Self-Confidence

This paper reports the results from an exploratory study which tested for Japanese junior high school student self-determination theory-based (SDT) motives toward EFL learning (N = 140), plus confidence, anxiety, and willingness to communicate in EFL (EFL WTC; N = 120). The purpose of this paper is to show the influence of the Ideal L2 Self
items on anxiety, confidence, the SDT intrinsic motives for knowledge (IM Knowledge), and EFL WTC. Two survey instruments were used in the study. The SDT instrument results indicate the students are eager to become proficient in EFL. This is based on the high mean score for the three identified regulation items, which refer to motives to learn
English for future goals (i.e., an Ideal L2 Self). The WTC instrument results indicated a low level of confidence and willingness to speak English, and much anxiety toward using English. To test the influence of the Ideal L2 Self items on WTC, a regression analysis of the SDT and WTC sub-scales was conducted (dependent variable: WTC). Accordingly,
a structural equation model (SEM) of the Ideal L2 Self items, IM Knowledge, anxiety, confidence, and FL WTC was created. The SEM results indicate the Ideal L2 Self has a strong, statistically significant (P = < .01) negative influence on anxiety and a stronger positive, statistically significant (P = < .01) influence on IM Knowledge and between confidence and WTC; no path was found between IM Knowledge and WTC. The findings are discussed in relation to Dörnyei’s (2005) Ideal
L2 Self theory.

With the introduction of the Internet, digital cameras, and smartphones, the selfie has emerged as an important trend. To date, research has focussed predominantly on homogenous groups of participants, examining if and why they portray themselves online; these investigations have been exclusively concerned with analysing identity construction on the platforms Facebook and Twitter. This investigation aims to obtain a deeper, more personalised understanding of how women aged between 20 and 25 attending UK universities portray themselves through selfies on Instagram. Through semi-structured interviews, selfie activities have been analysed within the framework of Erving Goffman’s (1956) theory of dramaturgy from his book ‘The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life’, as well as those of other studies. Results revealed all women to strive for a curated online portrayal in which a beautiful, attractive self was balanced with certain affirmations of authenticity. This hyper-idealistic persona was achieved by highlighting certain aspects of appearance with the aid of makeup, image manipulation tools and virtual beauty applications. Interestingly, some individuals also utilised selfies for activist purposes. The selective enhancement of some features and concealment of others in the front stage confirms that impression management is habitually monitored - a key premise in Goffman’s work. Furthermore, front stage images were found to be deliberately constructed in order to attract likes and comments, with the use of such communicatory utilities interpreted as a validation of the attractiveness of selfies. The study overall reveals the manipulation, complexity and insecurity behind selfies on Instagram, and concludes that Goffman’s principal frameworks are applicable in the online world.

Existe una estrecha relación entre el impacto de los influenciadores en las redes sociales y el grado de autoestima que tienen los usuarios. El estudio que se realizó pretende deducir por qué los influenciadores en las redes sociales afectan el autoestima de sus seguidores. Se contó con la participación de 137 individuos de 10 a 65 años; y por medio de una investigación cuantitativa, no experimental y de alcance correlacional, se evaluó las diferencias entre género, edades, profesión y carreras universitarias. La hipótesis del análisis, la cual indicaba que los influenciadores en las redes sociales impactan en la autoestima de las mujeres entre 15 a 25 años fue descartada, debido a que los resultados demostraron que los hombres son más propensos a ser influenciados, asimismo, un rango más amplio de edades están expuestos a la influencia de estos portadores de voz. Otros hallazgos importantes fueron que tanto los adolescentes como los jóvenes adultos son los más influenciados debido al acceso y al tiempo invertido en las redes sociales. Por otro lado, las personas con cualquier tipo de trabajo comercial, los abogados, los arquitectos, los diseñadores y los médicos tienen más predisposición de acertar esta teoría debido a la importancia relativa del estatus y nivel socioeconómico, la imagen pública, las relaciones interpersonales y los vínculos sociales.

Palabras Clave: influenciadores, autoestima, redes sociales.

It is an established fact that students’ academic success is proportional to their problem-solving skills. Another established fact is the positive effect of self-confidence on problem-solving skills of students. Thus, finding the right courses that would improve the self-confidence and problem-solving skills of college students is a concern. Therefore, in this study, influence of drama and drama education on the self-confidence and problem-solving skills of college students of primary school education is researched. The study was conducted with 34 college students via experimental pretest posttest single group design model. Problem-solving and self-confidence scales were used to collect the necessary data. Analysis of the collected data revealed that the self-confidence levels of college students of primary education have improved after being introduced to the drama education. In other words, a significant difference was observed in favor of the drama education when the selfconfidence levels of students were compared before and after they were introduced to the drama education. Additionally, a significant difference was also observed in favor of the drama education when problem-solving skills of students were compared before and after they were introduced to the drama education. Consequently, it was concluded that drama contributes to self-confidence levels of individuals and that their problem-solving skills develops parallel to their improved self-confidence. Therefore, it is recommended to incorporate drama into various levels of educational system both as a course and as a technique.

