The Influential Factors on Teaching Anxiety Using Decision Tree Analysis: A Case Study of EFL Teachers in Japanese Universities
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study aimed to examine three aspects of university English teachers (EFL teachers) in Japan: (i) the factors influencing the levels of teaching anxiety as perceived by the teachers, (ii) the extent to which these factors affect the levels of teaching anxiety, and (iii) the characteristics of teachers who are more prone to perceiving teaching anxiety than those who are less likely to perceive it. The analysis employed decision tree analysis, a machine learning method that classifies and predicts data by dividing them into branches. This approach presents the data in a tree diagram, which allows for the identification of factors influencing the target variable and their relative importance. The results of the analysis indicated that the factors influencing teaching anxiety, in descending order of impact, were: “Feeling fulfilled by research activities,” “Feeling anxiety about childbirth and childcare,” “Age,” and “Feeling that there are many administrative tasks apart from teaching and research activities.” This indicates that the anxiety experienced by university English teachers regarding their teaching role is not an isolated phenomenon but is closely interconnected with other aspects of their lives, including their workplace environment and personal life circumstances. Furthermore, it suggests that these influencing factors may reflect the intrinsic attributes associated with specific job responsibilities and the overarching philosophies of their affiliated institutions. Therefore, a comprehensive support system must be established at the organizational level to mitigate teaching anxiety. This system must consider the aforementioned variables. The findings of this study have the potential to provide effective strategies for English teachers to manage anxiety in similar contexts. These findings are anticipated to contribute to the development of comprehensive support mechanisms for educators.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Amata, C. (2022). Level of stress and coping strategies of public-school teachers during COVID-19 pandemic: The case of offshore and Philippine teachers. AIDE Interdisciplinary Research Journal, 3, 294–312. https://doi.org/10.56648/aide-irj.v3i1.70
Carroll, A., Forrest, K., Sanders‐O’Connor, E., Flynn, L., Bower, J., Fynes-Clinton, S., York, A., & Ziaei, M. (2022). Teacher stress and burnout in Australia: Examining the role of intrapersonal and environmental factors. Social Psychology of Education, 25, 441–469. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11218-022-09686-7
Central Council for Education. (2025). 我が国の「知の総和」向上の未来像: 高等教育システムの再構築 （答申 [Future vision for improving Japan’s “collective knowledge and wisdom" -reconstructing the higher education system (Report)]. https://www.mext.go.jp/b_menu/shingi/chukyo/chukyo0/toushin/1420275_00014.htm
Ferguson, K., Mang, C., & Frost, L. (2017). Teacher stress and social support usage. Brock Education Journal, 26(2), 62–86. https://doi.org/10.26522/brocked.v26i2.606
Fuchigami, N., & Sugita, N. (2021). 大学教員のワーク・ライフ・バランス実態と求められる職場環境改善支援 [Actual conditions of work-life balance and required supports of improvement of work environment on faculty members]. Japan Journal of Educational Technology, 44(4), 409–418. https://doi.org/10.15077/jjet.44090
Horwitz, E. K. (1996). Even teachers get the blues: Recognizing and alleviating language teachers’ feelings of foreign language anxiety. Foreign Language Annals, 29(3), 365–372. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.1996.tb01248.x
Kataoka, R. (2024a). 大学英語教員の授業活動に関するストレス測定尺度の作成: 因子分析による信頼性と妥当 性の検証 [The evaluation of teaching stress among university English teachers: Scale development and validation]. The Journal of International Media, Communication, and Tourism Studies, 38, 19–41. http://dl.handle.net/2115/91794
Kataoka, R. (2024b). 英語授業を担当する大学教員のストレッサーとコーピングに関する探索的研究: 自由記述式データから見た新型コロナウイルス感染症による影響 [An exploratory study of university and junior college English teachers’ stressors and coping strategies related to teaching activities: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic]. Japan Journal of Educational Technology, 48(1), 99–108. https://doi.org/10.15077/jjet.47059
Kataoka, R. (2025). 初任者英語教員の授業不安への対処過程 : 複線径路・等至性モデル（TEM）による分析 [Coping processes of teaching stress in a novice English teacher: An analysis using the Trajectory Equifinality Model (TEM)]. Journal of Higher Education and Lifelong Learning, 32, 11–23. https://doi.org/10.14943/J.HighEdu.32.11
Kawai, H., & Higashihata, H. (2021). 大学教員のストレスに関する文献研究 [A literature review on the stress facing university faculty members]. Environment-welfare Science Studies, 6(1), 39–48.
