Teachers’ Efficacy, Identity, and Motivational Strategies and their Effects on L2 learners’ Achievement

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between three teacher-related variables, namely, teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use, with students’ L2 achievement. The study further intended to pinpoint gender differences in each of the aforementioned teacher-related variables. To this end, 120 (60 male and 60 female) EFL teachers took part in the study by completing Teacher Efficacy Scale (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001), Institutional Identity Scale developed by Azimi (2012), and Motivational Strategy Use Scale developed by Cheng and Dornyei (2007). Furthermore, the final class outcomes of the teachers’ students (n=2045) were collected. The participants were EFL learners and their teachers. The results of Pearson Correlations indicated that there existed significant and positive relationship between the three aforementioned teacher-related variables of EFL teachers and their students’ L2 achievement. The results revealed that EFL teachers’ efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use had a significant and positive relationship with their students’ L2 achievement. A Significant difference was found between the male and female EFL teachers. Also, Motivational strategy use was the strongest predictor of Iranian EFL students’ L2 achievement. Based on the findings of the study, a number of pedagogical implications could be recommended. The findings will provide rational support for proposing that EFL teachers should invest in improving their knowledge of teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational


INTRODUCTION
Teachers are believed to have a fundamental role in students' achievement (Lasley, Siedentop & Yinger, 2006), and their characteristics can influence learners' performance (Rockoff, 2004). Moreover, as pointed out by Kelchtermans (2005), throughout the past few decades, particularly after Kumaravadivelu's (1994) work, the importance of instructors' characteristics and personal accounts has attracted numerous investigators in education. New educational trends have been giving increasing consideration to the dynamic, effective, and facilitating role of teachers (Nosratinia & Zaker, 2014). Varghese, Morgan, Johnston and Johnson (2005) believed that to understand educators, it is essential to consider the cultural, professional, political, contextual and individual differences that are typically assigned to them.
Though various elements can affect the effectiveness of teachers' performance, their teaching efficacy is regarded as a major feature which can positively affect instructional performances (Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001). Teacher efficacy can be defined as "the teacher's belief in his or her capabilities to organize and execute courses of action required to Published  successfully accomplishing a specific teaching task in a particular context" (Tschannen-Moran, Hoy & Hoy, 1998, p.22).
Teachers' identity is another factor which might have a vital role in learners' accomplishments. Hogg (2006) defines the concept of teachers' institutional identity as teachers' state of identification with the institutions, universities or schools wherein they teach. Furthermore, teachers' institutional identity is in actual fact the recognition of the main concepts of Social Identity Theory in Teacher Identity (Hogg, 2006). With reference to the impacts of instructor identity on different educational aspects and features, such as teacher promise and commitment (Day & Gu, 2007), investigating teachers' institutional identity may result in better understanding of instructional and educational practice and theories.
Additionally, teachers' motivational strategy use is another important factor concerning language learners' success, which is defined as "those motivational influences that are consciously exerted to achieve some systematic and enduring positive effect" (Dornyei, 2001, p.28). As pointed out by Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008), teachers' motivational strategy use is primarily referred to teaching mediation applied to nurture and specify their learners' motivation level.
The researchers motivated to conduct the present study for the following reasons: Firstly, because of the significance of teacher-related variables such as teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use and their possible contributions to their students' L2 achievement. Secondly, due to the fact that the mentioned variables are context and culture specific in nature (Bandura, 1995;Brown, 2006;Cheng & Dornyei, 2007). Finally, there are only a few investigations in these important areas in the context of Iran.
Thus, the main purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between three teacher-related variables, i.e., teaching efficacy, institutional identity, and motivational strategy use, with their students' L2 achievement in the EFL context. This study further intended to identify gender differences in each of the aforementioned teacher-related variables.

