Effects of Instructional Styles of Business English Teachers on Students’ Learning Self-efficacy in Selected Universities in Central China: Towards Teaching Enhancement Program

Abstract

The teacher’s instructional style may have great implications on their ways of presenting information, communicating with students, and supervising their subordinates. Very few research has been carried out to analyze the effects of teachers’ instructional style preferences on students’ self-efficacy in liberal arts education, especially in business English education in China. This paper conducts a survey in three different universities of China by designing questionnaires on the status quo of business English teaching and learning. An interview between teachers and students on instructional styles’ effects is also conducted to deepen the study. Based on the SPSS data analysis, it finds out that the most preferred instructional style by business English students are facilitator and delegator styles, which also have positive effects on enhancing students’ learning self-efficacy and performance. A teaching enhancement program and model is then recommended and suggested to help improve business English teaching in higher education.