Language Testing in Focus: An International Journal

There is a research scarcity in theoretical conceptualizing of hope for teaching second or foreign languages. On the other hand, adopting an exploratory mixed-methods research design, Ghadyani et al. (2020) presented a categorical framework of hope for teaching English as a foreign language. Continuing the previous study, the specific objective of this paper is to depict the process by which hope for teaching English as a foreign language is created. Given conducted in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of experienced EFL teachers, a qualitative theoretical model of hope for teaching EFL was developed. Piloting provided a benchmark against which to validate the qualitative results. In the testing phase, 228 Iranian EFL teachers were given the developed scale (Ghadyani et al., 2020). The final theoretical model of hope for teaching EFL was developed and confirmed via performing statistical data analysis. It was revealed that hope for teaching English as a foreign language can be achieved through five paths. The process tends to start with the factor ‘interpersonal relationship’ and it comes to an end with the factor ‘anticipated effort’. The variable ‘source’ was identified and confirmed as the core factor. Additionally, results of this study are compared with those of the research done by Ghadyani et al. (2021, 2022). The findings would be valuable to program designers and curriculum evaluators in assessing the effective use of the second/foreign language teaching.