Detecting Agents of Emotional Exhaustion Among Iranian Language Teachers within the Framework of Attribution Theory

Abstract

This study aimed at recognizing sources of emotional problems of nine English language teachers and proposing strategies to obviate the potential contributors. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was administered to 105 language teachers. Among those with very high scores on emotional exhaustion subscale of the inventory, nine were chosen on account of convenience sampling. More than eight hours of unstructured interviews with the participants were recorded and transcribed. First, Thematic Content Analysis (TCA) was used to extract the recurring themes. Second, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was utilized to reveal the loci of attribution with emotionally exhausted language teachers. The result indicated that agents of attribution are mainly external to the teachers with underpayment as the top contributor. The linkages of the findings with the related literature are discussed and potential preventive strategies are suggested aligned with the results of this study and others in the literature. This study can help educational policymakers, administrators and teacher training programmers to understand the emotional problems of language teachers in particular and teachers in all disciplines in general and plan to prevent further repercussions.

Keywords: Language Teaching, Teacher Emotions, Attribution Theory, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Teacher Burnout