–54. Cham: Springer.10.1007/978-94-024-1042-6_4Search in Google Scholar

Ary, Donald, Lucy Cheser Jacobs, Christine K. Sorensen Irvine & David Walker. 2018. Introduction to research in education. Belmont, CA: Cengage Learning.Search in Google Scholar

Barcelos, Anna. 2015. Unveiling the relationship between language learning beliefs, emotions and identities. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 5(2). 301–325. https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2015.5.2.6.Search in Google Scholar

Barcelos, Anna, Anna, Aragão, Maria Ruohotie-Lyhty & Gysele Colombo-Gomes. 2022. Contemporary perspectives on research about emotions in language teaching. Revista Brasileirao de Linguistica Aplicada 22 (1). 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1590/1984-6398202221654.Search in Google Scholar

Beijaard, Douwe, Koopman Maaike & Schellings Gonny. 2022. Reframing teacher professional identity and learning. In Ian Menter (ed.), The Palgrave handbook of teacher education research, 1–23. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.10.1007/978-3-030-59533-3_28-1Search in Google Scholar

Barkhuizen, Gary. 2016. Language teacher identity research: An introduction. In Reflections on language teacher identity research, 9–19. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781315643465-5Search in Google Scholar

Barkhuizen, Gary & Sal Consoli. 2021. Pushing the edge in narrative inquiry. System 102. 102656.10.1016/j.system.2021.102656Search in Google Scholar

Benesch, Sarah. 2017. Emotions and English language teaching: Exploring teachers’ emotion labor. Oxfordshire: Routledge.10.4324/9781315736181Search in Google Scholar

Berger, Peter B. & Thomas, Luckmann. 1967. The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. American Sociological Review 32(1). 137.10.2307/2091739Search in Google Scholar

Blumer, Herbert. 1969. Symbolic interactionism: Perspective and method. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.Search in Google Scholar

Deci, Edward. 1975. Notes on the theory and meta theory of intrinsic motivation. Organizational Behavior and Human Performance 15(1). 130–145.10.1016/0030-5073(76)90033-7Search in Google Scholar

Deci, Edward L. & Richard M. Ryan. 1980. Self-determination theory: When mind mediates behavior. Journal of Mind and Behavior 1. 33–43.Search in Google Scholar

Deci, Edward L. & Richard M. Ryan. 2000. The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry 11(4). 227–268. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli1104_01.Search in Google Scholar

Deci, Edward L., Richard M. Ryan & Frédéric Guay. 2013. Self-determination theory and actualization of human potential. In D. M. McInerney, H. W. Marsh, R. G. Craven & F. Guay (eds.), Theory driving research: New wave perspectives on self-processes and human development, 109–133. Charlotte: IAP Information Age Publishing.Search in Google Scholar

Derakhshan, Ali, Yongliang Wang, Yongxiang Wang & Jos Luis Ortega-Mart. 2023. Towards innovative research approaches to investigating the role of emotional variables in promoting language teachers’ and learners’ mental health. International Journal of Mental Health Promotion 25(7). 823–832.10.32604/ijmhp.2023.029877Search in Google Scholar

Dewaele, Jean-Marc & Liana Maria Pavelescu. 2019. The relationship between incommensurable emotions and willingness to communicate in English as a foreign language: A multiple case study. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching 15(1). 66–80.10.1080/17501229.2019.1675667Search in Google Scholar

Ebadijalal, Marjan & Shahab Moradkhani. 2022. Understanding EFL teachers’ wellbeing: An activity theoretic perspective. Language Teaching Research 13621688221125558. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221125558.Search in Google Scholar

Gan, Zhengdong. 2014. Learning from interpersonal interactions during the practicum: A case study of non-native ESL student teachers. Journal of Education for Teaching 40(2). 128–139.10.1080/02607476.2013.869969Search in Google Scholar

Greenier, Vincent, Troy, Ali, Derakhshan & Jalil Fathi. 2021. Emotion regulation and psychological well-being in teacher work engagement: A case of British and Iranian English language teachers. System 97. 102446.10.1016/j.system.2020.102446Search in Google Scholar

