Sources of self-efficacy of Vietnamese EFL teachers: A qualitative study

•Vietnamese EFL teachers drew on 4 sources to construct self-efficacy.•Social persuasion was the most influential source.•Cognitive mastery experiences were an additional source.•Cultural factors influenced cognitive processing of efficacy information.

This article reports on a qualitative study investigating Vietnamese EFL teachers' perceptions of sources of self-efficacy information. Findings suggested that four sources of efficacy information appeared to influence teachers' sense of self-efficacy. Contrary to widespread belief, mastery experiences were not the most influential source of efficacy information. Rather, social persuasion was. Study teachers reported various vicarious experiences and physiological/affective states as supplementary self-efficacy sources, including cognitive mastery experiences, which were deemed more powerful than enactive mastery experiences. The study highlights a range of Vietnamese cultural and contextual factors that influenced the way the teachers selected, weighed and interpreted efficacy information.