Teachers in any educational context typically experience a range of difficulties and challenges, yet, most of them are deeply committed to their profession (Greenier et al., 2021). This sense of commitment is technically called “Work Engagement (WE)” which pertains to “a positive, fulfilling and work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption dimensions” (Schaufeli et al., 2002, p. 75). As put forward by Hakanen et al. (2006), highly engaged teachers devote more energy to fulfilling their professional responsibilities. Bakker et al. (2008) also noted that teachers who demonstrate higher engagement in classroom contexts are more passionate and enthusiastic about their vocation. According to Valenta (2010), teachers’ work engagement can dramatically enhance their effectiveness in academic contexts. He postulated that teachers who are emotionally and physically engaged with their profession commonly put more effort into preparing, designing, and instructing course content, which results in their professional success. Due to the importance of work engagement, over the last two decades, a rising number of studies have been conducted to delve into the determinants of foreign/s language teachers’ engagement (e.g., Saks, 2006; Parker and Martin, 2009; Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2014; McIlveen and Perera, 2016; Buric and Macuka, 2018; Perera et al., 2018; Chan et al., 2020; Topchyan and Woehler, 2021). Nevertheless, factors contributing to English as a foreign language (EFL) and English as second language (ESL) teachers’ work engagement have rarely been studied (e.g., Greenier et al., 2021; Han and Wang, 2021; Xie, 2021). It implies that the value and significance of this construct in English language classes are not widely recognized by researchers and academics. To address this gap, the current study intends to probe into the role of two important psychological elements, namely, self-efficacy and psychological well-being, on EFL teachers’ work engagement. The value of self-efficacy in promoting teachers’ work engagement is well manifested in “Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)” of Bandura (1997) in that self-efficacy is one of the psychological elements that predominate the quantity and quality of human actions. To him, “people often avoid doing tasks which are beyond their capacities, and they do those tasks that they feel they are able to control” (Bandura, 1999, p. 163). Accordingly, self-efficacious teachers who assume that they are adequately capable of instructing learning content, engaging pupils, and managing classroom contexts will put more physical and emotional effort to do so. On the other hand, those teachers who do not believe in themselves and their abilities will demonstrate a low level of engagement in classroom contexts (Bandura, 2001). Besides, the importance of psychological well-being in improving teachers’ work engagement is clearly illustrated by Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi (2000) in their reintroduction of “Positive Psychology Theory.” They illustrated that positive emotions, such as “happiness,” “joy,” and “satisfaction,” which are all indicators of one’s psychological well-being, prompt individuals to put more effort into doing activities that they are in charge of (Seligman, 2011). Extending this theory into educational contexts, positive emotions, including contentment, satisfaction, and happiness, that teachers experience in relation to their pupils, colleagues, and working environment result in their psychological well-being (Mercer et al., 2016), which, in turn, improves their work engagement (Dewaele et al., 2019; Wang et al., 2021). Drawing on these theories, examining teachers’ sense of efficacy and psychological well-being in relation to their work engagement seems logical.

Self-efficacy, as a potential predictor of teaching engagement, refers to “peoples’ beliefs about what they can do or how certain they are that they can execute certain actions” (Bong and Skaalvik, 2003, p. 2). Similarly, teachers’ self-efficacy pertains to the degree to which teachers think that they can positively affect their pupils’ academic behaviors and learning outcomes (Friedman and Kass, 2002). This notion was defined by Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2017) as “individual teachers’ beliefs in their own ability to plan, organize, and carry out activities that are required to achieve given educational objectives” (p. 153). As Guidetti et al. (2018) noted, teachers who firmly believe in their professional capabilities are more successful in attaining their instructional goals. Poulou et al. (2019) also mentioned that possessing a sense of self-efficacy empowers teachers to effectively manage classroom contexts.

As another possible determinant of teacher work engagement, psychological well-being generally deals with “one’s degree of happiness and satisfaction with his/her life, work, and physical and mental health” (Garg and Rastogi, 2009, p. 43). Teacher psychological well-being, in particular, pertains to the absence of psychological disorders, including depression, stress, uneasiness, and anxiety (Wong and Zhang, 2014). According to Mercer et al. (2016), teacher psychological well-being serves a pivotal function in the quality of instruction. To them, teachers who enjoy higher psychological well-being can make use of their full potential to teach effectively. Gregersen et al. (2020) also illustrated that psychological well-being supports instructors to teach creatively, use effective instructional strategies, and establish favorable relationships with their pupils.