Teaching Efficacy
Bandura introduced the notion of 'efficacy' for the first time in 1977. Efficacy is defined as "beliefs in one's capabilities to organize and execute the courses of action required to manage prospective situations" (Bandura, 1995, p.2). As pointed out by Bandura (2006), efficacy is within the social cognitive theory that highlights that individuals can have some effect over what they actually do. Teachers' efficacy basically refers to instructors' judgment on their capabilities to motivate learners and improve their success (De Le Torre Cruz & Arias, 2007). According to Chacon (2005), teachers' efficacy is a kind of context specific concept and is fashioned within a specific milieu (Friedman & Kass, 2002).
According to Bandura (1997), teachers' efficacy has four different sources. The first sources of individuals' efficacy is mastery experience, which is related to individuals' accomplishment or failure in performing a task and is considered as the most influential source of an individual's efficacy (Bandura, 1997). The second source of individuals' efficacy through the vicarious experiences provided by social models (Bandura, 1997). Social persuasion is considered as the third source of efficacy that mainly pertains to the verbal inspiration individuals receive from other individuals (Bandura, 1997). The last source of individuals' efficacy is physiological states, which refers to individuals' affective and physical state throughout task completion.
Based on social cognitive theory, efficacy has two main components (i.e., efficacy and outcome expectation) (Bandura, 1997). Efficacy expectation is basically considered as a belief that an individual has the skill, information, and capabilities to successfully perform the behavior or actions indispensable to yield the preferred outcomes, while outcome expectancy is viewed as the belief that an expected behavior or action will unquestionably bring about expected outcomes (Bandura, 1997).

Institutional Identity
The interest in the notion of identity as a general term can be traced back to the early 1960s. As pointed put by Gohier, Chevrier and Anadon (2007), identity is further defined as a self-created process that is altered by numerous features. Brown (2006) states that teacher identity arises best as a developing transformation. He believed that the teacher self surfaces as pre-service teachers attain notional and real-world knowledge and information, creating increasingly superior potential efficacy beliefs and sense of agency to make teacher selections and conclusions.
Institutional identity is regarded as the second category in Gee's (2001) framework, which mainly refers to the positions people have or circles around the roles played by a person. Teachers' institutional identity is defined as the teachers' state of identity with the groups and institutions wherein they teach (Hogg, 2006). Moreover, teachers' institutional identity is basically considered as knowing the notions of social identity theory in teacher identity (Ghafar Samar, Kiany, Akbari, & Azimi, 2011), and it is believed that social identity theory does not inclusively develop teachers' institutional identity.
As specified by Gohier, Chevrier, and Anadon (2007), teachers' institutional identity is associated with different aspects such as learners and their grades, colleagues, and all other players of the institute system. Also, with reference to social cognitive theory, Ghafar Samar, et al., (2011) believe that there are environmental, personal, and behavioral features that can have important influences on the improvement of teachers' institutional identity.

Motivational Strategy Use
Motivation is considered as one of the rudimentary elements that define failure and success in L2 learning; therefore, using motivational strategies can be considered as a critical feature of language instruction and learning (Cheng & Dornyei 2007). The interest in the the notion of motivational strategies can be traced back to the early 1990s. Motivational strategies mainly refer to teachers' instructional and educational combination to show and nurture the student's motivation . Dornyei (2001) motivational strategies are defined as "those motivational influences that are consciously exerted to achieve some systematic and enduring positive effect" (p.28).
Different scholars (e.g., Dornyei, 1994;Williams &Burden, 1997) have suggested different lists for using motivational strategies. For example, Schacter and Fagnano (1999) suggest the use of technology-rich settings to inspire students for improved achievement in all subject areas, whereas Klavas (1994) includes the motivational strategies that typically take the students' personal learning styles into account.
In addition, using process-oriented model of Dornyei and Otto (1981), and Thanasoulas (2002), proposes four wide-ranging themes for making an outline for motivation. It is worth mentioning that each of these comprehensive themes includes one classification of micro strategies. Furthermore, Guilloteaux and Dornyei (2008) argue that teachers can apply these suggested motivational practices with the intention of improving their instruction process by creating a more encouraging atmosphere in their classrooms. Dornyei (2001) proposed classifications which are regarded as one of the renowned taxonomies of motivational strategies employed by teachers in their classrooms, which comprises of 35 strategies. It is noteworthy that in Dornyei's (2001) classification, each strategy encompasses different micro-strategies, which both students and teachers can exploit them.

Research Questions
This study aims to identify the possible relationship between EFL teachers' teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use with their students' L2 achievement. To achieve the objectives of the study, the following research questions were posed: RQ 1 : Is there any significant relationship between EFL teachers' efficacy, institutional identity, motivational strategies and their students' L2 achievement? RQ 2 : Is there any significant difference between male and female EFL teachers with regard to their teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use?

