Luận văn teachers and students' perceptions of a good teacher of english

According to Williams 1975, in order to leach the language effectively, a teacher needs two major competencies as well as having excellent knowledge of the target languags s/he is teachi

Vietnam national university University of languages and international studies

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

ES ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

DIÊM THỊ 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

TABLES OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of the problem and rationale for the study

2 Roscarch aitns and questions

3, Significance of the study

12 Definition of a good teacher

IL.2.1, Gensral views about a good teacher

11.2.2 Specific attributes of a good teacher

13 General views and specific attributes of a good Engtish teacher

13.1, General views about a good English teacher

113.2 Specific attributes of a good English teacher

11.33 Percaptions of sludents and teachers on a good language loacher

14, Studies on teachers and students’ perceptions of a good teacher of English

IIL.3 ‘Teachers and students” perceptions of professional development and academic

requirement for n good teacher of English

IIL4, Teachers and students’ perceptions of the roles of a good teacher of English

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESL: English as a second language

GED: General Educational Development

CLI: Communicative language teaching

ESP: English fur special purpose

QI: Question 1

LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

Chart: Teachers and students’ perceptions of the persona qqualities

Table 1: Teachers and students’ perceptions of professional development and

academic requirement

Table 2: Teachers and students’ perceptions about roles of a language leacher

Table 3: Teachers and students’ perceptions of the importance of classroom

practices

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

4, 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 1 become a good language teacher? ‘he answer is not easy It is clear that whether someone can become a good foreign langnage leacher does nol 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 (aught bul over changing learner necds 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 leaching, and evaluate fhe products ard performance of the learners” (p.220)

Wing (1995) emphasized that today’s language teachers are expected to have

amtiple roles along with target language competence:

Sn structoring the foreiun language environment, the teacher needs to be a munager who faciitates language acquisition; a resource developer who uses to the greatest advantage the target and native languages, materials, and technology; an analyst wha

observes und evaluates whal is happening in the classroom (p.168).”

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

to him, an idgal Tanguage teacher should have high level of education, subject matier

competence, profassional compatence which involves lesson plarming, textbook sclaction, materials and tests design, awareness of current teaching approaches, and educational theory

According to Williams (1975), in order to leach the language effectively, a teacher needs two major competencies as well as having excellent knowledge of the target languags s/he is teaching, s/he should have teaching skills to apply in the classroom Avcording 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 Janguage to the students on the other

Ás 8 language loachơr, il is necessary lo know what a good English toacher is Needless to say, knowing how to be a good English teacher can improve the qualities of teaching and help students leam English effectively and efficiently T'eacher’s personalities

and teaching methodologies will affect how students team, Moreover, Jersild (1955) says that the teacher’s undorsimnding ancl accsplance of himself arc the most important

and sludents” 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 thal psople cannot implicilly understand the problems or the factors of hindrance without looking at the whole picture ttom students and teachers Therefore, I would like to tind 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 ont to:

a to investigais teachers’ and stndsnls” perceptions of a good teacher of Rnglish

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

in arder to achieve these aims, the study seeks to answer the following research

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 opportunitics for fice 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 bs Fimiled Tis truc that tcacher’s porforrmmecs 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

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

assignmuents or assessinent

4 Chapter arrangements

‘The minor thesis consists of six chapters ‘The first chapter includes a statement of the problom and rationale for the study, the aimns, significance of the study as well as chapler arangement 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 studics on teachers’ and students? percaplions of a good teacher of English and the last one is research questions The third chapter is research

amethod: part one is research context, part two is participants, part three is data collection

instrament 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

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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 organi, explain, and clarify, and the abilily to arouse and sustain interest and motivation

among students Many language teachers have the same point with Hammadou and

Hemhardt (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 af 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 suppoit, 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 developinent 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 lo iry their best lo become 2 good language teacher A question is raised thal how can one become a good language teacher? And io answer this question

each language teacher has to understand definitions and characteristics of a good language

teacher, which are mentioned in the following parts

1.2 Definitian of 4 good teacher

What is a good teacher? What characteristics should a good teacher possess? What

makes good teachers better than others? Buskist et als (2002) study on students’

perceptions on what qualitics “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 Furlhcrmore, the five most valued characterislics were:

‘understanding, personable, respectful, happy, and caring A good language teacher

should conduct interesting classes, emphasize © good pronunciation, give clear

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explanation, have a good knowledge of the target language, have no favouritism, try to

