Teachers and students' perceptions of a good teacher of English = Nhận thức của giáo viên và sinh viên về một người giáo viên tiếng Anh tốt

Needless to say, knowing how to be a good English teacher can improve the qualities of teaching and help students learn English effectively and efficiently... Many students were asked to

Vietnam national university University of languages and international studies FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

DIÊM THI ̣ HẢO TÂM M.A MINOR THESIS

TEACHERS AND STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF

A GOOD TEACHER OF ENGLISH

(Nhận thức của giáo viên và sinh viên về một người

giáo viên tiếng Anh tốt)

Field: English teaching methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Nguyễn Minh Huê ̣, M.A

Hanoi, 2010

TABLES OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study………

2 Research aims and questions………

3 Significance of the study………

4 Chapter arrangements

PART B : DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 Introduction………

I.2 Definition of a good teacher ………

II.2.1 General views about a good teacher………

II.2.2 Specific attributes of a good teacher ………

I.3 General views and specific attributes of a good English teacher ………

II.3.1 General views about a good English teacher………

II.3.2 Specific attributes of a good English teacher………

II.3.3 Perceptions of students and teachers on a good language teacher……

I.4 Studies on teachers and students‟ perceptions of a good teacher of English ……

I 5 Summary………

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY II.1 Research context………

II.2 Participants………

- Teachers………

- Students………

II.3 Data collection methods and procedures ………

II.3.1 Questionnaires

II.3.2 Interview

II.4 Data analysis

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION III.1 Introduction………

III.2 Teachers and students‟ perceptions of the personal qualities of a good teacher of English……….…

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III.3 Teachers and students‟ perceptions of professional development and academic

requirement for a good teacher of English ………

III.4 Teachers and students‟ perceptions of the roles of a good teacher of English… III.5 Teachers and students‟ perceptions of the importance of classroom practices… III 6 Summary………

PART C: CONCLUSIONS 1 Summary of the findings ………

2 Implications ………

3 Limitations and recommendations for further research………

4 Conclusion………

REFERENCES

APPENDICES

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESL: English as a second language

GED: General Educational Development

CLT: Communicative language teaching

ESP: English for special purpose

Q 1: Question 1

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Chart : Teachers and students‟ perceptions of the personal qualities Table 1: Teachers and students‟ perceptions of professional development and

academic requirement Table 2: Teachers and students‟ perceptions about roles of a language teacher Table 3: Teachers and students‟ perceptions of the importance of classroom

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study

A question that many teachers often ask is: I like my job, and I love the students, but how can I become a good language teacher? The answer is not easy It is clear that whether someone can become a good foreign language teacher does not solely depend on his /her command of the language Some linguists assume that those who are engaged in language teaching profession have the burden of keeping up-to-date, not only with the language which is taught but ever changing learner needs and profiles as well (Kayhan, 1999) According to Schrier (1994), along with subject matter knowledge, professional good foreign language teachers must also have “the ability to reflect, analyze critically, select the tools and materials of teaching, and evaluate the products and performance of the learners” (p.220)

Wing (1995) emphasized that today‟s language teachers are expected to have multiple roles along with target language competence:

‘In structuring the foreign language environment, the teacher needs to be a manager who facilitates language acquisition; a resource developer who uses to the greatest advantage the target and native languages, materials, and technology; an analyst who observes and evaluates what is happening in the classroom (p.168).‟

Cross (1995) identified several ingredients of an ideal language teacher According

to him, an ideal language teacher should have high level of education, subject matter competence, professional competence which involves lesson planning, textbook selection, materials and tests design, awareness of current teaching approaches, and educational theory

According to Williams (1975), in order to teach the language effectively, a teacher needs two major competencies as well as having excellent knowledge of the target language s/he is teaching, s/he should have teaching skills to apply in the classroom According to Williams‟ argument, a language teacher should have a good blend of target language knowledge on the one hand and skills to present and teach the target language to the students on the other

As a language teacher, it is necessary to know what a good English teacher is Needless to say, knowing how to be a good English teacher can improve the qualities of teaching and help students learn English effectively and efficiently Teacher‟s personalities

and teaching methodologies will affect how students learn Moreover, Jersild (1955) says that the teacher‟s understanding and acceptance of himself are the most important requirement in any effort he makes to help students to know themselves and to gain healthy attitudes of self-acceptance

