FACTORS AFFECTING TURKISH EFL TEACHERS’ LEVEL OF BURNOUT: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

Serious consequences of teachers’ experienced burnout have repeatedly been reported. Thus, it is important to identify teachers’ level of burnout and underlying factors. Accordingly, the current study aims to investigate the level of burnout English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher in Türkiye may feel, and if four factors (age, gender, length of teaching experience, and type of school) predict their level of burnout. To that end, a quantitative orientation was adopted. Through convenience sampling 132 EFL teachers working in different regions of Türkiye voluntarily took part in the research. They were asked to fill out Maslach’s Burnout Inventory-Educators Survey, and to provide some demographic information. Three separate scores for each participant were obtained through three subscales in the 22- item Likert-type inventory; emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement. Multiple regression analysis and a full-factorial ANOVA were conducted to reveal any possible effects of the four factors on the perceived burnout of the participants. The results revealed that majority of EFL teachers experience diminished personal accomplishment at a high level. Among the four variables, age was the most reliable precursor of burnout; however, the only statistically significant interaction was with depersonalization. The results suggest that EFL teachers need to see more concrete outcomes of their professional effort to improve their sense of personal accomplishment. In addition, as teachers get older, they may be engaged in activities that help them refresh their professional enthusiasm to prevent depersonalization.