METHODOLOGY Participants
The 120 (60 males and 60 females) participants in the present study are EFL teachers who were selected from several accredited private language institutes. They are all teaching at the intermediate level. The participants aged from 24 to 30 and their teaching experience varied from 5-7 years. All of the participants were graduates of EFL-related fields. The final grades obtained by the participants' students (N= 2045) were collected from the accredited private language institutes' office and were regarded as the index of the learners' L2 achievement.

Institutional identity scale (IIS)
With the aim of evaluating the participants' institutional identity, the researcher used the IIS developed by Azimi (2012). This 34-item self-report scale is in Persian and uses a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1(=strongly disagree) to 5(=strongly agree). The participants answered this instrument in 20 minutes. Several studies (e.g., Azimi;2012;Esmaili & Dastgoshadeh, 2016) have reported the high validity and reliability rate of this instrument. Additionally, the IIS was also reported to be a valid research instrument through the review of five experts in the field for this study particularly. Using Cronbach's α coefficient test, the reliability of the IIS was found to be 0.91 in the present study.

Motivational strategy use scale (MSUS)
In order to measure the participants' motivational strategy use, the MSUS developed by Cheng and Dornyei (2007) was administered. This 48-item self-report scale is in English and uses a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1(=never) to 5(=always). The respondents completed this instrument in 25 minutes. Numerous studies (e.g. Cheng & Dornyei, 2007;Al-Mahrooqi, Abrar-ul-Hassan & Asante, 2012) have confirmed and reported the high validity and reliability rate of MSUS. Moreover, this instrument was also found to have high validity rate through review of five experts in the field. Additionally, using Cronbach's α coefficient test, the reliability of the MSUS was estimated to be 0.86 in this study.

Teacher efficacy scale (TES)
In order to assess the participants' efficacy, the researcher administered the TES developed by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001). This 24-item self-report scale is in English and uses a five-point Likert scale, ranging from 1(=strongly disagree) to 5(=strongly agree). The participants filled out this instrument in 15 minutes. Different studies (e.g. Tschannen-Moran & Hoy, 2001) have confirmed the acceptable validity and reliability rate of this scale. Furthermore, the TES was also given to five experts to evaluate its validity, and was reported to have an acceptable validity rate. Moreover, using Cronbach's α coefficient analysis, the reliability of the TES was estimated to be 0.89 in this study.

L2 Achievement
In order to get the students' L2 achievement, the final class outcomes of the EFL students (n=2045) were taken into account. It is worth mentioning that the total final score was 100. In this study, the mean score of the whole students in a class was considered as the L2 achievement of that specific EFL teacher's students.

Procedure
The present study was conducted with 120 (60 male and 60 female) English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers who teach in different private language institutes. It is noteworthy that the aforementioned institutes granted special permissions to cite their names in the present study.
Additionally, the researcher primarily secured the agreement of the EFL teachers to participate in the present study. Before distributing the instruments of the study, the EFL teachers received a briefing on the objective and guidelines of the present study, along with the steps taken to ensure the confidentiality of their responses. The researcher personally distributed the three research instruments of the study, namely, the Institutional Identity Scale, the Teacher Efficacy Scale, and the Motivational Strategy Use Scale, to 156 EFL teachers. It took approximately 60 minutes to fill out the research instruments of the present study. It is worth noting that the participants were allowed to take the research instruments home, complete them and submit them to the researcher in one week. Having collected the data, 36 EFL teachers were excluded since they didn't complete the questionnaires properly. Consequently, the main sample of comprised of 120 members that was basically sufficient for the procedures involved in this study. Finally, the final class outcomes of the teachers' students (n=2045) were collected from the offices of accredited private language institutes as an index of students' L2 achievement.

Statistical Analyses
Having collected the required data, both descriptive and inferential statistics were applied in order to analyze the data.
The mean and standard deviation of EFL teachers were obtained for teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use. Moreover, mean and standard deviation of the teachers' students were obtained for their final class outcomes. Then, having checked and met different assumptions of parametric statistics, three Pearson product-moment correlations were run to maintain or reject the three sections of research question one. A Multivariate Analysis of Variance (MANOVA) and multiple regression were run to test which variable is the strongest one.

