An Investigation of Teaching Anxiety among Novice and Experienced Iranian EFL Teachers Across Gender

The present study was an attempt to investigate teacher anxiety among practicing EFL teachers in the Iranian context. In particular, this study tried to identify different sources of anxiety among male and female teachers across novice and experienced EFL instructors. Using a self-report questionnaire, adapted from Ferguson (2012), the researcher collected data from 114 EFL teachers working in universities, high schools and language centers. The analysis of data revealed that about 57.65% of teachers had the feelings of anxiety in one way or another. Furthermore, of five main categories, Interpersonal Relations had the highest impact whereas Employment Structure seemed to have the lowest effect on anxiety. Other categories, Language Proficiency and Knowledge, Facilities and Resources and Other Factors, exercised moderate effects on teacher anxiety. The study also found that of 48 items as the sources of anxiety, most of the localized items were of great influence on teaching anxiety. In addition, there was a weak and negative relationship between years of experience and the amount of tension experienced by teachers. However, no meaningful correlation was found between gender and occupational anxiety.