This study examined the interplay among self-confidence, teacher feedback, and English proficiency in terms of developing students' English oral presentation competence. The study involved learners in the fields of Sciences and Technology, and Humanities and Social Science (N=390; 75% female; 26% male). It looked at how presentation courses, which are structured to include various stages of presentation preparation as well as teacher feedback over the course of a semester (12 weeks), can help Thai EFL students improve their self-confidence and oral presenting skills. The collected data consisted of students' presentation scores, results of an English proficiency test, and survey data concerning students' self-confidence and teacher feedback regarding students' presentation performances. The data analyses involved descriptive statistics, exploratory factor analysis (EFA), independent t-tests, one-way ANOVA, multiplelinear regression, and mediation analysis. The results revealed 1) two underlying factors regarding self-confidence, are situational and potential confidence and communication confidence, and one underlying factor regarding teacher feedback, named perceived teacher feedback practice and 2) English proficiency as the only significant predictor of students' presentation performance. Although it may seem intuitive that English proficiency scores are a strong predictor, this study indicates that students' self-confidence and instructor evaluation have no direct link to students' English presentation performance, which was perhaps unanticipated. The small effects of self-confidence and instructor feedback are likely due to the large number of low-level students in the study. Additionally, variables such as student gender and field of study did not make significant differences. This study contributes to the development of research in the area of oral presentations in English. Aunque puede parecer intuitivo que los puntajes de dominio del inglés son un fuerte predictor, este estudio indica que la autoconfianza de los estudiantes y la evaluación del instructor no tienen un vínculo directo con el desempeño en las presentaciones en inglés de los estudiantes, lo cual quizás no fue anticipado. Los pequeños efectos de la confianza en uno mismo y la retroalimentación del instructor probablemente se deban a la gran cantidad de estudiantes de bajo nivel en el estudio. Además, variables como el sexo del alumno y el campo de estudio no presentaron diferencias significativas. Este estudio contribuye al desarrollo de la investigación en el área de presentaciones orales en inglés. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of a Creative Commons Attibution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) license.

This study aimed to measure the relationship between job readiness and self-confidence among physically challenged individuals. Quantitative research design was used to determine the responses of the one hundred two (102) physically challenged individuals as the participants of this study; males are fifty-eight (58) in total and females were forty-four (44). The researchers utilize the use of the two (2) researcher made instruments, which are consist of 15 statements each for Job Readiness and Self-confidence were used to gather the data. Researchers also utilize the use of interview to give a thematic point of view to respective results. Results showed that there are significant differences when they are grouped according to gender, educational attainment and age, and when they are taken as a whole. The result also showed a positive correlation between job readiness and self-confidence to physically challenged individuals. Despite of their current state, they didn’t waver to the challenges of life especially on the job search area and they prove to persist into it, and having a strong view of one self is indeed beneficial to physically challenged individuals.

Know more about self-confidence in this link:
https://linktr.ee/euphiemia

The present study has been conducted on a sample of 300 students of Kangra district (Himachal Pradesh) to study the Self-Confidence of Senior Secondary School Students in relation on their Sex, Area and Streams of study. Random sampling technique was used for selection of the sample. The total numbers of students were selected from four government senior secondary schools (two each from rural and urban areas) of Kangra district. The data was analyzed statistically by using mean, standard deviation, t-test. Findings of the study was revealed that no significant difference in the level of self-confidence of the students in relation to their Area of residence. There is no significant difference in the level of self-confidence of the students in relation to their Sex. It was also found that there exists a significant difference in the level of self-confidence of the students in relation to their Streams of study.

This action research is aimed to improve students’ self confidence and to know the action’s barriers by using debate method in Civic and Five Principles Education subject of class X MIPA 4 SMA Negeri 1 Bantul. The research design is using Kemmis dan Mc. Taggart model. The data collection was using observation, documentation, and unstructured interview. The data analysis used quantitative and qualitative description. The research showed that students’ self confidence in class X MIPA 4 was improved through debate method by considering 4 self confidence behavior indicators namely, 1) expressing opinion, 2) working cooperatively in group, 3) facing opponent, 4) speaking fluently, with little doubt. Students of class X MIPA 4 who has self confidence in high category of 69%-80% improves from 68% to 84%.

Abstract

      The study was designed to examine the impact of lack of self-confidence when EFL  junior students perform their oral assignments during their academic career. The participants of this study are eight students at the third year in the English Department of Sabratha College of Arts, Libya. A semi-structured interview is used as an instrument to collect the data in this study.
The research is aimed to investigate the impact of lack of self-confidence for EFL junior students while they are delivering their oral assignments. After interviewing participants and analyzing the acquired data, researchers found out that lack of self-confidence has a negative impact on EFL junior students at and that due to psychological and linguistic barriers which prevented them from accomplishing good oral assignments.

