LAUSR

This study investigated how contextual differences may affect EFL teachers' self-efficacy and their perceptions of its strengthening/weakening sources. Data were collected from 106 Iranian EFL teachers followed by 14 individual interviews. The findings showed that teachers in private institutes feel significantly more efficacious than their counterparts in public schools. This considerable difference is attributed to both frequency and variety of exposure to sources of teacher self-efficacy. Furthermore, verbal persuasion (rather than mastery experience) seems to be the most powerful source of self-efficacy among Iranian teachers. In contrast, unfavorable educational setting is the main factor diminishing EFL teachers' self-efficacy.