A Mixed Methods Study of the Relationship Between Cultural Capital of Senior High School English Teachers and Their Self-Efficacy in Iran’s English Language Classrooms

The present study sought to investigate the relationship between cultural capital of senior high school English teachers and their self-efficacy in Iran’s English language classrooms using a mixed methods approach. To this end, all senior high school English teachers in seven districts of Mashhad city in Iran were selected as the study population, out of whom 242 cases were chosen as the sample population using Morgan Sample Size Table. This is an applied research in which a descriptive survey method has been adopted. Self-efficacy and cultural capital questionnaires were used for collecting data. To verify the quantitative findings and to assess the accuracy of their results, interviews were used. Accordingly, a group of English teachers and high school students were invited for interviews. The qualitative data derived from interviews were analyzed using NVivo software. The results indicated a significant relationship between cultural capital of senior high school English teachers and their self-efficacy in Iran’s English language classrooms which was confirmed by the findings of both quantitative and qualitative methods. In other words, teachers with higher cultural capital had greater self-efficacy and therefore were more successful in teaching English to students.