The mediating role of academic optimism and positive psychological capital of EFL/ESL teachers on teaching effectiveness.

In the last decade, the psycho-emotional aspects of second foreign language (L2) education have attracted increasing attention in academic circles. Better teaching and student achievement no longer depend solely on teachers' teaching skills and practices. On the contrary, various psychoemotional variables play a mediating role in the English teaching process and its effects. However, under the influence of demographic factors, the impact of EFL/ESL teachers' academic optimism and positive psychological capital on their teaching effectiveness has been ignored. To fill this gap, the study used three online questionnaires to investigate the predictive effect of academic optimism and positive psychological capital of 338 Chinese EFL/ESL teachers on their teaching effectiveness. The results of structural equation modeling (sem) and standardized regression weights show a strong correlation between demographic factors and teachers' academic optimism and teachers' positive psychological capital. Furthermore, there is a strong correlation between teachers' positive psychological capital and teacher efficacy, while there is no correlation between academic optimism and teacher efficacy. Furthermore, positive psychological capital can predict a 67% change in Chinese EFL/ESL teachers' teaching effectiveness. The study also discussed the illumination and suggestions for new studies to deepen the psychological knowledge of second language educators.