Exploring the Interplay between Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perceptions of Research and their Academic Degrees

This study aimed to explore the relationship between English language instructors’ conceptions of research holding different academic degrees. To this end, from the population of teachers teaching in different EFL contexts both at Islamic Azad and state universities in Mazandaran province, Iran, a sample of fifty teachers were selected based on a purposive sampling method comprising 20 B.A., 20 M.A., and 10 PhD instructors respectively. To measure the targeted groups attitude concerning the necessity of research for EFL instructors teaching in various academic settings, Borg s (2009) questionnaire was utilized. The prompts on the questionnaire represented different scenarios such as types of research, characteristics of high-quality research, teachers’ opinions about necessity of research in academic environments, the need for teachers engagement in reading related research studies and their commitment to conducting research, as well as their research profile over the last five years. The analysis and interpretation of the obtained data revealed that there was a significant difference among the samples under investigation in regard with their attitudes about the pre-specified scenarios addressed by the questionnaire. The results indicated that the EFL instructors type of academic degree and their views about the need for teachers to have their hands on research were highly correlated and statistically significant. Notably, the findings transpired that there was a great need for raising EFL instructors awareness and knowledge of research in foreign language teaching because the teaching self can turn into a meaningful process through teachers direct involvement in research.