Keywords: Self-confidence, Oral assignment, self-confidence deficiency

This study determined students' perceptions on the learner-instructor, learner-content and learner-learner interactions during remote learning activities and its effects on developing self-confidence and academic performance on Araling Panlipunan of ninety Grade 9 junior high school students at the University of Perpetual Help System Dalta-Calamba Campus for SY 2020-2021. Using a validated quantitative questionnaire and a two-tailed test to determine the Pearson product-moment correlation coefficient (r), correlation was determined between the three types of interactions, home environment, and school environment with self-confidence and grade point average (GPA). For the interactions, there is a significant correlation between learner-instruction (r = 0.410), followed by learner-content (r = 0.343), and learnerlearner interactions (r = 0.340) with self-confidence at 0.01 level. For GPA, there is a significant correlation at 0.05 level for learner-instructor interaction only (r = 0.237). Regarding home environment, there is a significant correlation between accessibility (r = 0.510), parent reinforcement (r = 0.448), and availability of needed materials (r = 0.275) with self-confidence at 0.05 level. For the GPA, significant correlation was only found for availability of needed materials (r = 0.352) and accessibility (r = 0.344) at 0.05 level. On the school environment, there is a significant correlation between emotional support (r = 0.476), instructional support (r = 0.406), and classroom organization (r = 0.311) at 0.05 level. For the GPA, there is a significant correlation for classroom organization (r = 0.388) and instructional support (r = 0.338) at 0.05 level while there is a significant correlation also for emotional support (r = 0.270) At 0.01 level. Based on these results, both self-confidence and GPA has significant relationships on learner-instructor and learner-content interactions, availability of needed materials and accessibility under home environment, and emotional support instructional support, and classroom organization under school environment.

This study aims to determine the impact of self-confidence on entrepreneurial intention among women.  The preliminary research reveals that self-confidence and self efficacy were often used interchangeably by researchers, uncovering a clear need for distinctions between the two terms.  To test the hypothesis that there is a positive correlation between self-confidence and entrepreneurial intention, women of various backgrounds were asked to complete a self-confidence questionaire that was developed by modifying a self-confidence inventory. created by Shrauger and Schohn (1995) for college students along with the Entrepreneurial Intention Scale developed by, David Dunaetz, Ph.D and the author.  Participants were recruited from social media and 182 respondents were obtained.  Research revealed that there is a positive correlation between self-confidence and entrepreneurial intention.

An introvert is said to be a kind of student who is quiet and doesn’t open easily. On the contrary, when a student is friendly, talkative and quickly makes friends, the student’s form of personality is extroverted. This study aimed to know the difference between the self-confidence of introvert students and extrovert students. Introverts and extroverts pick their preferences from different priorities. For them to enhance their confidence students should establish a strong belief for their selves. The development of self-confidence must be essential and allows students to demonstrate their expertise and talents. The study was a quantitative design that makes use of the research questionnaire. The researcher surveyed the Senior High School with a total of two hundred thirty-five respondents who are requested to answer the questionnaire. Quantitative data were processed using chi-square. The study has shown the students' self-confidence in terms of education, talents, socialization, and achievements. It shows that introvert students have a higher frequency than the extrovert students. Results also show that self-confidence implies that the extrovert respondents are not enough in expressing their personality. They need to re-build their personality types to gain some confidence. It can be inferred that there is no significant difference between the self-confidence of the introvert students and extrovert students.

Personality is one of the important contributory factors in the development of problematic technology use. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the direct and indirect associations of creative personality traits with problematic social media use via self/everyday creativity, depression, and loneliness. A total of 460 Turkish emerging adults aged between 18 and 26 years (61% female) were surveyed. Findings indicated that (i) task-orientedness was indirectly associated with problematic social media use via self/everyday creativity, (ii) self-confidence was directly and indirectly associated with problematic social media use via self/everyday creativity and depression, (iii) risk-taking was indirectly associated with problematic social media use via depression, and (iv) self/everyday creativity and depression were directly associated with problematic social media use. The present study is the first to suggest that creative personality traits (i.e., task-orientedness, self-confidence, and risk-taking) and self/everyday creativity are associated with problematic social media use and that these factors should be taken into account when considering the etiology of problematic social media use.

Oral Communication Problems Encountering English Major Students: Perspectives of Learners and Teachers in Palestinian EFL University Context


Abedrabu Abu Alyan
The Islamic University of Gaza
Palestine




Abstract
The present study investigates Palestinian English major students’ problems in oral communication. To that end, qualitative analysis is manipulated to explore such potential problems from learners and teachers’ perspectives. Levelt’s (1989) L1 speech production model and De Bot’s (1992) L2 speech production models are used as a theoretical framework for the study. Participants were 20 students and 6 senior teachers from a large Palestinian university in Gaza. Analyzing data from participants’ interviews, the study unveiled that students’ incorrect pronunciation, limited vocabulary, lack of exposure to the target language, and L1 interference were amongst the main oral communication problems. The study also revealed that students had not developed the habit of extensive listening and reading. Further, the students were unable to organize their ideas and meanings in a coherent way, and they seemed to lack self-confidence. The pedagogical implications of the study are of significant value to EFL university teachers who are interested in developing learners’ oral communication skills.
Keywords: exposure to the target language, L1 interference, oral communication problems, self-confidence, speech production models

The English language is significant and useful in the academic life of students. The correlational study was designed to determine the significant relationship between affective language learning and English language competence of Purposive Communication students. After the data being gathered, the results showed that the respondents have a very high level of affective language learning with a mean score of 4.55. While the English language competence has 4.33 mean score which also has a very high description. When it comes to determining the acceptance or rejection of the hypothesis, it was found out that there is a great significant relationship between the two variables with a p-value of 0.003, hence the rejection of the hypothesis at the 0.05 level of significance. The results of the study can be used to design strategies to expand students' English language competence in order to support their affective language learning and succeed in school and in their chosen profession. Therefore, the institution must ensure that the teaching strategies and authentic activities for increasing students' English language competence are effectively incorporated into the undergraduate program. Teaching the curricular subject and having competence in the language used for instruction surges the learner's exposure and opportunity to understand the content of instruction, resulting in enhanced student control over what is taught in class and favorable academic outcomes.

