The Characteristics of Effective English Language Teachers in Students' Perceptions

Abstract

The intricacy of establishing an effective teaching and learning by beginner English Language (EL) educators prompted this research study to be conducted. The purpose of this study was to identify the most significant qualities possessed by effective EL educators to excogitate effectiveness in teaching and learning. This study used a mixed-methodology which combined both closed-ended and open-ended questionnaires as the instruments of data collection. The closed-ended questionnaire adopted a 5-point Likert scale to determine the participants' response tendency toward twenty effective teachers' characteristics. In the open-ended questionnaire, the students were asked to select five most important characteristics of the twenty and give the reasons underlying the selection. The questionnaires were distributed to 150 English Department (ED) students in Satya Wacana Christian University (SWCU), Salatiga, Indonesia. The participants were randomly chosen so any of them could fairly voice his (her) opinion about effective EL teachers' characteristics. This study finally discovered the top five significant qualities of effective EL teachers which were (1) knowledgeable, (2) proficient in simplifying the material, (3) clear in explaining the material, (4) helpful, and (5) creative. To strengthen the finding, the study moreover found out the students' reasons underlying the selection of the top five qualities.