RESULTS
The main aim of this study was to identify the relationship between EFL teachers' teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational with their students' L2 achievement. Furthermore, This study aimed to also examine the differences between male and female EFL teachers concerning their teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivation. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of the main variables.
As it is shown here, motivational strategy use with the highest mean is at the first place and teaching efficacy with mean 78.066 is the lowest variable.
In order to answer the first research question, a Pearson correlation was run, which resulted in the data in in Table 2, Table 3, and Table 4 As shown in Table 2, there was a statistically significant and positive relationship (r=0.359, n=120, p=0.000<0.05, r 2 =0.128) between EFL teachers' efficacy and their students' L2 achievement. As a result, it can be stated that the EFL teachers' efficacy and their students' L2 achievement were significantly and positively related to each other at the 0.01 error interval.
As indicated in Table 3, there is a statistically significant and positive relationship (r=0.409, n=120, p=0.000<0.05, r 2 =0.167) between EFL teachers' institutional identity and their students' L2 achievement. Consequently, it can be stated that the EFL teachers' institutional identity and their students' L2 achievement were significantly and positively related to each other at the 0.01 error interval, and therefore, the second null hypothesis was rejected.
As shown in Table 4, there was a statistically significant and positive relationship (r=0.470, n=120, p=0.000<0.05, r 2 =0.220) between EFL teachers' motivational strategy use and their students' L2 achievement. As a result, it can be argued that the EFL teachers' motivational strategy use and their students' L2 achievement were significantly and positively related to each other at the 0.01 error interval.
In order to answer the second research question, a MANOVA was run, the results of which are summarized in Tables 5 and 6.
As is evident from Table 5, the mean and standard deviation of male EFL teachers' institutional identity were 99.05 and 18.05, respectively; while, the mean and standard deviation of female EFL teachers' institutional identity were 102.55 and 14.90, respectively.
The mean and standard deviation of male EFL teachers' efficacy were 71.23 and 10.76, respectively; whereas, the mean and standard deviation of female EFL teachers' efficacy were 84.90 and 9.05, respectively. Furthermore, the mean and standard deviation of male EFL teachers' motivational strategy use were 160.11 and 14.60, respectively; however, the mean and standard deviation of female EFL teachers' motivational strategy use were 183.13 and 19.37, respectively. All these statistical analysis shows that females outperform men in teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use.
Finally, in order to answer the last research question, Table 6 summarizes the results of the coefficient correlation among EFL teachers' teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use and their students' L2 achievement.

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The comparison of β values revealed that motivational strategy use had the largest β coefficient (β = 0.309, t = 3.331, p = 0.001). This means that EFL teachers' motivational strategy use made the strongest statistically significant unique contribution to explaining their students' L2 achievement. Consequently, it was concluded that EFL teachers' motivational strategy use could more significantly predict students' L2 achievement. Moreover, EFL teachers' institutional identity, turned out to be the second significant predictor of students' L2 achievement (β = 0.252, t = 2.971, p = 0.004), and self-efficacy is the last predictor. Figure 1 shows this relationship.
As shown in Figure1, there is a positive relationship between all mentioned variables with L2 achievement, but as it is clear here, motivational strategy use is the strongest one.