The aim of this paper was to explore a new psychological concept: online self- presentation. There are differences between self – presentation in offline environments and online settings, because the last one could be revised before making it available in the cyberspace. Topics from social psychology (social identity theory, social cognition,), self – presentation and impression management approach, and personality differences (social skills and shyness) are discussed. In all settings (online and offline) individuals try to manage the impression made to other people, but in webspace, very little is done spontaneously because of overcontrolled self-presentation. Online self – presentation could contain self – serving bias due to the positive self-regard and cognitive consistency need. Tendency to create a very different self image in online settings than real self could represent a compensatory mechanism for low self-confidence, social skills, subjective well-being, shyness, and social anxiety.

Researchers are interested in the measurement of human behavior. They have devised many methods to assess human behavior using the principles of psychometrics. The measurement of self and its various dimensions were thoroughly investigated, assessment instruments are also available. While searching an instrument to measure self-confidence of an individual who speaks Malayalam is not available. To address this, 13 item Self-Confidence Scale was developed. The data collected using this scale was analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) and Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA). The Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) fit statistics indicated high fit with normed chi-square value of (CMIN/DF) 1.742; CFI value of 0.952; GFI value of 0.951; RMR value of 0.046; IFI value of 0.953 and RMSEA value of 0.048.

2015
Link to the Dissertation: https://etda.libraries.psu.edu/catalog/24888
Scholars in many fields of study have examined confidence. Within music education, confidence is often studied through the lens of Bandura’s social cognitive theory, and for music improvisation, much confidence work has been accomplished through survey design and examined confidence to teach improvisation or gender differences. Though Bandura’s self-efficacy model provides a useful framework to study confidence as part of music (especially in understanding why people’s behavior may differ markedly in improvising), confidence may be important to improvising distinct from self- efficacy theory, and deserves inductive and explorative treatment; I completed three qualitative research studies on confident music improvising (CMI). These three studies are shared in this dissertation, a phenomenological study of CMI from the perspective of improvising performers (Chapter 2), a case study of teachers at the jazz portion of a summer music camp (Chapter 3), and most recently (Chapter 4), I explored CMI within the parameters of improvisation teachers helping students build a personal, subjective sense of confidence, which is needed to improvise musically. In the first study, interviews and observations were conducted with three self-described confident music improvisers: a bluegrass fiddler, a jazz bassist, and a baroque violinist. Participants described their learning experiences with CMI. The following essential themes emerged from that analysis – listening, criticism- free environment, sequential experiences, passion for a style, and openness to learning. The first three of these themes were considered pedagogical and the final two themes dispositional. In the second study, case study design was employed to test the essential pedagogical themes—listening, criticism-free environment, and sequential experiences—against situational reality of the jazz portion of a one-week summer music camp. The focus of this second study was on teaching CMI. Interviews, observations, and documents were used to triangulate data. Teaching through questions emerged as a theme of teaching CMI. In the third study, an emergent, responsive interviewing research design was used to explore the experiences of expert improvisation teachers’ teaching praxes for improving student confidence to improvise music. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand praxes of teaching CMI, that is, how expert improvisation teachers conceive the techniques they use to increase student confidence to improvise music. There were two research questions. What teaching praxes do participants use to help unconfident students become confident music improvisers? How does student gender affect teaching praxes?

Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Vol.6. No.2 June 2015                         
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Strategies and Techniques for Fostering  Oral Communication Confidence
  in EFL Students
Dawood Ahmed Mahdi
Faculty of Languages and Translation, King Khalid University
Saudi Arabia



Abstract
This article is concerned with strategies and techniques for fostering EFL students’ confidence and reducing their oral communication apprehension. This paper aims to explore strategies and techniques that could be implemented in the EFL classroom to encourage students’ oral communication and foster their confidence. The first part starts with a brief introduction to present the research topic. It states the aims, purpose, research questions,  and significance of the study. The second part features the relevant literature review, focusing on the current body of knowledge. The literature review provides a detailed description of the substantive findings as well as methodological and theoretical contributions to this topic. The study furnishes a wide range of reflections on English as a foreign language, and the special needs of students learning the language. It can be described as the impact of confidence on EFL students’ oral communication apprehension in EFL students. In the third part, the paper  discusses the methodology used in this study, followed by a discussion of an analysis of the findings in the fourth part. These two areas, i.e. discussion and findings answer the research questions and justify the research hypothesis. The last part of this work  provides a conclusion to the study, accompanied by some recommendations.