Given the significance of teachers’ self-efficacy and psychological well-being in educational contexts (Guidetti et al., 2018; Gregersen et al., 2020), a large body of studies have scrutinized the predictors of these constructs (e.g., Klassen and Chiu, 2010; Kurt et al., 2012; Mouton et al., 2013; Bermejo-Toro et al., 2016; Cansoy and Parlar, 2018; Seifalian and Derakhshan, 2018; Fathi et al., 2020; MacIntyre et al., 2020). Likewise, considerable attention has been paid to their educational outcomes (e.g., Huppert, 2009; Klassen and Chiu, 2011; Klassen and Tze, 2014; Helms-Lorenz and Maulana, 2016; Ghasemzadeh et al., 2019; Fathi et al., 2021). Nonetheless, the consequences of these two psychological factors for teachers’ work engagement have remained elusive. That is, a few research studies have focused on the impact of teachers’ sense of efficacy and well-being on their work engagement (e.g., Aiello and Tesi, 2017; Greenier et al., 2021; Han and Wang, 2021). Additionally, among the existing literature, no empirical study in general education or language education has investigated these two constructs simultaneously to assess their power in predicting teacher work engagement. In order to bridge these gaps, the present study sought to delve into the impact of self-efficacy and psychological well-being as determinants of teachers’ engagement in Chinese EFL classes.

To identify whether the obtained data were distributed normally, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test was applied. The results of K-S test are demonstrated in the table below.

As Table 1 indicates, the Sig values of the normality test (K-S) for teachers’ self-efficacy, psychological well-being, and work engagement are 0.11, 0.20, and 0.09, respectively. With regard to these values, it is plausible to infer that the data were distributed normally. The descriptive statistics of the main constructs, including psychological well-being, self-efficacy, and work engagement, are provided below (Table 2).

As Table 2 reveals, no outliers or discrepancies were found in the datasets. Table 2 also demonstrated that teacher psychological well-being with a mean score of 106.20, and teacher work engagement with a mean score of 72.26 gained the highest and lowest average points, respectively. The findings of Cronbach alpha analyses for the scales of Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy, Psychological Well-being at Work, and Utrecht Work Engagement are shown hereunder (Table 3).

As shown in Table 3, all of the aforementioned scales attained acceptable Cronbach alpha indices. This implies that the questionnaires used in the current inquiry were highly reliable. To answer the first research question, which deals with the interrelationships of self-efficacy, psychological well-being, and work engagement, Pearson correlation was applied. The following table illustrates the correlation of the variables.

As demonstrated in Table 4, teachers’ self-efficacy was favorably associated with work engagement (r=0.33, n=304, p=0.000, α=0.01). Teacher psychological well-being was also positively correlated with work engagement (r=0.30, n=304, p=0.000, α=0.01). The Pearson correlation results also delineated a positive connection between teachers’ self-efficacy and psychological well-being (r=0.46, n=304, p=0.000, α=0.01).

The second research question, which concerned with the predictive power of teachers’ self-efficacy and psychological well-being, was also addressed through path analysis. The results of the path analysis are illuminated in Figure 1.

As diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 1, both self-efficacy (β=0.24, p<0.05) and psychological well-being (β=0.19, p<0.05) were found to be strong and positive antecedents of teacher work engagement. The goodness-of-fit indices (i.e., CFI, GFI, NFI, X²/df, and RMSEA) were used to assess how well the data obtained from participants fit the suggested model.

As illuminated in Table 5, the goodness-of-fit indices were found to be X²/df=1.85, GFI=0.97, CFI=0.91, NFI=0.96, and RMSEA=0.07, indicating that the suggested model highly fitted the gathered data.

The current inquiry was set to probe into the associations between Chinese EFL teachers’ self-efficacy, psychological well-being, and work engagement. Correlational analyses uncovered a considerable and favorable association, first, between teachers’ self-efficacy and work engagement, and second, between teachers’ psychological well-being and engagement. As to the significant relationship existing between teachers’ self-efficacy and work engagement, it can be noted that this result is consistent with that of Buric and Macuka (2018), who found a direct connection between teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs and teaching engagement. This result is also in line with findings of Skaalvik and Skaalvik (2019), which delineated that teachers’ self-efficacy is closely related to their engagement. The present result also corroborates findings of Han and Wang (2021), indicating that teachers’ self-efficacy is tied with their physical and emotional engagement in classroom contexts. Besides, the discovered association between teacher psychological well-being and work engagement also accords with previous investigations in this area. For one, this finding is consistent with research outcomes of Aiello and Tesi (2017), which depicted that teachers’ well-being in classroom environments is intertwined with their work engagement. This result also lends support to what Greenier et al. (2021) found in their cross-cultural inquiry. They found that English language teachers’ well-being is considerably associated with their active engagement in EFL/ESL classes.