DISCUSSION
This study explored the relationship between EFL teachers' teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational with their students' L2 achievement. Furthermore, this study intended to examine the difference between male and female EFL teachers concerning their teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategies.
A Pearson correlation coefficient was run for RQ 1 that indicated a statistically significant and positive relationship (r=0.359, p=0.000<0.05) between EFL teachers' efficacy and their students' L2 achievement. The findings of the present study can be supported pertaining to the findings of several studies (e.g. Akbari, Kiany, Imani Naeeni & Karimi Allvar, 2008), which have confirmed the positive relationship between teachers' efficacy and students' success and also studies (e.g. Goddard, Hoy & Hoy, 2004;Good & Brophy, 2008) that have demonstrated students of educators with higher efficacy mostly have better performance than students of other teachers.
The significant positive relationship between teachers' efficacy and their learners' L2 achievement and that teachers with high efficacy generate stronger learners' achievement than instructors with lower teaching efficacy. As pointed out by Good and Brophy (2008), teachers with the high level of efficacy demonstrate vigorous commitment to instruction and teaching, and allocate more time to educational matters and naturally this would lead to learners' better performance and higher L2 achievement.
Tschannen-Moran & Hoy (2001) believe that efficacy influences teachers' teaching and levels of persistence  and effort with learners that, in turn, positively influences their professional retention, commitment, and performance which, in turn, converts into higher learner achievement and growth. According to Ware and Kitsantas (2007), teachers with high level of efficacy are more hopeful and take personal accountability for their successes and failures and are also far more likely to persist once learners confront challenges and search for suitable materials and strategies to increase learner achievement. Likewise, as aptly pointed out by Akbari, Kiany, Imanim Naeeni and Karimi (2008), teachers with higher efficacy generate higher learner success due to the fact that they use different operational management strategies that inspire learner autonomy and diminish protective control and keeps learners on task. Furthermore, Ross and Gray (2006) state that these teachers implement effective teaching strategies, which improve learner academic achievement, and modify learners' view of their own capabilities.
In order to inspect the second part of RQ 1 , a Pearson correlation coefficient was run, the results of which revealed that there was a significant and positive (r=0.409, p=0.000<0.05) relationship between EFL teachers' institutional identity and their students' L2 achievement. The findings of the study in this respect are supported by the argument made by Tschannen-Moran and Hoy (2001) that contextual factors (e.g., institutional identity) and subject matter generate effect on teachers' beliefs in their capability and judgment to effect learners' outcomes. Likewise, Gohier, Chevrier, and Anadon (2007) believe that teachers' institutional identity is associated with different aspects such as learners and their outcomes, colleagues, and all other people who have a role in the institute system.
Consequently, based on the findings of this study, it can be concluded that if we expect to improve EFL learners' L2 achievement, their teachers' institutional identity should be enhanced as well. Therefore, in order to help students improve their L2 achievement, EFL teachers must be able to improve their identity in general and institutional identity in particular. Needless to say, as the same analysis was not done previously, it was not possible to compare this finding with those of other studies.
To scrutinize the third section of RQ 1 , another Pearson correlation coefficient was run. The results showed that there existed a significant and positive (r=0.470, p=0.000<0.05) relationship between EFL teachers' motivational strategy use and their students' L2 achievement, which implied that by increasing the EFL teachers' use of motivational strategies, their students' L2 achievement was raised as well. The findings in this respect could be explained by Dornyei (2001)'s argument that second language can be better learned and achieved by those students who are more motivated, and students' motivation can be principally improved by their teachers' use of motivational strategies. Cheng and Dornyei (2007) believe that "motivation serves as the initial engine to generate learning and later functions as an ongoing driving force that helps to sustain the long and usually laborious journey of acquiring a foreign language" (p. 153). Dornyei (2001) argues that if EFL educators adopt and apply a few appropriate and applicable strategies that cater to both teachers themselves along with their students, it can positively increase EFL learners' motivational level, and, affect EFL students' target language achievement.
Since motivation is regarded as one of the basic factors that determine success and failure in L2 learning, using motivational strategies can be considered as a crucial aspect of teaching and learning (Cheng & Dornyei 2007). The findings of the study in this respect are in line with those of several empirical studies (e.g. O'Malley & Chamot 1990;Oxford & Crookall, 1989;Wenden & Rubin, 1987) that found the students who were particularly taught strategies, performed better than those who were not.
Concerning RQ 2, a MANOVA was run, the results of which indicated that there existed a significant difference between male and female EFL teachers' concerning their teaching efficacy, motivational strategy, and institutional identity. The result showed that female teachers outperform male teachers in all mentioned variables.
The high level of using motivational strategies and teaching efficacy reported by the female EFL teachers recommends that tasks such as participating in institute-wide boards and leading academic assemblies can be performed. In other words, it can be stated that a solid groundwork has been placed for those female EFL teachers in quest of higher level managerial appointments. Although gender discriminations have been obvious in academic world (Blackmore & Sachs, 2007), mostly at the educational and administration levels, it was truly pleasing to state that there existed no significant difference between male and female EFL teachers with respect to their institutional identity.
The findings of the present study concerning teachers' efficacy are in line with those of Hemmings and Kay (2009), however, previously conducted research studies on the association between gender and strategy use in general have come to various conclusions. The results of this study with regard to teachers' use of strategies are in line with those of Gu (2002) that reported females used more strategies than males. Needless to say, as the same analysis was not conducted in previous research with regard to teachers' institutional identity, It's not feasible to compare these findings with other studies.
Finally, a regression was run for as well and the result showed that EFL teachers' motivational strategy use (β = 0.309, t = 3.331, p = 0.001) was the strongest predictor of their students' L2 achievement. Use of motivational strategies is believed to play a major role in teaching (Almahrooqi, Abrar-ul-Hassan & Asante, 2012;Dornyei 2001;Dornyei & Guilloteoux 2008). Moreover, without sufficient motivation even the diligent learners are unlikely to persist long enough to attain any really useful language proficiency, while most learners with strong motivation can achieve a working knowledge of the L2, regardless of their language aptitude or any undesirable learning condition (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007). EFL teachers' institutional identity was found the second significant predictor of students' L2 achievement, thus the findings of the present study in this respect suggest that EFL teachers' motivational strategy use and institutional identity should be given more consideration in teacher training programs as well as teacher education in an EFL context.