This study is conducted with the aim to find out the perceptions of students and teachers of good teachers of English By means of survey research based on questionnaires and interviews completed by students and teachers, I try to define the characteristics of a good English teacher both from teachers and students‟ point of view I hope that the views from the participants are essential as a whole picture of teaching and learning language activities Though students‟ perceptions instead of actions were the main focus in the present study, it may be that people cannot implicitly understand the problems or the factors of hindrance without looking at the whole picture from students and teachers Therefore, I would like to find out the differences between teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions in order to improve the quality of language teaching

2 Research aims and questions

This study is carried out to:

a to investigate teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of a good teacher of English

b To find out the differences between teachers and students of a teacher of English

In order to achieve these aims, the study seeks to answer the following research questions:

1.What are the perceptions of “a good teacher of English” held by students and teachers of English at Haiduong Medical Technical University?

2 What are the commonalities and differences between the teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of a good teacher of English?

3 Significance of the study

English as a second language (ESL) teachers often encounter student resistance to some of their activities Some students want more opportunities for free conversation while others complain about the pattern drill When language teachers fail to meet student expectations, students can lose confidence or interests in the teacher and their ultimate achievement can be limited It is true that teacher‟s performance have a strong impact on the students‟ ultimate success in language learning Due to this reason, I decided to carry out this study in order to explore a whole picture of what a good English teacher is, both

perceptions of teachers and students are crucial in this study The students in the study might have similar perceptions or very different perceptions from the English teachers Thus, looking for ways to use insights from the research might help English teachers understand what to expect from students, or it might give teachers ideas for tasks, assignments or assessment

4 Chapter arrangements

The minor thesis consists of six chapters The first chapter includes a statement of the problem and rationale for the study, the aims, significance of the study as well as chapter arrangement of the study The second chapter includes five parts The first part is introduction, the second part is definition of a good teacher, the third is qualities of a good English teacher, the following part is studies on teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of a good teacher of English and the last one is research questions The third chapter is research method: part one is research context, part two is participants, part three is data collection instrument and procedures and part four is data analysis In chapter four, the researcher shows results and discussion about findings Chapter five gives some implications The last chapter is about limitations and conclusions of the study

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW I.1 Introduction

In a study with 200 foreign language teachers teaching English, French, Arabic, Brosh (1996) identified the perceived characteristics of effective language teachers According to the results of this study, desirable characteristics of effective language teachers include: knowledge and command of the target language, the ability to organize, explain, and clarify, and the ability to arouse and sustain interest and motivation among students Many language teachers have the same point with Hammadou and Bernhardt (1987):

“Language teachers differ from other teachers in that they do not teach a ‘factual

product’ but rather a process of communication and that they may lose the use of the process if they themselves do not use it on a regular basis” (p 302)

Included in many factors that directly influence the success of language teachers are also conditions such as: teaching resources, administrative support, and physical facilities in schools where teachers work (Crookes, 1997) In order to keep up with such a demanding profession foreign language teachers need be in the development of professional competence, which is the state or quality of being adequately qualified for the

profession, and armed with a specific range of skills, strategies, knowledge, and ability

Moreover, they have to try their best to become a good language teacher A question is raised that how can one become a good language teacher? And to answer this question each language teacher has to understand definitions and characteristics of a good language teacher, which are mentioned in the following parts

I.2 Definition of a good teacher

What is a good teacher? What characteristics should a good teacher possess? What makes good teachers better than others? Buskist et al.‟s (2002) study on students‟ perceptions on what qualities “master” teachers possess produced a list of 28 traits Such qualities as knowledgeable, wellorganized, hardworking were all featured in the list However, it is interesting to note that more than half qualities in the list were interpersonal in nature Furthermore, the five most valued characteristics were: understanding, personable, respectful, happy, and caring A good language teacher should conduct interesting classes, emphasize good pronunciation, give clear

explanation, have a good knowledge of the target language, have no favouritism, try to involve the students into the classroom activities, and be patient He/she should be friendly, prepares good notes, can tell jokes, plays games with the students, treats the weak learners well, and acts like a comedian A good teacher should be able to explain lessons clearly and arouse students‟ interest All responsible English teachers have ethic devotion, and they are supposed to make their personal styles compatible with their work These two aspects, which are beyond the scope of this book, can be achieved as long as the

teacher himself has the willingness to do so Moreover, he/ she should be kind, responsible

and establish good relationship with students This review is aimed at finding out the perception and qualities of a good teacher from different perspectives

