Theses and Dissertations Collection

With the increasing numbers of emergent multilingual learners (EMLs) in U.S. public schools, it is imperative that all teachers feel confident and competent to teach these students. Teacher self-efficacy is a teacher’s belief in their capability to execute teaching tasks. High teacher self-efficacy is positively associated with teacher motivation, job satisfaction, and teacher behaviors related to student academic achievement. This study sought to answer the questions: 1) Are there significant differences in levels of PST self-efficacy for teaching EMLs based on PST educational experience? 2) Are there significant differences in levels of PST self-efficacy for teaching EMLs based on personal background? 3) Is there a significant difference in PST self-efficacy for teaching EMLS based on an interaction between educational experience and personal background? The ELL Education Self-Efficacy Scale (Fu & Wang, 2021) was used to measure PST self-efficacy across three domains, pedagogical content, linguistic, and sociocultural for teaching EMLs. A total of 51 survey responses were analyzed with a two-way MANOVA. The findings indicated no overall significant differences in PST self-efficacy for teaching EMLs based on personal background and educational experience. However, there was a significant mean difference in pedagogical content self-efficacy for teaching EMLs based on educational experience. The findings suggest that practicum experiences with EMLs significantly, positively impact PST perceived efficacy for using appropriate pedagogical content with EMLs. The implications for intentionally designed educational opportunities to foster PST self-efficacy for teaching EMLs are discussed.