Abstract
A large body of research investigated teachers’ preference regarding teacher qualities in the first or second language settings. However, little is known about the unique qualities of an English teacher in a foreign language context. This study investigated the perceptions of 44 English instructors regarding the best qualities of an effective English teacher and examined if the participants’ education level affects their perceptions using a questionnaire at Bahir Dar University, Ethiopia. The results were statistically analyzed based on three themes defining teacher quality: the socio-affective skills, content knowledge or linguistic knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. While the results revealed both congruent perceptions and differing concerns, an overwhelming majority of the participants valued the linguistic quality of an effective English teacher most. The results also revealed MA instructors’ limited perception regarding the pedagogical skill although its effectiveness is reiterated in the literature. Apart from differing in their perceptions regarding the value of pedagogical knowledge, the education level didn’t potentially affect participants’ perception about what they felt an effective EFL teacher needs to possess regarding the two nominated themes in this study. The study suggests that the benefits of the three qualities of an English teacher should be entirely taken together to enhance student learning. The pedagogical and research implications of the results were presented. Keywords: effective, perception, content, pedagogical, socio-affective DOI: 10.7176/JLLL/70-03 Publication date: July 31 st 2020
Highlights
Quality education is critical and increasingly important in higher education in the globalized world where it provides a competitive advantage both in the academic or work areas
The large degree of symmetry between the two groups regarding the linguistic knowledge as their most important category of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teacher quality was in substantial agreement with that of a plethora of research that explored the perception of English teachers about what they feel the best quality of EFL teacher and revealed that mastery of the language was the first choice of EFL teachers (Arıkan, 2010; Borg, 2006; Brosh, 2017; Park & Lee, 2006; Shishavan & Sadeghi, 2009; Werbinska, 2009)
The relatively large proportion of PhD instructors identifying pedagogical knowledge as the least important of quality of an English teacher contrasts with the outcomes of previous studies (Arıkan et al 2008; Aydın et al 2009; Borg 2006) which have reiterated the decisive role of pedagogical knowledge to effective English language teaching
Summary
Quality education is critical and increasingly important in higher education in the globalized world where it provides a competitive advantage both in the academic or work areas. While some of the scholars narrowly defined it with regard to the school managers and academic staff that teach students and how students are taught (Longanecker & Blanco, 2003), others precisely defined it emphasizing more on the importance of the academic staff in resource rather than performance terms, such as individual reputation, number of publications, and number of courses taught in higher education where school managers could be considered as problems of coordination (Koslowski, 2006). Teachers are inseparable parts of education and they have highly significant roles in the quality of teaching and raising successful learners (Dincer, Goksu, Takkac, & Yazici, 2013). This study defines effective teaching as “being successful in producing a desired or intended result” (Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 2006)
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