I.2.1 General views about a good teacher

For a teacher, years of teaching experience and knowledge of teaching methods do not guarantee effective teaching Teachers should constantly look for ways to develop themselves professionally and sharpen their teaching skills along with the subject matter :

"One who teaches effectively, teaches not only his subject but himself Personality

is that part of the teacher's self which he/she projects into every classroom activity, thereby affecting and conditioning every learning situation" Penner (1992: p.45)

A language teacher's professional competence is much more difficult than a driver's skill to handle a car, and is more complicated than student's competence of speaking a foreign language It involves more factors and longer learning time, and may never be really finished Good teachers must posses a number of approaches and patterns of working and the flexibility to call on several different strategies in the space of one lesson Sound planning and skilful management are needed to blend class, group and individual work to provide a wide range of learning activities, to observe, to solve problems, to offer explanations and to apply skills and ideas Regarding the communication, it means the quality of interest in other people, especially students and being able to demonstrate that interest through ideas and stories, as well as through shared values Many students were asked to give expected characteristics from their teachers; they said that they wished their teachers to have some qualities as follows:

- They must be passionate about teaching, and patient, adapting to the level of the students

- A good teacher must be strict, friendly, interesting” “should be passionate and intelligent”

- They should not rely on the course book only

- They must know students‟ individual needs” “help students make progress”

- They can give interesting lessons” “be kind”

- They have a good sense of humour

- They must be patient, flexible and creative

- They know the students‟ names” “you must know your students” “must care”

I.2.2 Specific attributes of a good teacher

Teaching is as an art, it is true Being a teacher is difficult but being a good teacher

is much more difficult It demands each teacher must be creative, has sense of humor, flexible, sometimes behaves as an „actor‟, motivating, enthusiastic, is able to communicate freely, and has positive attitude, etc When being a teacher, he/ she often worries and wants to answer the question that “What is a good teacher?” and we all find that there are different qualities shaping a good teacher As teachers we have to discover essential elements as well as characteristics of becoming a good teacher In my opinion, I believe that if any teacher wants to become a good teacher, he/she will have the abilities to:

a Motivate students to learn

Noone can deny that students‟ motivation to learn is one of the most important factors to create success for each lesson Teachers are able to motivate the students by using creative and inspirational methods of teaching Each teacher has a different approach and that makes students stand out from the crowd, share views and opinions without fear of intimidation Hence the reason why students enjoy their classes and seek the teacher out for new ideas If students have low motivation in learning it will be one of the problems for teachers According to Carroll (1977), successful second language learners are nearly always highly motivated to learn the language How to improve and sustain their interests

in learning is thus the responsibility of a good teacher

b Be a good model

Being a teacher is a way of life Teachers are the window through which many young people will see their future According to Kottler and Zehm (2000), the best teachers are those who have worked hard to practice what they know and understand in their own personal lives If they can preach to others some important values such as importance of truth, honesty, self-discipline, knowledge, growth and taking constructive risks, then they practice these same values in their own lives As a result, the teachers become living examples for their students as they can show what they say is important enough for the

students to apply to their own lives The responsibility involves more than presenting subject knowledge or making sure the students score high examination marks Being a teacher is a way of life You are a teacher not only when you stand in front of the classroom but also as you walk through life, applying what you know and understand and can do

c Establish good relationship with students

Teachers who have good relationship with their students generally teach more effectively The reason is because the connection between students and teachers brings the teachers to learn about each student as unique from others, and also enables them to understand the diversity of all the students This shows the importance of establishing good relationships with students Good teachers are usually associated with teachers who have maintained a good relationship with their students This assertion is reiterated by Palmer (1999)

"Good teaching isn't about technique I've asked students around the country to

describe their good teachers to me All of them describe people who have some sort of connective capacity, who connect themselves to their students, their students to each other, and everyone to the subject being studied." (p 27)

Good teachers are usually associated with teachers who have maintained a good relationship with their students The significance to students of their teachers‟ interpersonal posture is one of the reasons why some teachers are better than others

d Obtain personal qualities

In order to be a good teacher, patience, smart, honesty and creativity, sense of purpose and sense of humor are necessary (Kottler and Zehm, 2000) One of the most significant traits of an excellent teacher is patience “With patience, teachers are likely to react in an assertive attitude, giving students respect but simultaneously being able to retain that firmness to control the class”( Gibb, 1961, p 142) Without patience, it is likely that teacher is unable to maintain a steady relationship with the student The result of impatience usually involves frustration, yelling and screaming, irritation, aggressiveness and intolerance These negative effects create a high anxiety-prone atmosphere, as well as, perhaps disrespect for the teacher and bad attitude or behaviour in class

