Effective EFL Teachers Research Articles

Characteristics of effective EFL teachers from the perspective of Turkish EFL learners

Characteristics of effective EFL teachers from the perspective of Turkish EFL learners

Foreign Language Teaching in Iran: A Model for Effective EFL Teaching in the Iranian Context

Language teachers play a crucial role in language education. An effective EFL teacher in most cases paves the way for having an effective education. EFL teaching in different contexts bears some differences. The present study discusses the criteria that an effective EFL teacher should present in Iran. Interviews are conducted and 15 participants are interviewed and as a result of the interview, a questionnaire is developed. 90 EFL teachers and students answer to the questionnaire. The participants are male and female, experienced and novice, and of different ages. Multiple regression analysis reveals no relationship between age, gender, experience, and the answers they provide for the questionnaire. Due to factor analysis, 13 components including linguistic and non-linguistic factors are extracted and the results show that the majority of the participants agree with the criteria posed in the questionnaire. The participants’ age, gender, and experience in EFL teaching do not reveal any distinguishing results among them. Consequently, a model is developed to present the criteria for being an Effective EFL teacher in Iran.

Characteristics of effective EFL teachers from the perspective of Turkish EFL learners

EFL teachers’ characteristics may change due to several factors including personality of teachers and the methods that they follow. This paper aimed to investigate the perceptions of young learners about the characteristics of effective English language teachers. In this respect, 100 students were delivered Turkish version of an inventory that developed by Yu-Hsin (1999). It consisted of three different parts regarding personal, professional, and pedagogical qualities. The results indicated that an effective teacher is expected to be friendly who has accurate pronunciation and in addition to having effective classroom management skills. Moreover, the participants indicated that they expect EFL teachers to be enthusiastic about technological developments and visual materials may help them feel relaxed during lectures. Since the overall results highlight the importance of both pedagogical and personal qualities on becoming an effective teacher, those who have an ambition of becoming an effective teacher should be aware of them.

Exploring the Characteristics of Effective Iranian EFL Teachers from Students’ and Teachers’ Perspectives

This study investigated the characteristics of effective secondary school Iranian EFL teachers from students’ and teachers’ perspectives. To this end, 376 junior secondary school students and 32 EFL teachers teaching at various Iranian secondary schools participated in the study. A validated open-ended questionnaire was distributed among the student and teacher participants and asked for their opinions on key characteristics of an effective EFL teacher. A semi-structured interview was also conducted with the teacher participants to investigate why they deemed the characteristics important. The results of the content analysis of the data obtained from the questionnaire and the interview indicated that students and teachers were approximately of the same opinion, both highlighting teachers’ professional qualities (e.g., knowledge of the subject matter, ability to impart knowledge properly, etc.), classroom management-related qualities (e.g., involving all students by assigning pair work/group work activities, assessing their learning progress regularly, etc.), and interpersonal relationships as being of crucial importance for effective EFL teaching. However, they differed in the degree to which they perceived these qualities to be important

Characteristics of Effective EFL Instructors: Language Teachers' Perceptions Versus Learners' Perceptions

Improving the field of foreign language teaching without improving the qualities of the teachers seems impossible. This attempt, at first hand, requires recognizing the qualities of effective EFL teachers. The aim of this study was to find what foreign language instructors perceive to be the most important characteristics of a successful EFL teacher. In addition, the teachers’ perception was compared to that of learners’ to see whether there were discrepancies between the two groups’ perceptions regarding the preferable characteristics of an effective English language instructors or not. A 58-item questionnaire was administered to teachers at a prominent language institute in Iran. This questionnaire was divided into eight sections and addressed issues relating to teachers’ personal qualities, command in English, teaching methods and evaluation methods they used within the class, mastery over teaching, teacher-student relation, class management and finally language skills management. Teachers were asked to specify the importance of each item in the questionnaire using terms like not important at all, somehow important, important and finally very important. Basic statistics were used to convert the qualitative results into quantitative ones for easier comparison. Interestingly however, the study revealed that the students’ perceptions and teachers’ perceptions do not differ in major ways although there are slight discrepancies.

Students’ Perceptions of Effective EFL Teachers in University Settings in Cyprus

This study sought to identify what characteristics and teaching behaviours describe effective EFL University teachers as perceived by Cypriot students. Data were collected by means of a questionnaire and focus group interviews. Findings have provided evidence that effective language teaching seems to be related to a more learner-centred approach to language learning and teaching, which, in turn, assumes a more assisting, mediating role for the language teacher. According to the participants of this study, an effective EFL teacher is no longer considered one who has a directive and authoritarian role in the learning process but one who takes into consideration his/her students’ individual differences, language anxiety, abilities and interests and design learning environments accordingly. Language teachers’ skills in using technology and engaging students in meaningful classroom interactions by involving them in group tasks designed around real life topics and authentic language use have also been emphasised. Participants’ views call for EFL teachers in university settings to move beyond the traditional focus-on-form approach to language teaching which views language learning as an individual activity, to the adoption of the communicative approach to language teaching which acknowledges the social aspect of learning and as such, it depends upon meaningful interactions with peers. EFL teachers working in tertiary education should use these findings as a yardstick to better understand themselves and the needs of their students for the enhancement of the learning process.