Different Qualities of Effective EFL Teachers
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Date
2016-05
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Publisher
The British University in Dubai (BUiD)
Abstract
This research aimed to explore the different qualities of effective English teachers as perceived by secondary grades EFL teachers and students (9th-12th) from two Pakistani secondary schools located in different emirates of the U.A.E. Mixed method research design was utilized by the researcher for data collection. In the qualitative part, structured interviews were utilized for 20 EFL teachers and 10 students while for the non-participant classroom observations 10 interviewed EFL teachers were selected from the two schools. For the quantitative part, a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was administered to 180 secondary grades students in the two schools. Qualities of effective EFL teachers highlighted by EFL teachers and students were mainly in the context of their own language teaching and learning difficulties. EFL teachers maintained that apart from having command of the subject-matter knowledge, effective EFL teachers should also focus on improving students’ communicative skills. Maintaining proper classroom discipline was also emphasized upon by EFL teachers. Students described effective EFL teachers as those who utilize different strategies to solve language difficulties of mixed-ability students. They emphasized on EFL teachers’ own strong communicative skills as well as improving students’ communicative competence. Students also mentioned classroom management as a basic requirement for effective EFL teachers. The outcomes of this research study suggest that there might be no prescribed set of rules which EFL teachers should follow for enhancing their teaching effectiveness. It also might not be possible for commonplace EFL teachers to equip themselves with all the different characteristics of effective EFL teachers mentioned in the research literature. The results of this research study further suggest that EFL teachers may enhance their teaching effectiveness by utilizing specific strategies for solving the learning difficulties of their students as well as understanding the specific context in which EFL teaching and learning take place.
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DISSERTATION WITH DISTINCTION
Keywords
EFL teachers, United Arab Emirates (UAE), secondary schools, learning difficulties