Patience often comes from teacher‟s empathetic understanding Smart may refer

to intelligence Teachers are perceived as being intelligent not just in „book smarts‟ but

also in other aspects In view of honesty, the writer explains that honesty means teachers “can be trusted” and to tell the truth Creativity is regarded as one of the important elements in teaching, teacher should keep students on their toes, for example, some interesting and motivational activities are introduced in the classroom learning Another quality of good teachers is a sense of purpose, teachers have an expectation of success for every student, or a goal for students to complete certain tasks by themselves after the course Without a purpose, there is no meaning to teaching and learning In addition, a good teacher needs a sense of humor in classroom teaching A great sense of humour reduces barriers and lightens the atmosphere especially during heavy periods An ability to make students laugh will carry teachers far and gain the teachers more respect Kottler and Zehm (2000) state „if there is one major premise of effective teaching, it is conveying the idea that learning is enjoyable.‟

e Understand students’ needs and difficulties

"As a teacher, this means that you know what your students expect, and you make

plans to meet those expectations If you teach a GED class, you spend time explaining the format of the test and helping students to improve their test-taking skills." (Hassett,2000,

p:46) being a good teacher, he/she has great efforts to understand of students‟ modes of learning, to understand that each student has diverse talents and interests, and take account

of this diversity in their teaching Teachers know how to help students focus their potentials on learning and growth, how to match appropriately teaching methods, processes

of inquiry, resources and content with the developmental level, temperament and learning style of students Teachers also respect students as individuals, and adapt their teaching to suit the individual learning needs of all their students

f Have good mastery of knowledge

Gammage (1971) states that the teacher should be a prime source of knowledge If the teacher fails as a „prime source‟ for his/her students, they will think that the knowledge of their teacher is inadequate It is indispensable that he/she builds up knowledge of the subject and masters the teaching materials well Good mastery of content

is, therefore,a kind of professional development A good teacher needs to effectively adapt their practice on the basis of continual critical reflection on and evaluation of their teaching, and seek feedback and appropriate support from other professionals A good teacher cannot lack of knowledge “since it is easy to burn out if teachers are not learning

and teaching something new periodically in their life” (Kohl, 1986, p 54)

g Have good teaching practice in classroom

Good teaching is associated with good classroom practice Morgan and Morris (1999: p.16) state that classroom practice can be divided into three aspects namely the method of presentation, explanation or giving feedback and classroom control There are some principles of a good teacher‟s presentation:

- effectively select and sequence learning activities, and manage and pace teaching time to achieve planned student outcomes;

 apply a variety of human, material and technological resources to maximise learning;

- are as impartial as possible when discussing controversial matters with students;

- create and maintain a learning environment which:

+ is interesting and challenging

+ is orderly and purposeful

+ is safe and supportive

+ is positive and enjoyable

+ encourages students to take control of their own learning

+ encourages students to take intellectual risks

+ respects the right of each student to form his/her own judgments based on

appropriate knowledge

+ fosters self-discipline, responsibility and creativity

+ develops in students an awareness of the consequences of their own behaviour + encourages cooperative learning

+ enhances each student‟s psychological, emotional and physical well-being

+ encourages effective resolution of conflict

+ fosters cultural identity;

+ develop sound routine procedures to manage recurring tasks;

+ respond appropriately to situations which may arise incidentally;

+ maintain effective records for purposes of student assessment, evaluation of teaching, counselling of students, reporting to parents, recording critical incidents; + effectively complete administrative tasks associated with teaching and pastoral care

Vernon (1953) states “Teachers are as diverse in their psychological traits as any other occupational group, it is fallacious to talk of the teaching personality as something distinct and consistent” (p.482) If teachers can make an interesting and exciting presentation, students‟ views a teacher is possessing good teaching practice

To sum up, it can be said there are no standard or definite answers of looking at how good

a teacher is

I.3 General views and specific attributes of a good English teacher

I.3.1 General views about a good English teacher

As I have already mentioned above, we studied the general views and the special attributes of a good teacher As a language teacher, I want to have a deeper study to answer the question that what personal qualities, characteristics or classroom practices that help make up a good language teacher? This answer is considered as a vital role in teaching English process because perceptions of the language teacher‟s role have changed considerably Nowadays language teachers are no longer seen exclusively as individuals who hold and transmit language (like any other teachers), but as people who assist the learners to develop a natural capacity to communicate in another language With the question that what personal qualities, characteristics or classroom practices that help make

up a good language teacher? I can take evidences from the study of Richards, Tung and