Hobson, Andrew J. 2020. ONSIDE mentoring: A framework for supporting professional learning, development, and well-being. In B. J. Irby, J. N. Boswell, L. J. Searby, F. Kochan, R. Garza & N. Abdelrahman (eds.), The Wiley international handbook of mentoring: Paradigms, practices, programs, and possibilities, 521–545. John Wiley & Sons.10.1002/9781119142973.ch32Search in Google Scholar

Huppert, Felicia A. 2009. Psychological well-being: Evidence regarding its causes and consequences. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-being 1(2). 137–164.10.1111/j.1758-0854.2009.01008.xSearch in Google Scholar

Jakoby, Nina R. 2015. The self and significant others: toward a sociology of loss. Illness, Crisis & Loss 23(2). 129–174. https://doi.org/10.1177/1054137315575843.Search in Google Scholar

Jin, Jun, Sarah Mercer, Sonja Babic, & Astrid Mairitsch. 2021. You just appreciate every little kindness’: Chinese language teachers’ wellbeing in the UK. System 96. 102400.10.1016/j.system.2020.102400Search in Google Scholar

Kayi-Aydar, Hayriye. 2015. Teacher agency, positioning, and English language learners: Voices of pre-service classroom teachers. Teaching and Teacher Education 45. 94–103.10.1016/j.tate.2014.09.009Search in Google Scholar

Kayi-Aydar, Hayriye. 2021. A framework for positioning analysis: From identifying to analyzing (pre)positions in narrated story lines. System 102. 102600.10.1016/j.system.2021.102600Search in Google Scholar

Lichtman, Marilyn. 2013. Qualitative research for the social sciences. London: SAGE Publications.Search in Google Scholar

Lin, Tzu Bin, Liyi Wang & Muyu Wang. 2018. Diverse interpretations on nativeness but unanimous subscription to native-speakerism: Identity of future non-native English teachers in Taiwan. The Journal of Asia TEFL 15. 566–899. 10.18823/asiatefl.2018.15.3.3.603.10.18823/asiatefl.2018.15.3.3.603Search in Google Scholar

MacIntyre, Peter D., Jessica M. Ross, Kyle Talbot, Sarah Mercer, Tammy Gregersen & Claire Ann Banga. 2019. Stressors, personality and wellbeing among language teachers. System 82. 26–38.10.1016/j.system.2019.02.013Search in Google Scholar

Mairitsch, Astrid, Sonja Babic, Sarah Mercer, Giulia Sulis, Jun Jin & Jim King. 2021. Being a student, becoming a teacher: The wellbeing of pre-service language teachers in Austria and the UK. Teaching and Teacher Education 106. 103452.10.1016/j.tate.2021.103452Search in Google Scholar

Mann, S. 2016. The research interview: Reflective practice and reflexivity in research processes. Cham: Springer.10.1057/9781137353368_1Search in Google Scholar

Mead, George Herbert. 1934. Mind, self, and society: from the standpoint of a social behaviorist. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.Search in Google Scholar

Mead, George Herbert. 1965. The social psychology of George Herbert Mead: Self. Part 6. Chicago: University of Chicago.10.7208/chicago/9780226187112.001.0001Search in Google Scholar

Mercer, Sarah. 2021. An agenda for well-being in ELT: An ecological perspective. ELT Journal 75(1). 14–21. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccaa062.Search in Google Scholar

Merriam, Sharan B. 2009. Qualitative research: A guide to design and implementation. Chicago: Jossey-Bass.Search in Google Scholar

Moses, Ikupa, Amanda Berry, Nadira Saab & Wilfried Admiraal. 2017. Who wants to become a teacher? Typology of student-teachers’ commitment to teaching. Journal of Education for Teaching 43(4). 444–457.Search in Google Scholar

Nazari, Mostafa & Sedigheh Karimpour 2022. The role of emotion labor in English language teacher identity construction: An activity theory perspective. System 107. 102811. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2022.102811.Search in Google Scholar

