Mismatches in Beliefs between Teachers and Students, and Characteristics of Effective English Teacher: An Iranian Context

Abstract

This study examines the characteristics of effective English teacher from the view of 121 teachers and 348 students in Urmia universities, Iran. Data were gathered with a self-report questionnaire comprised of three sections: English proficiency, pedagogical knowledge, and socio-affective skills. The results revealed that there is a great mismatch with teachers’ and students’ perceptions. While teachers ranked English proficiency as the highest, students perceived pedagogical knowledge as a significant characteristic of an effective teacher. The characteristics reported by high achieving students and low achieving students were different in terms of pedagogical knowledge and socio-affective skills, while the female students demonstrated different characteristics from the male students in socio-affective skills. There were also disparities in student subgroups regarding effective teaching. The findings have implications to remediate pre-service and in-service training of teachers.