Ng (1992) as my own answer The qualities as: good language teachers are able to motivate students (52%), they are able to diagnose students‟ weakness (26%), they know the subject matter well (26%), they assist students in their development (24%), and they are well-organized (22%).In fact, every teacher tries to do his/her work better every day and lots of teachers whose interest in their students drives them to a constant search for more motivating activities, more efficient teaching methods and better designed materials for their classes They spend a lot of time, inside and outside their classes, thinking how to help their pupils

Prodromou (1991) wrote a very precise and clear article In it he reported the results of a survey designed to discover students' views of good and bad language teaching Over 40 students (intermediate to advanced level) were involved in the survey Some of the characteristics of the good language teacher were: friendly, explained things, gave good notes, knew how to treat someone who sits at a desk for six hours, let the students do it by themselves- group work, etc In his book, Scrivener (1994: p.15) lists some pieces for

advice for language teachers: Be as honestly yourself as you can be, encourage a friendly, relaxed learning environment, ask open questions, allow time for students to listen, think and process their answers, increase opportunities for student talking time, make use of pairs and small groups, encourage co-operation rather than competition, encourage interaction between students, use gestures, etc

I.3.2 Specific attributes of a good English teacher

In addition to the general views about the qualities of good English teachers in the previous section, there is other more subject specific attributes of being a good English teacher It is worthwhile to look at the following specific attributes of good English teachers

a) Understand students’ needs and difficulties

The needs and difficulties of each student may be different In order to attain successful learning by students, language teachers should be able to identify the needs and abilities of individuals If a good English teacher can find how students feel about activities and tasks in the foreign language learning process, then it can be a relatively easy task to make the adjustments necessary to increase the students‟ learning potential Yamoor (1985) suggests that teachers have to change or eliminate those elements that evoked negative attitudes which hinder learning

b) Motivates students to learn English

Motivation of learners does seem to be one of the key factors in teacher- student relationships Wright (1987) points out that a primary function of teachers‟ management role is to motivate the learners who are unmotivated and to nurture those who are already well motivated to the task of learning a foreign language This can be achieved, for example, by giving students meaningful, relevant and interesting tasks to do and involving the learners more actively in the classroom process in activities that demand inter-student communication and co- operative efforts on their part

c) Use different teaching approaches and practices in classroom

Many teachers adopt the traditional „chalk and board‟ approach in their language teaching classroom The teachers in Richards, Tung and Ng‟s (1992) study were asked to tell which teaching methods they used most frequently in their classes The results showed that 59% used a grammar-based approach, 58% used a functional or communicative approach and 44% used a situational approach Moreover, when asked, many students

often complained that they had to do exercises most of the time during lessons; teachers seldom play games and interesting activities with them in the English lessons This idea can be illustrated in the survey of Richards, Tung and Ng (1992) The teachers ranked the classroom activities they most frequently employ in their teaching were ranked as:

1 doing reading and writing exercises from the textbook,

2 doing written grammar exercises,

3 composition,

4 pair or group work tasks,

5 reading aloud,

6 dictation,

7 oral grammar exercises

It implies that teachers can try to change their teaching practices in the lessons from drilling to more communicative tasks

d) Create an interesting and relaxing environment

It is crucial to provide a motivating linguistic environment for the students once they start learning English This can be made by introducing more games and meaningful activities during language lessons Meanwhile, teachers‟ encouragement and reinforcement are both key factors in creating positive language learning environment Teacher encourages all students to contribute to the academic activities of the class And he/she establishes a classroom in which one‟s peers were not only willing but eager to draw reluctant classmates into the activities

e) Accept students’ mistakes

According to Rubin (1995), the process in learning a new language appeared to involve trail and errors They could be expected to make mistakes as they worked toward understanding the many details of a language As a result, the function of a language teacher is to facilitate communication about matters of common interest, not to provide a host of additional constraints to the learning process

f) Balancing the use of four skills in English

In language classrooms the receptive skills of listening and reading have received less attention than had the productive skills of speaking and writing historically Teachers might focus on oral language, so they fail to train students in listening and reading skills effectively As a result, students could not receive sufficient attention in each skill in

language learning Language teachers should take their prominent place in a language classroom; students will be provided opportunities to practise these skills Since the four skills have shown significant relationships, helping students acquire and develop the four skills – reading, listening, speaking and writing in English lessons is put in high priority This is stressed by The Department of Education and Science in Great Britain (1985) that students of any age need a satisfying balance between oral, practical and written tasks providing scope for extended discussion as well as for sustained writing of many different kinds

g) Encourage students to speak and participate in English activities

In learning a foreign language, we find that four skills have to draw equal attention However, speaking may be one of the most difficult and complex skills for language learners In most situations, speaking involves more than talk, that means most speaking tasks are interactive Students lack the ability to communicate in the language, so they

do not have confidence to speak English.A good English teacher has the responsibility to help students become proficient speakers through extensive and varied exposure to the language