Nazari, Mostafa, Peter De Costa & Sedigheh Karimpour. 2023. The role of institutional policy in English language teacher autonomy, agency, and identity: A poststructural perspective. Language Teaching Research 1–25. https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688221143476.Search in Google Scholar

Nazari, Mostafa & Sedigheh Karimpour. 2023. “Teacher, man mitoonam, ?”: Translanguaging and English language teacher emotion labor. Journal of Language, Identity and Education 28. 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1080/15348458.2023.2167206.Search in Google Scholar

Nazari, Mostafa & Xodabande Ismail. 2022. English language teacher well-being and professional identity construction: A self-determination theory perspective. In L. J. P. Herrera, G. Martinez-Alba & E. Trinh (eds.), Teacher well-being in English language teaching, 99–112. London: Routledge.10.4324/9781003314936-10Search in Google Scholar

Ross, Andrew & Damian J. Rivers. 2018. Emotional experiences beyond the classroom: Interactions with the social world. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching 8(1). 103–126.10.14746/ssllt.2018.8.1.5Search in Google Scholar

Ryan, Richard M. & Edward L. Deci. 2001. On happiness and human potentials: a review of research on hedonic and eudaimonic well-being. Annual Review of Psychology 52(1). 141–166. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.52.1.141.Search in Google Scholar

Ryan, Richard M. & Edward L. Deci. 2012. Multiple identities within a single self: A self-determination theory perspective on internalization within contexts and cultures. In M. R. Leary & J. P. Tangney (eds.), Handbook of self and identity, 225–246. New York: The Guilford Press.Search in Google Scholar

Ryan, Richard M. & Edward L. Deci. 2019. Brick by brick: The origins, development, and future of self-determination theory. Advances in Motivation Science 6. 111–156.10.1016/bs.adms.2019.01.001Search in Google Scholar

Ryan, Richard M., Bart Soenens & Maarten Vansteenkiste. 2018. Reflections on self-determination theory as an organizing framework for personality psychology: Interfaces, integrations, issues, and unfinished business. Journal of Personality 87(1). 115–145.10.1111/jopy.12440Search in Google Scholar

Sak, Mehmet & Nurdan Gurbuz. 2024. Dynamic changes in pre-service language teacher well-being in the classroom ecology: A micro approach. Tesol Quarterly 58(1). 168–194. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.3222.Search in Google Scholar

Serpe, Richard T. & Sheldon Stryker. 2011. The symbolic interactionist perspective and identity theory. In Handbook of identity theory and research, 225–248. New York, NY: Springer eBooks.10.1007/978-1-4419-7988-9_10Search in Google Scholar

Serpe, Richard T., Robin Stryker & Brian A. Powell. 2020. Structural symbolic interaction and identity theory: The Indiana school and beyond. In Identity and Symbolic Interaction, 1–33. Cham: Springer eBooks.10.1007/978-3-030-41231-9_1Search in Google Scholar

Sisask, Merike, Peeter Värnik, Airi Värnik, Alan Apter, Judit Balazs, Maria Balint, Julio Bobes, Romuald Brunner, Paul Corcoran, Doina Cosman, Dana Feldman, Christian Haring, Jean-Pierre Kahn, Vita Poštuvan, Alexandra Tubiana, Marco Sarchiapone, Camilla Wasserman, Vladimir Carli, Christina W. Hoven & Danuta Wasserman. 2013. Teacher satisfaction with school and psychological well-being affects their readiness to help children with mental health problems. Health Education Journal 73(4). 382–393. https://doi.org/10.1177/0017896913485742.Search in Google Scholar

Song, Juyoung. 2016. Emotions and language teacher identity: Conflicts, vulnerability, and transformation. Tesol Quarterly 50(3). 631–654. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.312.Search in Google Scholar

Sulis, Giulia, Astrid Mairitsch, Sonja Babic, Sarah Mercer & Pia Resnik. 2023. ELT teachers’ agency for wellbeing. ELT Journal 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccad050.Search in Google Scholar

