Conflict management styles and work motivation of English preparatory program instructors

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived conflict management styles of English Language Preparatory Program instructors working in Turkish universities in Istanbul and whether or not these styles differ accordingly to demographic features such as professional seniority. Additionally, the study investigated ELPP instructors' perceptions of work motivation, whether or not the work motivation differ accordingly to demographic features and whether there is any relationship between their conflict management styles and work motivation. The quantitative data were collected through ROCI-II Form C Questionnaire (Rahim, 1983) and Teacher Motivation Questionnaire (Kassagby et al., 2001) administered to 85 ELPP instructors. The qualitative data were collected through teacher reflections which came from 16 volunteer instructors. The study's findings indicated the most perceived conflict management style was collaboration, and teachers were motivated when there was autonomy, affiliation, and institutional support. Moreover, professional seniority had no effect on conflict management styles. However, there was a positive but weak significance between collaborating style with autonomy, affiliation, and support from the institution, and dominating style also had a positive but weak relationship with extrinsic motivators. Based on the findings, some pedagogical implications and recommendations were provided to researchers, teachers, and administrators seeking to investigate English language teachers' conflict management styles and their work motivation.