To help students become proficient speakers of target language, the target language needs to be used as much as possible in the classroom Frequent and sustained opportunities for interaction provide students with practice in both producing meaning and in checking the comprehensibility of their messages (Long, 1983) As a result, our students would have more opportunities to engage in speaking tasks in the classroom In turn, students will benefit most from tasks in which real meanings are conveyed, and in which students perceive a purpose for speaking

h) Give clear explanation

One of the main tasks of a good language of teacher is to help students understand the language In order for students to produce language spontaneously, they must first understand it There were some studies have put emphasizes on giving students clear explanation In the study done by Morgan and Morris (1999), students associated good teaching with explanation which was made to the whole class as well as to the individuals Furthermore, good explanation is expected from a good English teacher Brown (1994) describes that good explanation skills include clarity and fluency of the language used, emphasis and interest through voice, using examples, organization of ideas

and feedback to the students

i) Being Up-to-date

It is better for a language teacher to catch up what changes are taking place in the English curriculum nationally and what their own students are reading or seeing or listening to In order to help keep English teachers up-to-date, they need to stretch out and touch the world They should read some professional publications, novels, magazines, classics and English journals They should stay alert to changes in the youth culture, especially changes in language, dress, and music By doing so, teachers can understand what moves, disturbs, or stimulates young people in language teaching

I.3.3 Perceptions of students and teachers on a good language teacher

Teachers are constantly being enriched by daily contact with their learners which put them in touch with different perspectives and ways of looking at things Learning is more effective if both teachers and students are actively involved in the teaching-learning process The problem, however, is that in most learning–situations in different parts of the world, the teacher has the final word regarding classroom teaching This stands in contradiction to the belief that the learner has an equal part in the learning process

According to Yorio (1989) “The experiences that students bring with them are important

in their learning and should, in consequence, also be important in our teaching, this is particularly true in second- language classes where we deal with students of varied social and cultural backgrounds and where what we do as teachers might be socially and/or culturally alien to the students” (p.34) English-language teachers should learn continually

from their students and from other colleagues‟ experience and knowledge with the purpose

of incorporating everything they learn into their teaching The idea of considering the learners‟ and teachers‟ perceptions as much as possible is directly connected with the answer to the question what makes a good English language teacher?

a Teachers’ perceptions

For the language teachers themselves, motivating students to learn English is a prerequisite to become a good English teacher A good teacher or a good English teacher is expected to assume his/her professional responsibilities at schools as whole-heartedly as he/she can When the teachers were asked about the views of their primary roles and main roles of a language teacher, they described the roles clearly as follows:

* Primary role as a teacher in the classroom:

- to provide useful learning experiences,

- to provide a model of correct language,

- to answer learners‟ questions, and

- to correct learners‟ errors

* Main roles as an English teacher:

- to help students discover effective approaches to learning

- to pass knowledge and skills to pupils

- adapt teaching approaches to meet students‟ needs

The good teacher of modern languages (Sanderson 1983):

1 uses the foreign language predominantly,

2 is vigilant about pronunciation, intonation and stress,

3a uses the foreign language for classroom instruction,

3b uses the foreign language for the teaching/learning message,

4a praises correct responses,

4b is sympathetic/positive about wrong responses,

4c conveys warmth in delivery of the message,

4d conveys warmth through facial expression,

5 engages in intensive oral exploitation of material,

6 promotes understanding by non-verbal cues,

7 relates the foreign language to the target culture,

8 explains tasks clearly,

9a is varied with regard to materials,

9b is flexible with regard to objectives,

10 builds up on pupil error,

11 provides a variety of language activity,

12 involves the whole group,

13 is skilled in handling equipment,

14 promotes use of the foreign language by pupils

students are as follows:

- A real second language teacher is on my side

- A real second language teacher lets me be me and tries to understand what it’s like to be

me

- A real second language teacher accepts me whether he or she likes me or not

- A real second language teacher doesn’t have expectations of me because of what I’ve been or what he or she has been

- A real second language teacher is more interested in how I learn than what I learn

- A real second language teacher doesn’t make me feel anxious and afraid He/ she provides many choices

- A real second language teacher lets me teach myself even if it takes longer A real language teacher talks so I can understand what he or she means to say

- A real second language teacher can make mistakes and admit it

- A real second language teacher can show his or her feelings and let me show mine

- A real second language teacher wants me to evaluate my own work

From the above description, the characteristics are unique and specific to the teacher of foreign languages Girard(1977) carried out a similar study and a thousand French school pupils of different age groups were asked to make a list of the qualities of a perfect foreign language teacher The following ten descriptors are found to be the best qualities of a good language teacher:

1 The good language teacher makes his course interesting

2 He teaches a good pronunciation

3 He explains clearly

4 He speaks good English

5 He shows the same interest in all the pupils

6 He makes them participate

7 He shows great patience

8 He insists on the spoken language

9 He makes pupils work

10 He uses an audio-visual method

It can be seen that the above general statements could apply to teachers of any subjects, in which we find that statements 2, 4 and 8 are specifically for describing

language of foreign teachers

I.4 Studies on teachers and students’ perceptions of a good teacher of English

Being a good English language teacher, students‟ ways of learning a language is a crucial piece of information At the same time, knowing how students see a good language teacher is also important It is believed that students hold a wide variety of beliefs about language teacher Some beliefs are likely influenced by students‟ previous experiences when they received education from their teachers There have been few studies

on good English teachers (Richards et al., 1992; Urmston et al., 1996; Peacock, 2002) and Riddell (2001) Besides these studies, there were some other western studies done by Gorham (1987), Kutnick & Jules (1993) and Aksoy (1998) They have discussed most

of the characteristics of a good teacher, for instance, personality,instruction, relationship and classroom management Cortazzi & Jin (1996a) also carried out similar research

on the characteristics of a good language teacher in Tianjin They asked 135 university students to write essays on the expected characteristics of „A Good language Teacher‟ In the open-ended responses, most of the students felt that a good language teacher should be patient, humorous, friendly and be a good moral example Other qualities of a good teacher were also mentioned, such as he/she teaches student about life; arouses students‟ interest;

is warm-hearted and understanding; uses effective teaching methods; is caring and helpful; and explains clearly

However, I wonder whether the characteristics of a good language teacher found in the above studies are appropriated for English teaching and learning in Vietnam Meanwhile, there seems to be no study on teachers and students‟ perceptions of a good English teacher in Vietnam As a language teacher, who is teaching English in Vietnam, I want to investigate what main characteristics Vietnamese students desire from their language teachers

great sense of patience, a good communication skill and fluency of his/her language Class activities are important for students, but what techniques an English teacher should apply

to motivate students and create a relaxing atmosphere is a big question for a good English teacher

In return, we can say that a good English teacher should demonstrate the above language abilities in teaching English This study is designed to seek answer to the following questions:

1 What are the perceptions of “a good teacher of English” held by students and teachers of English at Haiduong Medical Technical University?

2 What are the commonalities and differences between the teachers‟ and students‟ perceptions of a good teacher of English?

The answer to these questions would serve to give insights into students and teachers‟ perceptions on a good language teacher

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY

This chapter presents the research methodology employed in this thesis including document analysis, survey questionnaires and interviews Besides, a detail description of the participants involved in the research will be shown

II.1 Research context

I decided to conduct a study with the students at my own university because I was intrigued with giving my students the chance to tell me their own opinions of what a

“good” language teacher was Haiduong Medical technical University, at which I have taught English as a foreign language for 6 years, was founded in 2007, based on Haiduong Medical Technical High School (founded in 1960, and then Haiduong Medial Technical College in 2000 ) The students from 29 Northern provinces of Vietnam come here to study medicine, so they don‟t often pay much attention to learn English Due to this reason, the English teachers always meet difficulties in teaching them English This demands each teacher has various methods to help their students to overcome their difficulties

II.2 Participants

Teachers

In the research, there are 2 male and 8 female English teachers The range of their age is between 28 and 50 years old They come from the foreign language faculty of Haiduong Medical Technical University On average, most of the teachers have from 4-

