Professionalism: The Perceptions of Iranian English Teachers of Competence and Performance in Language Teaching

Professionalism has been generally linked to nations’ economic, industrial, and technological developments. Therefore, having a professionally and ethically competent workforce is a necessity in today's changing world. More specifically, L2 teacher professionalism plays a crucial role in economic development too.  Given its utmost importance in language teaching, this study intended to investigate how Iranian English teachers would perceive professionalism defined in terms of competence and performance. The participants were comprised of 281 English teachers at junior and senior high schools, language institutes, and universities in Tehran, Fars, Khuzestan, and Qazvin Provinces. The data were obtained through a researcher-made questionnaire, initially consisting of 44 items. However, the final version contained 40 items since four problematic items were deleted.  Structural equation modeling was used to develop a three-factor model which lends support to Richards’ perspective (2010) derived from his article “Competence and Performance in Language Teaching”. The model found three factors, namely competence, performance, and techno-pedagogical competence that matched the components of professionalism proposed by Richards mostly in theoretical terms. The findings indicated that most of the participants endorsed Richards’ perspective at least in theoretical terms. The insights from this study can be used to bridge the gap between competence and performance and improve teachers’ practice in the classroom context.