In addition to its primary objective, this study aimed to delve into the predictability of Chinese EFL teachers’ engagement through their self-efficacy and psychological well-being. Put differently, this inquiry sought to determine whether or not Chinese EFL teachers’ engagement is subject to their sense of self-efficacy and psychological well-being. In the model of path analysis, self-efficacy, as an important psychological factor, was shown as a determinant of teaching engagement in Chinese EFL classes. That is, Chinese EFL teachers’ physical and emotional engagement was found to be positively affected by their self-efficacy beliefs. This finding resonates with the result of study of Ventura et al. (2015), illustrating the positive impact of self-efficacy beliefs on teachers’ work engagement. The current finding is also in congruence with the findings of several previous inquiries (e.g., Hakanen et al., 2006; Skaalvik and Skaalvik, 2010; Rogala et al., 2016; Seifalian and Derakhshan, 2018; Ghasemzadeh et al., 2019; Kim and Burić, 2020; Fathi et al., 2021) which identified self-efficacy as the negative predictor of teachers’ disengagement and burnout. The predictability of teachers’ work engagement through their sense of efficacy can be explained by “Social Cognitive Theory (SCT)” of Bandura (1997). In SCT, he referred to self-efficacy as one of the psychological factors which are capable of influencing human actions in terms of quantity and quality. He illustrated that “people often avoid doing tasks which are beyond their capacities, and they do those tasks that they feel they are able to control” (Bandura, 1999, p. 163). Thus, it is justified that teachers who have faith in their instructional abilities will be more likely to engage in classrooms.

Besides self-efficacy beliefs, psychological well-being had also a positive impact on Chinese EFL teachers’ work engagement, as delineated by the model of path analysis. This verifies the idea of Wong and Zhang (2014), who postulated that teachers who do not suffer from psychological disorders are more inclined to fulfill their occupational responsibilities. This finding further corroborates what Dagenais-Desmarais and Savoie (2012) stated in this regard. They asserted that teachers’ willingness to actively engage in educational environments is deeply rooted in their psychological well-being. This assertion is consonant with opinion of Brunetto et al. (2012) that “teachers who feel well psychologically are more committed to their profession” (p. 430). The predictability of Chinese EFL teachers’ work engagement through their psychological well-being can also be justified by what Mercer et al. (2016) and Wang et al. (2021) submitted in light of positive psychology theory. They illustrated that positive feelings that teachers experience in their interactions with students, colleagues, and school/university administrators culminate in their psychological well-being, which, in turn, promotes their work engagement. The present finding is in agreement with the findings of previous research studies (Brunetto et al., 2012; Aiello and Tesi, 2017; Greenier et al., 2021), which portrayed that teachers’ engagement in classroom contexts can be considerably improved by their psychological well-being.

Guided by “Social Cognitive Theory” (Bandura, 1997) and “Positive Psychology Movement” (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000), the impact of Chinese EFL teachers’ self-efficacy and psychological well-being on their work engagement was inspected. The findings of correlational and path analyses delineated that self-efficacy and psychological well-being, as two valuable psychological constructs, are highly influential in improving EFL teachers’ work engagement. Hence, it is reasonable to conclude that those English language instructors who enjoy a high degree of psychological well-being and those who firmly believe in their professional abilities and capabilities will demonstrate higher engagement in educational settings. This seems informative and instructive for institutional administrators. To improve teachers’ engagement in classroom contexts, school and university administrators are expected to provide a pleasant environment wherein teachers experience a sense of satisfaction and happiness. Such positive feelings, as Mercer et al. (2016) asserted, will result in teachers’ increased psychological well-being which is critical for their work engagement (Dewaele et al., 2019). The findings of the current inquiry may also be enlightening for those English language teachers who are not inclined to put the effort into executing their occupational tasks. Owing to the fact that a strong belief in personal knowledge and abilities prompts teachers to invest much more time and effort (Buric and Macuka, 2018), they are recommended to improve their sense of efficacy by expanding their instructional knowledge. It is also postulated that it will be insightful if teacher-student interpersonal variables are taken into consideration with respect to teachers’ positive and negative emotions (Xie and Derakhshan, 2021).

Finally, it is worth mentioning that the current study’s results are subject to some important limitations. First and foremost, this investigation was purely quantitative, employing close-ended questionnaires to delve into the participants’ viewpoints. To obtain more reliable outcomes, future inquiries are recommended to use some other instruments, including interviews and open-ended questionnaires, to collect the needed data. Second, in this study, the extent to which situational factors may affect the association of variables was disregarded, which needs to be assessed in future work. Third, this inquiry was conducted in China as an EFL country; hence, the current findings may not be applicable to ESL contexts.

The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material, and further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.

The studies involving human participants were reviewed and approved by the Shandong University of Finance and Economics Research Ethics Committee. The patients/participants provided their written informed consent to participate in this study.

XK conceptualized, collected the data, analyzed the data, and drafted the manuscript to submit it to Frontiers in Psychology.

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.