20 years of teaching experiences The youngest teacher has 2 years teaching experience while 6 teachers working for more than 10 years The English teachers are teaching either upper, lower secondary or both levels Almost all of the English teachers have obtained Bachelor degrees and teacher certificates Three of them got the Master degrees

Students

The study was carried out with 70 third –year students at Haiduong Medical Technical University, 23 males and 47 females They are taught by Vietnamese teachers of English, who are also the participants of this study The reason for the choice of the third –year students is that these students have had three years‟ experience of learning English, so they are believed to have more to say about characteristics as well as their perceptions of a good language teacher

II.3 Data collection, methods and procedures

In order to gain data for the study, two different instruments were employed: survey questions and interview

II.3.1 Questionnaires

- Reasons of choosing questionnaires

One of the most common methods of data collection in second language research is

to use questionnaires of various kinds The popularity of questionnaires is due to the fact that they are easy to construct and uniquely capable of gathering a large amount of information quickly in a form that is readily processable (Dornyei, 2003:1) A questionnaire as an instrument of a data collection has such advantages as low cost in time and money, respondent anonymity, and standardization of questions However, it has disadvantages such as the quality of data, respondent literacy problems, question wording Therefore, interview was used to …

Given the purpose of the study, it is necessary to have the students‟ and teachers‟ opinions on perceptions of a good language teacher, I decided to use two types of questionnaires (reserved for teacher and for students)

+ A questionnaire for teachers

The survey consisted of 15 questions divided into 4 areas (1) personal qualities and personalities, (2) professional development and academic requirement, (3) role of a language teacher, (4) classroom practices, requiring answers from very important to not important with no option for an indecisive answer (1=very important, 2=important, 3=not very important, 4= not important) These questions focus on the two categories: roles of a good language teacher and classroom practices of a good language teacher The purpose of the questionnaire was to obtain their attitudes and perceptions of a good language teacher (See appendix A for an example of the survey instrument)

+ A questionnaire for students

The survey consisted of 15 questions requiring answers from very important to not important with no option for an indecisive answer (1=very important, 2=important, 3=not very important, 4= not important) All questions were written in Vietnamese to ensure students accurate understanding of all the questions before answering them

-Procedures

Prior to administering the survey to the participants I spent fifteen minutes with the student participants during which I explained my research objectives and asked them to feel free as far as the participation in the study was concerned Then the questionnaire was piloted on a group of 70 students from 2 different classes and on a group of 10 teachers and on the basis of the responses, the questionnaire was revised before it was administered

to the target respondents

II.3.2 Interview

- Reasons of choosing interview

Interview may be used as the primary research tool or in an ancillary role as a checking mechanism to triangulate data gathered from other source Hopkins (cited in McDonough & McDonough (1997:181)) lists three applications of interviews in classroom research:

+ to focus on a specific aspect of classroom life in detail

+ teacher – pupil discussion diagnostic information

+ to improve the classroom climate

What is more, in order to avoid the quality of data, respondent literacy problems, question wording of a questionnaire, I decided to use interview as another supplemented instrument

- Procedures

Five teachers and ten students among the questionnaires respondents were chosen randomly for a following – up interview for more in – depth data which mainly focus on the perceptions of the teachers and students towards the concept “good language teacher” Each of the interviewee was asked 3 questions Since the purpose of the interview was to have more in-depth information

II.4 Data analysis

Data collected from three different sources were categorized into teachers‟ perceptions and students‟ perceptions of the concept “a good teacher of English” The data were then analyzed both descriptively and interpretively The information was displayed in the form

of tables

CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION III.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the findings both descriptively and interpretively as well as discusses the findings How the chapter is organized?

All the 15 questionnaires were returned After analyzing the results of the questionnaire, the most interesting and significant findings were selected to present here Moreover, in order to obtain more in-dept data, 5 teachers and 10 students were selected randomly among the respondents for a structured interview These teachers and students were in fact selected on the basis of accessibility These teachers were asked in English and the students were asked in Vietnamese This was to guarantee the truthfulness of the information in case the students were not confident enough in answering in English or they may get confused in understanding the interview questions and in giving answers to the asked questions All the interviews were audio-taped Each interviewee was asked three questions:

1 What characteristics do you think a good teacher of English should have?

2 What do you think is the most important characteristic of a good teacher of English?

3 What should a teacher of English do to motivate students to participate in classroom activities?

III.2 Teachers and students’ perceptions of the personal qualities of a good teacher of English

Question 1 was designed to find out whether language patience and sense of humor

of English teachers are very important, important or not important The result of question 1

is presented in the table below: