Students’ and Teachers’ Perceptions of an Effective English Language Teacher

The present study mainly aimed to investigate the students‟, instructors‟ and alumni‟s perceptions of an effective English language teacher in the English Language Teaching (ELT) Department at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). To this aim, personal qualities, professional qualities, pedagogical skills and classroom behaviors of effective English language teachers as perceived by the students, instructors and alumni were identified. The study was designed as a qualitative and quantitative (i.e. a mixed-type) case study. The participants included 82 undergraduate ELT students (student teachers), 10 instructors and 20 alumni. The data was collected through questionnaires, and semi-structured interviews from three groups of participants. The results of the study showed that the perceptions of each group of participants generally differed from another although some similarities were identified. According to the students and alumni, in order to be an effective English language teacher, professional qualities, pedagogical skills and classroom behaviors are more important than personal qualities. On the other hand, the instructors believed that the combination of all qualities is necessary for being an effective English language teacher. The overall findings of the study revealed that the highly important qualities of an effective English language teacher as perceived by the participants were: being fair, reducing students‟ anxiety, being good at classroom management, knowing students‟ names, correcting students without offending, being encouraging, approachable and patient, teaching speaking skills well, having good knowledge of vocabulary and having correct pronunciation, respectively. Although most of the qualities were perceived important, three qualities which are gender, being young and having lived in an English speaking country, were been perceived slightly important. In the light of the results of the study, some implications for pedagogy and further research are suggested. Keywords: effective teacher, English language, teacher qualities, perceptions