Talbot, Kyle & Sarah Mercer. 2018. Exploring university ESL/EFL teachers’ emotional well-being and emotional regulation in the United States, Japan and Austria. Chinese Journal of Applied Linguistics 41(4). 410–432.10.1515/cjal-2018-0031Search in Google Scholar

Tao, Jian & Xuesong Gao. 2021. Language teacher agency. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.10.1017/9781108916943Search in Google Scholar

Veenstra, René, Siegwart Lindenberg, Gijs, Huitsing, Miia Sainio & Christina Salmivalli. 2014. The role of teachers in bullying: The relation between antibullying attitudes, efficacy, and efforts to reduce bullying. Journal of Educational Psychology 106(4). 1135–1143. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0036110.Search in Google Scholar

Yazan, Bedrettin & Kristen Lindahl. 2020. Language teacher identity in TESOL: Teacher education and practice as identity work. London: Routledge.10.4324/9780429342875Search in Google Scholar

Zembylas, Michalinos. 2003. Emotions and teacher identity: A poststructural perspective. Teachers and Teaching 9(3). 213–238.10.1080/13540600309378Search in Google Scholar

Received: 2023-07-10
Accepted: 2024-02-28
Published Online: 2024-04-22
Published in Print: 2025-11-25

© 2024 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston

Articles in the same Issue

  1. Frontmatter
  2. Research Articles
  3. Learning academic vocabulary through reading online news
  4. A Q methodological study into pre-service Chinese as a foreign language (CFL) teachers’ mindsets about teaching competencies
  5. Assessing written production in L2 Mandarin Chinese: fluency and accuracy
  6. Machine translation as a form of feedback on L2 writing
  7. Acquisition of collocations under different glossing modalities and the mediating role of learners’ perceptual learning style
  8. Unpacking changing emotions in multiple contexts: idiodynamic study of college students’ academic emotions
  9. Exploring L2 learners’ processing of unknown words during subtitled viewing through self-reports
  10. Model text as corrective feedback in L2 writing: the role of working memory and vocabulary size
  11. Exploring learner-related variables in child collaborative writing: interaction mindset, willingness to communicate and proficiency
  12. Contributions of significant others to second language teacher well-being: a self-determination theory perspective
  13. The stone left unturned: boredom among young EFL learners
  14. The impact of out-of-school L2 input and interaction on adolescent classroom immersion and community-L2 learners’ L2 vocabulary: opportunities for interaction are key
  15. Promoting interaction and lowering speaking anxiety in an EMI course: a group dynamic assessment approach
  16. Relationship between learner creativity, task planning, and speaking performance in L2 narrative tasks
  17. Influencing factors of L2 writers’ engagement in an assessment as learning-focused context
  18. The cognitive-emotional dialectics in second language development: speech and co-speech gestures of Chinese learners of English
  19. Impact of task type and task complexity on negotiation of meaning in young learners of Chinese as a second language
  20. Effects of working memory and task type on syntactic complexity in EFL learners’ writing
  21. Assessing effects of source text complexity on L2 learners’ interpreting performance: a dependency-based approach
  22. Incidental learning of collocations through reading an academic text
  23. Listenership always matters: active listening ability in L2 business English paired speaking tasks
  24. Enhancing the processing advantage: two psycholinguistic investigations of formulaic expressions in Chinese as a second language
  25. The effect of form presentation mode and language learning aptitude on the learning burden and decay of L2 vocabulary knowledge
  26. Examining the impact of foreign language anxiety and language contact on oral proficiency: a study of Chinese as a second language learners
  27. The dynamics of changes in linguistic complexity and writing scores in timed argumentative writing among beginning-level EFL learners
  28. Perception of English semivowels by Japanese-speaking learners of English
  29. Corrigendum
  30. Corrigendum to: Development and validation of Questionnaire for Self-regulated Learning Writing Strategies (QSRLWS) for EFL learners
Downloaded on 1.2.2026 from https://www.degruyterbrill.com/document/doi/10.1515/iral-2023-0158/html
Scroll to top button