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SYSTEMATIC REVIEW article

Front. Psychol.

Sec. Educational Psychology

Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1678437

Progress or Plateau? A 20-Year Systematic Review of Self-Efficacy Among TCFL Teachers

Provisionally accepted
Qian  ShiQian Shi1Jing  ZhangJing Zhang2*Wei  ZhaoWei Zhao1*
  • 1Yunnan University, Kunming, China
  • 2Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics Dongfang College, Haining, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

This systematic review examined research on the self-efficacy of teachers of Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL) from 2004 to 2024. Guided by social cognitive theory and Bandura's concept of self-efficacy, 15 empirical studies were synthesized following PRISMA guidelines, employing both qualitative and quantitative analyses. The review identified key factors influencing TCFL teacher self-efficacy, including personal, student, and environmental factors. It further showed that teacher self-efficacy predicts important outcomes such as technology use and integration, career development and retention, and emotional and psychological resources. The findings underscore the need for targeted professional development, supportive institutional policies, and cross-cultural adaptation resources, and they point to future research directions on emerging technologies and diverse teaching contexts.

Keywords: teacher self-efficacy, Teaching Chinese as a foreign language (TCFL), social cognitive theory, Professional Development, Cross-cultural adaptation

Received: 02 Aug 2025; Accepted: 06 Oct 2025.

Copyright: © 2025 Shi, Zhang and Zhao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

* Correspondence:
Jing Zhang, 20101008@zufedfc.edu.cn
Wei Zhao, zhaoweiynu@ynu.edu.cn

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