CONCLUSION AND IMPLICATIONS
The main aim of this study was to explore the relationship between three teacher-related variables, namely, teaching efficacy, institutional identity, and motivational strategy use, with their students' L2 achievement. The study further intended to pinpoint gender differences in each of the aforementioned teacher-related variables. Additionally, this study attempted to determine the existence of a significant difference among the above-mentioned teacher-related variables in predicting their students' L2 achievement.
The results led to the conclusion that EFL teachers' efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use had a significant and positive relationship with their students' L2 achievement, suggesting that developing EFL teachers' awareness of teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use can be deemed essential in improving their students' L2 achievement. Moreover, there exists a significant difference between the male and female EFL teachers concerning their teaching efficacy, motivational strategy use, and institutional identity. The last conclusion derived from the findings of this study proved that EFL teachers' motivational strategy use was the strongest predictor of EFL students' L2 achievement, which reinforced the important role of using motivational strategies in EFL classes.
Consequently, based on the findings of the study, a number of pedagogical implications could be recommended. The findings provide rational support for proposing that EFL teachers should invest in improving their knowledge of teaching efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use. They should further delve into the sources of teacher efficacy, i.e. 'mastery experience', 'vicarious experience', 'verbal/social persuasion' and 'physiological/arousal and emotional states' and increase their familiarity with the ways through which they can function as efficacious teachers.
Additionally, EFL syllabi should familiarize the educators with different applicable motivational strategies and highlight the importance of motivating the students when offering different pedagogical guidelines and suggestions. It is noteworthy that no single motivational strategy can always motivate every learner in any situation because of the dynamic character of the classroom context. The effectiveness of a strategy is the result of the interaction between contextual variables, some of them are probably culture-specific, and others culture-neutral. Such variables include approaches to learning and teaching, educational ideology, individual learners and teachers' personality traits and emotional states, and the composition of the learner group (Cheng & Dornyei, 2007). Different learning environments may either enhance or neutralize the effectiveness of some strategies, but more research is needed into the specifications of these environments.
Since the findings reveled that female EFL teachers have more efficacy, language institutes' administrators would be well served if they concentrated their attention on constructing the efficacy of male EFL teachers, low in self-confidence, by employing different strategies such as mentoring. As pointed out by La Rocco and Bruns (2006), proper mentoring from knowledgeable teachers and scholars helps to attain task mastery and to improve collaborative speculations, and enhance their teaching efficacy.
Moreover, male teachers are recommended to apply more motivational strategies since they were found less frequent users of motivational strategies. According to Cheng and Dornyei (2007) motivational strategies could carry some specific characteristics of a certain culture, which means that these motivational practices include fundamentally important beliefs that could affect the use of each strategy in teaching practice. They not only maintain ongoing motivated behavior and protect it from distracting or competing action tendencies but also generate and increase student involvement and to save the action when ongoing monitoring reveals that progress is slowing, halting, or backsliding (Dornyei, 2001).
Finally, since the findings of the present study revealed that EFL teachers' efficacy, institutional identity and motivational strategy use were positively related to their students' L2 achievement, it is recommended that teacher trainers and the administrators organize some preparation conferences in order to: (a) familiarize the EFL teachers with both practical and theoretical basis of teachers' identity (i.e., institutional identity), (b) conduct and hold different workshops in order to help EFL instructors improve their actual teaching efficacy, and (c) give appropriate feedback to teachers to get more motivated and increase their use of motivational strategies.