Keywords: apprehension, communication competence, confidence, EFL students, oral communication, strategies, techniques

The present research was aimed at identifying the cause for poor performance of adult English as foreign language (EFL) learners in Saudi Arabia, as well as to test the hypothesis that one of the major causes behind learners' failure may be affective filters. The basic question to answer for the research was whether adult EFL learners raise their affective filters to block the input under the influence of certain affective factors, and whether a change in the class environment brings a change in learner motivation. To this end, data were collected through questionnaires, and a model teaching programme, based on a change in classroom environment, was developed and tested with a group of learners at the selected university in Saudi Arabia. The results obtained from the study show that EFL learners in Saudi Arabia raise affective filters, and that a change in classroom environment does help learners lower their affective filters. The study is very significant as its findings may prove helpful to EFL teachers in Saudi Arabia to create a conducive environment in their classes to help learners feel at ease to learn English, which at times is emotionally intimidating to some learners. The study is concluded with a recommendation that EFL teachers may replicate the experiment in their settings to test the efficacy of the hypothesis on psycholinguistic aspects of foreign language learning.

Whether you are satisfied with your life or not, you always have the power to make the person you are better.

Here are 7 tips to focus on self-improvement.
Enjoy and share if you like!

Even if you are living a busy life, there is always room to focus on self-improvement. No matter how you spend your days, you need to focus on your goals and dreams. It is extremely important to constantly improve yourself because progress leads to the achievement of our goals.

Sometimes we think that happiness comes from results. Only partially, happiness from what you achieve is limited. What keeps us alive is the fact that we are constantly learning. It’s great to graduate, start a job, or make your dreams come true. But once you’re there, you don’t have to stop; otherwise boredom and dissatisfaction will occur.
Self-improvement lasts a lifetime and starts with everyday life.

Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Vol.6. No.4 December  2015 
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Arab EFL Students' Application and Awareness of Critical Thinking in College Writing: A Case Study



Eman Al-Dumairi
Hebron University

Nida' Alhaq Al-Jabari
Hebron University



Abstract:
This paper sheds light on the necessity of engaging critical thinking skills in teaching college writing to EFL students at university. The study investigates students’  attitudes towards writing, the challenges they face when writing paragraph assignments  in terms of generating and organizing ideas. It has been noticed that students’ performance in English college writing is not satisfactory not just for linguistic reasons but for lacking critical thinking skills. Many studies focused on the grammatical and vocabulary problems that face Arab EFL learner's when writing in English. Albeit, this research takes us a step further and even more pedagogical than just linguistic. It addresses the difficulties that students face when writing assignments that require them to argue, analyze, infer and judge. Results show that students' inefficient writing is due to their lack of critical thinking skills which are neglected throughout their writing experience at high school.

Key Words:  college writing, critical thinking, EFL classrooms, self-confidence

Speaking in a foreign language can be influenced by such psychological aspects as anxiety and self-confidence. The students who have high level of anxiety, worry, fear and low level of self-confidence in foreign language classes may have difficulties in developing their speaking ability. The objective of this research was to find out whether there was a significant correlation between students' speaking anxiety, self-confidence, and their speaking achievement. The research used correlation design. The data were collected through interviews that were scored by two raters and two questionnaires that were administered to fifth semester students (n = 28) from a Teacher and Training Faculty in Indonesia. The data were analyzed using descriptive and correlational analysis. The results indicated that speaking anxiety has no significant correlation with speaking achievement. Self-confidence has a significant correlation with speech achievement (p = .01). That is, students with self-confidence have higher achievement. So, it is important for teachers and lecturers to encourage students and practice speaking English in front of class, especially to improve the self-confidence when the students are communicating in English.

The study investigated the relationship between minority students' use of technology, social media, the number of online courses, program of study, satisfaction, and academic performance. Participants in the study were a diverse student body regarding age, gender, and educational level, and functioned at both undergraduate and graduate levels. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Chi-square tests were used to find the relationship between participants' online learning experiences and academic performance. Results showed that satisfaction and use of social media had no relationship with the academic performance of participants. However, a relationship existed between the use of technology, the number of courses in online, program of study, and academic performance. Categories that emerged from the open-ended questions were flexibility and time convenience, self-confidence, lack of support, self-regulated learning skills, and language and linguistic differences. The authors concluded that varying factors such as cultural, language, personal, and efficacy skills facilitated the academic performance of minority students in an online learning environment. This study reiterates the importance of establishing multicultural presence in an online course and suggests best pedagogical methods for teaching minority students in an online course. https://olj.onlinelearningconsortium.org/index.php/olj/article/view/577

This Diploma Paper explores, in depth, self-determination theory and strategies applied to educational purposes in order to enhance student’s overall dedication to studies and, therefore, improve subject grades. A case study was carried out focussing on a specific case, where, by teaching and giving a student the choice to make decisions; reflect; become aware of the educational and personal needs for growth, aims and goals; and encouraging daily, the set goals became more possible and feasible. It was concluded that teaching special educational needs student applying the strategies chosen for the Paper greatly benefited the specific student’s future both at school and outside of school.

Takım sporcularının mental dayanıklılık seviyelerinin, psikolojik performans danışmanlığı sonrası değişimini incelemek ve mental dayanıklılık ile sportif sürekli kendine güven düzeyleri arasındaki ilişkiyi saptamak amacıyla bu çalışma yürütülmüştür. Araştırmanın örneklem grubunu Hatay Mustafa Kemal Üniversitesi bünyesinde kurulan üniversite takım sporcularından 70 (40 erkek 30 kadın) kişi oluşturmaktadır. Bu 70 kişi 35 araştırma grubu 35 kontrol grubu olmak üzere iki gruba ayrılmıştır. Araştırmada Sheard (2009) tarafından geliştirilip Pehlivan (2015) tarafından Türkçeye uyarlanan 13 maddelik güven, bağlılık, kontrol alt boyutlarına sahip olan ‘’Sporda Mental Dayanıklılık Ölçeği’’ ve Vealey (1986) tarafından geliştirilip Yıldırım
(2013) tarafından Türkçeye uyarlanan 13 maddelik ‘’Sportif Sürekli Kendine Güven Ölçeği’’ kullanılmıştır. Verilerin analizinde SPSS 17 paket programı kullanılmıştır. Veriler normallik testi sonucunda normal dağılmadığı saptanmış ve öntest sontest karşılaştırmaları için 2 Related Samples testlerinden Wilcoxon Testi, ikili bağımsız değişkenlerin mental dayanıklılık ölçeği puanlarını karşılaştırmak için Mann Whitney U uygulanmıştır. İki ölçek arasındaki ilişkiyi saptamak için korelasyon testlerinden Spearman Testi kullanılmıştır. Çalışmanın sonuçları incelendiğinde Sporda Mental Dayanıklılık Ölçeği’nin alt boyutlarında araştırma grubu için öntest ve sontest karşılaştırmalarında anlamlı bir farklılık tespit edilmiştir. Kontrol grubunun öntest sontest puanları incelendiğindeyse güven alt boyutu haricinde bağlılık ve kontrolde bir artış olduğu gözlenmiş ve bu iki alt boyut arasında öntest sontest açısından anlamlı bir farklılık tespit edilmiştir.

Background and Objectives: Self-confidence, referring to relying on and exploiting individual abilities and talents for realizing spiritual and material prosperity, not only contradicts but is in agreement with and a prerequisite for faith in God. Practically, the greater faith in God one has, the more potent self-confidence he /she possess. Investigating the subject of self-confidence from the perspectives of Quran, Ahadith and psychology, this study explores the meaning of self (soul) in self-confidence and its levels, the prerequisites for development and enhancement of self-confidence, the association of self-concept and self-esteem with self-confidence, and the approaches to develop and enhance positive self-concept as well as to boost self-confidence.
Methods: The data of this descriptive review article were gathered from library and digital references.
Results: Although it appears that self-confidence contradicts Islamic teachings, it can be clearly understood that this teaching subject is confirmed and emphasized in Islamic teachings by discovery of its true meaning.
Conclusion: If having self-confidence is meant to rely on and exploiting individual abilities and talents to reach material and spiritual prosperity, it not only does not contradict but is in agreement with and a prerequisite for faith in God. Self in self- confidence indeed means human as a combination of the body and the spirit which is fully consistent with indices of self-confidence. According to psychologists, improving self-esteem and positive self-concept affects self-confidence directly. From perspective of religion, paying attention to venerability and God-given dignity of human, recognizing the superb purpose in life, etc. are approaches to develop and enhance positive self-concept and self-esteem, and to boost self-confidence.
Keywords: Mental Health, Mental Hygiene, Psychology and Religion, Self- confidence, Self-esteem.

Introduction and aim: In sports, self-confidence can be characterized by high-grade achievement expectation. In this context, the aim is to determine whether is any difference between the self-confidence levels of middle school students who do individual sports and those who are engaged in team sports. Age groups and gender as well as differences in self-esteem levels are also analyzed.
Method: The study group consisted of 96 students who were engaged in individual and team sports in 5 secondary schools in Istanbul. "Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory", developed by Coopersmith (1967), was used in order to determine self-esteem levels and the personal information form was prepared to collect participants' age, gender and sport type data. First, the Shapiro Wilk test was performed to test the distribution of the data and it was found that the data provided a normal distribution. Independent sample t-test was conducted to determine whether self-esteem levels differed significantly in terms of gender and age variables.
Findings: At the end of the study, the findings obtained from the data analysis showed that there was no significant difference in the self-confidence levels of the secondary school students compared to the sports types (p> 0,05). In the data obtained from other variables, it was determined that the level of self-esteem did not show any significant difference according to age and sex (p> 0,05).
Discussion: There was no significant difference between the presented study and the mean scores of confidence, age, sport type and gender (p> 0,05). It can be said that no definite decision has been reached on whether this self-confidence is influential or not according to the results of this sample and the results of the researches made. It is advisable to add lessons such as communication skills, human relations in order to improve curriculum self- confidence building levels in schools.

Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Vol.6. No.2 June 2015                         
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Peer observation of Teaching and Professional Development: Teachers’ Perspectives at the English Language Institute, King Abdulaziz University

Amal Ibrahim Shousha
English Language Teacher at the English Language Institute
King Abdulaziz University
Jeddah, Saudi Arabia


Abstract
Peer Observation of Teaching (POT) is one means to help teachers develop professionally. It shows any institute's sincere efforts to help its teachers for the sake of improving the quality of learning and teaching. It also helps to spread a spirit of collegiality in the workplace by sharing best teaching practices among colleagues. This paper reports on participants' reflections and viewpoints regarding a piloting Peer Observation Program (POTP) implemented in the English Language Institute (ELI) main campus at King Abdulaziz University (KAU), Jeddah, Saudi Arabia in the academic year (2013-2014). It also investigates whether taking part in POT helped teachers to develop professionally and to what extent. This paper utilizes data from an evaluation questionnaire completed by 13 teachers (observers and observees). Based on data analysis, this paper identifies: 1) the benefit of peer observation to achieve professional development by building self-confidence, self-reflection, sharing ideas and learning new teaching techniques, 2) teachers’ needs for administrative remuneration and training on peer observation skills especially feedback techniques, and 3) the hurdles that might inhibit teachers from participating in POT, which included time constraints, busy workloads and paper work.
Keywords:  Peer Observation, professional development, self- reflection, self-confidence, sharing ideas.

Individuals who have the impostor syndrome have an inability to internalize their achievements, and live in fear of being exposed as a fraud. This paper provides an overview of the syndrome and discusses a case study of an individual who has the syndrome. Portions of this paper will appear in a forthcoming autobiography – Robert W. McGee: The Autobiography of an Outlier.

Introduction
The Advanced Certificate In Leadership-Personality Discovery & Self-Confidence Development is a novel program that leverages knowledge from several fields of study including philosophy, psychology, biology, neuroscience, bibliology, Christian Theology, and several natural science disciplines. The course is designed to help students discover, develop and deploy their inherent leadership potentials.
Course Rationale

Our years of interaction with several people who have gone through Ghana’s educational system, as a Consulting Firm and Educational Institution, has unveiled a common pattern- that many people went through the system and came out, not having enough confidence, ingenuity, emotional intelligence, and the innovative capacity for self-discovery, self-development, and self-deployment. We have encountered several students who want to live very meaningful and purposeful lives but have been frustrated by the educational system to the point that many do not even have the passion, faith, and confidence required for ultimate success in life. This course is designed as an all-encompassing therapy and solution for all such students. The ultimate intent is to bring their faith back to life, inspire confidence, and help them discover their Creator’s ultimate intent and purpose for their lives. In particular, the course also seeks to help the individual discover their hidden leadership gifts, and capacities, and gives them the necessary principles and information that will bring the best out of them, and drive them towards the highest echelon of success and fulfillment in life.

Course Objectives
The course is designed with the following objectives in mind. To
1. Help students discover, understand, maximize and deploy their inherent potentials and purposes.
2. Introduce students to their true selves and personalities and empower them to achieve significant feats in life using their knowledge of their new selves.
3. Aid students to gain a much deeper understanding of their minds, by understanding its components, purpose, and power and how to utilize their minds to provide creative and innovative solutions to personal and societal problems.
4. Help students discover the hidden leader within them, give them the information and principles required to develop their inner selves and empower them to understand, develop and manifest emotional intelligence in their lives.
5. Introduce students to the power of mind over matter, and inculcate in them a positive attitude, optimistic mindset and help them develop their self-confidence.
6. Equip students with public speaking & communication skills
7. Introduce to students, the concepts of learning strategies & styles and help them discover their learning styles and how to best utilize them for optimal success in life.
8. Inculcate the senses of spirituality, self-confidence, and resilient character in students by helping them appreciate the power of their Transcendental Origin

Expected Outcome
By the end of the course, students should have:
1. Discovered, understood, and mastered the principles required for maximizing and deploying their inherent potentials and purposes.
2. Realized and appreciated their true selves and personalities and should have received the empowerment needed to achieve significant feats in life using their knowledge of their new selves.
3. Gained a much deeper understanding of their minds, by understanding its components, purpose, and power and how to utilize their minds to provide creative and innovative solutions to personal and societal problems.
4. Discerned the hidden leader within them, and mastered the information and principles needed to develop their inner-self and manifest emotional intelligence in their lives.
5. Appreciated the power of mind over matter, and inculcate in their minds, the positive attitude, the optimistic mindset that is necessary to develop and manifest the traits of self-confidence.
6. Mastered Public Speaking & Communication Skills.
7. Ascertained and understood their learning style and how to best utilize it for optimal success.
8. Started manifesting elements of true spirituality, self-confidence, and a resilient character based on their knowledge and understanding of the power of their Transcendental Origin.

It is easy to see that highly fatalistic, ineffi cient persons believe that their actions have little outcome. Because greater fatalism lowers an employee’s effort level, it may result in lower wages, while the anti-fatalistic attitude translates into more effective work that in turn may be rewarded with a higher salary. In this article the author tests a self-confi dence scale that is similar to
the most widely used Rotter locus of control scale. People with high self-confidence have determination, feel they have an infl uence on their future, and are optimistic. In the analysis the author investigates the predictive power of self-confidence in wage equations using Hungarian data.

Following the Metacognitive Affective Model of SRL (MASRL; Efklides, 2011), this study sought to investigate the contribution of self-protection and self-enhancement motivations to individual differences in confidence, an on-task metacognitive experience, along with links to anxiety. Participants (N = 197) completed self-report measures of motivation, metacognitive beliefs and anxiety, along with three cognitive tests incorporating confidence judgments. Exploratory Factor Analyses suggested two distinct motivational tendencies: Self-protection and Self-enhancement. Metacognitive Beliefs, performance Accuracy and Confidence latent factors were
also established. Path analysis suggested that Self-protection and Self-enhancement tendencies had respective
negative and positive predictions to Metacognitive Beliefs, which in turn positively predicted Confidence. Furthermore,
Self-protection positively predicted anxiety levels. This study is the first to establish the link between self-protection and self-enhancement motivations and on-task metacognitive confidence, along with highlighting links to anxiety. In doing so, the findings provide support for the MASRL model.

This study aims to identify Saudi English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students' perspectives towards using the English language in their studies. The study explores students self-confident and its association with students' actual performance in English course in their different academic programs. A multimodal methodology was used to fulfill the research purpose and answer the research questions. A 25-item survey questionnaire and final examination grades were used to collect data. Two hundred forty-one students agreed to participate in the study. They completed the questionnaire and agreed to release their final grades to be a part of the collected data. The data were coded and analyzed by SPSS software. The findings indicated a significant difference in students' performance in English courses between participants' academic programs on the one hand. Students' self-confidence in their English language skills, on the other hand, was not significantly different between participants' academic programs. Data analysis also revealed no correlational relationship between students' self-confidence level and their language skills and their performance. The study raises more questions about other vital factors such as course instructors' views of the materials, faculty members of the target department, family belief in the usefulness of the program, protentional employers. These views and beliefs shape the student's preparation process and therefore, should be explored further.

The current study reports findings of quantitative investigation of the opinions of Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Finnish teachers on their perceived professional self-confidence with a sample of 393 practicing teachers. Teachers' self-esteem, self-and collective efficacy were examined as components of teachers' professional self-confidence. Collective efficacy beliefs were measured in terms of teachers' subjective perception of efficacy of school community members, namely, the principal, colleagues, students and their parents. The results indicated that Finnish teachers have a significantly higher level of professional self-esteem, while Lithuanian teachers indicated a lower level, and Ukrainian-the lowest. There is no significant difference between self-and collective efficacy of Lithuanian and Finnish teachers, while Ukrainian teachers scored significantly lower. Consequently, Finnish teachers have the highest level of professional self-confidence, while Lithuanian teachers have an average level, and Ukrainian teachers have the lowest. Lithuanian, Ukrainian and Finnish teachers indicated different patterns of their perceptions of the extent to which members of the school community meet their obligations.

The aim of this study is to examine the self-confidence relevance of the individuals who mountaineer and individuals who are part of search and rescue operations. Two hundred seventy nine persons voluntarily participated in the research. The research data was collected using the self-confidence scale developed by Akın (2007). There are a total of 33 articles in the scale. The scale is composed of two factors. These are the two sub dimensions being interior self-confidence and exterior self-confidence. The data collected was analyzed through the statistical package program (SPSS 16.0) and the results were interpreted. In our study, the Cronbach's Alpha Value of the scale was calculated as 0.89. The One Way ANOVA and T-test were used in the evaluation of the research data. In the research, as regards the gender, branch, experience, age and marital status, meaningful correlations were identified. As a result, athletes who performed search and rescue have higher self-confidence than those who mountaineer. Since both fields involve risky activities, it is recommended for the athletes who are involved in outdoor sports to be encouraged to get into search and rescue operations. Regular activities and training would improve self-confidence.

Blind students in or approaching higher education often consider taking a gap year from higher education to receive comprehensive adjustment-to-blindness training at a residential center. This article seams together existing bodies of literature and explains how and why such training can be a helpful and productive option for a gap-year experience for blind students, especially when that training is provided under the Structured Discovery model. Many of the features of Structured Discovery training in a residential environment have already been designed in ways that preempt the common fears about gap years. Training at a Structured Discovery center fosters personal development, which pays dividends in career development. This article also discusses factors influencing the decision to go to training and the benefits of seeking training as early as possible in the career process.

The objective of this study is to develop and validate an instrument to measure entrepreneurial motivation among the low-income households in Kelantan, Malaysia. The present study attempts to answer the call of existing studies, which reported inadequate entrepreneurship research within developing economies by examining the constructs of Self-Improvement, Self-Confidence, Openness to Change, Pull Factors, and Need for Achievement as components of an instrument to measure Entrepreneurial Motivation. This study adopted a cross-sectional design with quantitative data collected from 800 households in four districts in Kelantan, Malaysia, through a structured interview. Based on the reliability and validity testing, this study finalized the instrument to 25 items yielding five factors, i.e., selfimprovement, self-confidence, openness to change, pull factors, and need for achievement. The findings of the reflective hierarchical model revealed that need for achievement is the highest contributor to entrepreneurial motivation among the lowincome households in Kelantan, Malaysia; followed by self-confidence, pull factors, self-improvement, and openness to change. It is recommended that future researchers continue to develop the instrument by cross-examining the instrument across different income level groups living in both low-income and developed economies.