Quality Assurance and Classroom Management in the Study of English in Technical Higher Education

Abstract

The present research aims at identifying the best practices teachers of English should employ in technical higher education, regarding classroom management in view of ensuring the quality of the training program. The research was conducted on 250 engineering students at University “Politehnica” of Bucharest and University “Politehnica” of Timişoara, in their first and second year of study. The results of the research were obtained by means of a 32 item questionnaire, including Likert scales and the CHAID statistical method. The process of quality assurance in the study of foreign languages in Technical Higher Education fosters employers’ confidence in the graduates. In this sense, classroom management matters. It influences school achievement and learners’ professional performance. Classroom management represents the actions taken to create an environment that supports and facilitates academic and social–emotional learning and towards this goal, teachers of English must develop caring, supportive relationships with and among students; organize and implement instruction in ways that optimize students’ access to learning; use group management methods that encourage students’ engagement in academic tasks, organize the physical environment. All this has been identified by engineering students as prerequisites for quality assurance in the study of English.