Iranian EFL teachers' perceptions of teacher selfdisclosure

Teacher self-disclosure (TSD) as a communication behavior can influence students' learning byincreasing their engagement and class participation as well as helping them establish effectiveinterpersonal relationships. Owning to its context-sensitive and culture-dependent nature, however,TSD topics, purposes, and considerations may vary cross-culturally. This study was an attempt to exploreIranian EFL teachers' perceptions of appropriateness of TSD as well as to investigate whether there wasa significant difference between male and female teachers' perceptions of appropriateness of TSD. Tothis end, the Appropriateness of Teacher Self-Disclosure Scale was distributed among 68 Iranian EFLteachers (34 females and 34 males) from six language institutes. The results of the study indicated theextent to which the Iranian EFL teachers perceived TSD topics, purposes, and considerations to beappropriate or inappropriate. Furthermore, the study found convergence and divergence between maleand female teachers' perceptions in terms of the topics used in TSD, the purposes TSD serves inclassroom, and considerations the teachers take into account when practicing TSD. The results of thestudy suggest that Iranian EFL teachers can practice TSD as a pedagogical tool to enhance learningalthough they should be wary of its consequences in some aspects as TSD is contingent upon contextand culture.

Keywords:

appropriateness of teacher self-disclosure , EFL , self-disclosure purposes , self-disclosuretopics , teacher self-disclosure