Kimura,N., Hashikawa, K., & Kiuchi, Y. (2007). 大学教員の職業性ストレス構造に関する研究 [Covariance analysis of the work stress model of faculty members at a junior college, university, college, or graduate school]. Bulletin of Center for Collaboration in Community, Naruto University of Education, 22, 51–58.
Kuri, T. (2004). 大学教員のストレス測定尺度の作成:大学固有の職場環境・対人関係の視点から [An attempt to construct the stress evaluation scale for professors]. Bulletin of the Graduate School of Education and Human Development, Nagoya University (Psychology and Human Development Sciences), 51, 173–185. https://doi.org/10.18999/nupsych.51.173
Nakamura, A., Shinto, T., Taguchi, M., Nishimori, T., & Nakahara, J. (2007). 大学教員初任者の不安の構造とその不安が職務満足感に与える影響 [Structure of junior faculty members’ concerns and their job satisfaction]. Japanese Journal of Educational Psychology, 55, 491–500. https://doi.org/10.5926/jjep1953.55.4_491
Nishida, J., Hashimoto, K., Kiuchi, A., Nakasuga, T., Fujiwara, H., Yamamoto, K., & Fijitsuka, C. (2024). 大学体育授業にて学修成果を高めるための条件: 学修者特性および学修・教授行動を要因とした決定木分析による検討 [Conditions for enhancing the learning outcomes of university physical education courses: Decision tree analysis with learner characteristics and learning/teaching behavior]. Japan Journal of Physical Education, Health and Sport Sciences, 69, 109–124. https://doi.org/10.5432/jjpehss.23057
Nishizaka, S. (2003). 我が国における教師ストレス研究の現状と課題 [Future direction for the teacher stress studies in Japan: Review of recent studies]. Journal of Educational Research, 8, 13–24. https://u-gakugei.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/30473
Oku, Y., Motomura, T., Maezuru, M., & Uchioke, S. (2004). データマイニングにおける二値データ解析: 決定木とロジスティック回帰分析 [Binary data analysis in data mining: Tree models and logistic regression models]. Logistics Review, 44, 1–14. https://rku.repo.nii.ac.jp/search?page=1&size=20&sort=controlnumber&search_type=2 &q=602
Shinto, T., & Ozaki, H. (2004). 高等教育段階の授業における教授者のストレス過程: ストレッサー・対処行動の様相 [Teacher’s stress processes in higher education teaching: Stressor appraisal and coping]. Japan Society of Developmental Psychology (JSDP), 15(3), 345–355. https://doi.org/10.11201/jjdp.15.345
Simsek, M. (2022). Predicting mathematics performance by ICT variables in PISA 2018 through decision tree algorithm. International Journal of Technology in Education (IJTE), 5(2), 269–279. https://doi.org/10.46328/ijte.296
Taguchi, M., Nishimori, T., Shinto, T., Nakamura, A., & Nakahara, J. (2006). 高等教育機関における初任者を対象としたFDの現状と課題 [The current situation of FD for junior faculty]. Japan Journal of Educational Technology, 30(1), 19–28. https://doi.org/10.15077/jjet.KJ00004964108
The 4thJACET Survey Committee. (2018). 大学英語教育の担い手に関する総合的研究 [A comprehensive research on university English education leaders in Japan]. JACET.
Yamauchi, K., & Kobayashi, Y. (2000). 小・中・高校教員の教職に対する自己意識: 教師に対する有効な学校コンサルテーションのために [Self-recognition on the part of primary, lower and upper secondary school teachers in relation to their perception of teaching: For effective school consultation to teachers]. Osaka Kyoiku University Bulletin IV: Education, Psychology, Special Education and Physical Culture, 48(2), 215–232.
https://osaka-kyoiku.repo.nii.ac.jp/records/2094353
Yonezaki, M., Tara, S., &Tsukuda, Y. (2016). 小学校外国語活動の教科化・低学年化に対する小学校教員の不安: その構造と変遷 [Primary school teachers’ anxiety about teaching English as a compulsory subject and teaching English to middle-grade students: Structuring and transition]. JES Journal, 16(1), 132–146. https://doi.org/10.20597/jesjournal.16.01_132