“These two aspects, which are beyond the scope of this book, can be achieved as long as the

jeachor cL has the willingness Lo do so Morcever, 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

2.1 General views about a good teacher

For a teacher, years of teaching experience and knowledge of teaching methods do not guarantee etfsctive teaching Teachers should constantly look tor ways to develop

themselves professionally and sharpen their teaching skills along with the subject matter :

"One who teaches effectively, teaches nol only his subject but himself, Personality

ts that part of the teacher's self which he/she projects into every classroom activity, thereby

affecting and conditioning every learning situation" Permer (1992: p45)

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 1 involves tore factors and longer learning lime, and may never be

a manber of approaches and paticrns 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 (o provide 4 wide range of learning aetiviies, lo 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 storics, as well as through shared valucs 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 mnst 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

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

- They oan give inferzsting lessons” “be kind”

- They have a good sense of humour

- They must be patient, flexible and creative

- They know the students’ nares” “you must know your students” “tush care”

1.2.2, Specific attributes of a good teacher

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

is much more difficult Tl dommands cach (sacher must be ercative, has sense of humor, fexible, sometimes behaves as an ‘actor’, motivating, enthusiastic, is able to communicate fieely, and has positive attitude, etc When being a teacher, he/ she often worries and wants lo answer the question thal “Whal is a good lcacher?” 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, 1 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 creale 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 seck the teacher oul for new idoes If students have low motivation in loaning iL will be one of the probleras for teachers According to Carroll (1977), successfl second language leamers are nearly always highly motivated to leam the langnage Low to improve and sustain their interests

in leaming is thua the respousibilily ofa, good lcacher

5, Be agvod model

Being a teacher is a way of life Teachers are the window through which many

‘young people will sce their future, According to Kottler and Zel (2000), the best teachers are those who have worked hard fo 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, scl f-dis pling, knawledge, growlh and aking 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

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students to apply to their own lives ‘the responsibility involves more than presenting subj

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

& Establish good relationship with students

‘Teachers who have good relationship with their students generally teach more

effectively The reason is bocause the conmcelion belween studems 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 wilh students Good Lcachers atc usually assovialad with (cachers who have suaintained a good relationship with their students This assertion is reiterated by Palmer (999)

"Good teaching isn't about technique I've asked students areund the country ta

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 poslure is one of the reasons why some teachers are beller than others

@ 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 trails of an excellent teacher is paticncc “With paticnes, leachors are likely ta react in an assertive attitude, giving students respect but simultaneously being able to retain that finmnsss 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, iztitation, aggressiveness and intolerance These negative effects create a high anxiety-prone atmosphere, as well as,

‘perhaps disrespee! for the toacher and bad altitude 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 lel the truth Croalivity 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 seuse of purpose, leachers have an

expectation of success for every student, or a goal for students to complete certain tasks by

themselves after the course Withont a purpose, there is no meaning to teaching and learning In addition, a good teacher needs a sonsc of humor in elassroom 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 Tespecl Kotler and Zchm (2000) slate Gf thers is one major premise of

effective teaching, it is conveying the idea that leaming is enjoyable.’

@ Understand students’ needs and difficulties

"4s a teacher, this means that you know what your students expect, and you make plans fo meet those expectations If you teach a GED class, you spend time explaining the format of the test and helping students to uprove their test-taking skills." (Hassett,2000, p16) being a good leacher, he/she has greal 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 polentials on teaming and growth, how Lo match appropriately teaching methods, processes

merit and learnings

Sf Have good mastery of knowledge

Gamage (1971) states thai 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 ho/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 continu critical refloction on and evaluation of thair teaching, and seek feedback and appropriate support from other professionals A good teacher cannot lack of knowledge “since it is easy to bum out if teachers are not learning

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

g Have goad 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 ofa good teavher’s presentation

- øffeoively select and sequence leaming activities, and manage and pace teaching line to achieve planmcd studont outcotes:

© apply a variety of human, material and technological resources to maximise

Icaming

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

- create and maintain a lsarning environment which:

+ is interesting and challenging

+ is orderly and purposeful

+ is safe and supportive

+ is posilive and onjoyable

+ encourages students to take control of their own learning

| encourages students to take intellectual risks

+ Tospeols (he right of cach student to form hisdher own judgments based on

appropriate knowledge

| fosters self-discipline, responsibility and creativity

+ develops in sturlorts an awareness of the consequences of their own behaviour + eneouages cooperative learning

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

solution of confict + fosters cultural identity,

| encourages effective re:

+ develop sound routine procedures to manage recurring tasks,

+ respond appropriately to silwitions which may arise incidentally,

+ maintain effective records for purposes of student assessment, evahuation of

teaching, counselling of students, reporling to parents, recording critical incidents,

| effectively complete administrative tasks associated with teaching and pastoral

care.

Vernon (1953) states ““Veachers are as diverse in their psychological traits as any other

General views about a good English teacher

‘As Ihave already mentioned above, we studied the general views and the special

attributes of a good teacher As a language teacher, | want to have a deeper study fo answer

the question that whal personal qualilics, characteristics or classroomr 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 poople who assist the Jeamers to develop a natural capacity to communicate in another language With the question that what personal qualities, characleristics or classroom practices that help make

tp a good language teacher? 1 can take evidences fiom the study of Richards, Tung and

Ng (1992) as my own answer ‘The qualities as: good language teachers are able to motivate

students (522), they are able ta diagnose students’ weakness (26%), they know the subject

il orpanized (22%).In thet, every teacher tries to do his/her work better every day and lots of

amaticr well (26%), they assist studonts in Ihcir developmen (24%), and they are ¥

teachers whose interest in their students drives them to a constant search for more amotivating activities, more efficienl teaching methods and bellsr designed matorials for their classes They spend a lot of time, inside and outside their classes, thinking how to hetp their pupils

Prodromou (1991) wrote a very precise and clear articls, In it he reported ths 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 Same of the charactcristies of the good lanyguage teachor woru: fricrully, oxplainad thinygs, gave good notes, knew how to teat someone who sits at a desk for six hows, Jet the students do it by themselves- group work, etc In his book, Scrivener (1994: p.15) lists some pieces for

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advice for language teachers: Be as honestly yourself as you can be, encourage a friendly,

relaxed learning environment, ask open questions, allow time for sludents lo listen, think and process their answers, increase opportunities for student talking time, make use of pairs and small groups, encowage co-operation rather than competition, encourage

interaction between sluenls, use gestures, ele

13.2, Specific attributes of a good Enplist teacher

In addition to the general views about the qualities of good English teachers in the provieus soction, thers is other more subjool specific allribules of basing a good English teacher It is worthwhile to Tock at the following specific attributes of good English teachers

4) Understand students’ needs and difficulties

The needs and difficulties of each student may be different In order to attain successful learning by stadents, 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 forcign language Jeaming process, then it can be a relatively casy task to make the adjustments necessary to increase the students’ leaming potential Yamoer (1985) suggtsls that teachers have to change or eliminate those elements thal evoked negative attitudes which hinder leaming

3) Motivates students to learn English

Motivation of learners does seem to be one of the key factors im teacher- student

relationships Wright (1987) poinis out thal a primary function of te 48" Management

role is to motivate the leamers who are unmotivated and to nurture those who are already well motivated to the task of leaming a forsign language This can be achieved, for cxampte, by giving sindonts meanmgfil, relevant and interesting lasks ta do and involving the learners more actively in the classroom process in activities that demand infer-student communication and co- operative efforts on their part

¢) Use different teaching opproaches 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 ta toll which lcaching mothods thay used most frequonlly in their classes The results showed that 59% used a grammar-based approach, 58% useda functional or communicative approach and 44% used a situational approach Moreover, when asked, many students

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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 Iextbook,

2, doing written grammar exercises,

7 oral grammar cxotdisos

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

4) Create an interesting and relaxing environment

It is crucial to provide a motivating linguistic cnvironment for the students onc they start leaming English ‘This can be made by introducing more games and meaningful activities during lamguage lessons Meanwhile, teachers’ encouragement and reinforcement are both key factors in creating positive language leaming 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 nol only willing bul eager to draw

reluctant classmates tio the activitics

&) Accept students’ mistakes

According to Rubin (1995), the process in leaming a new language appeared to

involv: tail and orrors 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 languags teacher is to facilitate communication about matters of common interest, not to provide a host of additional constraints to the fearing process

/) Balancing the use of four skills in English

in language classrooms the receptive skills of listening and reading have received Jess altcution than had the prodnetive skills of speaking and writing historically Teachors anight 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

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Janguage learning Language teachers should take their prominent place in a language

dlassrom,; students will be provided opportuni s 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 Deparlinent of Education and Science in Greal 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 qnany different kinds

W Encourage students to speak and purticipate 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

Jeamers 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 cxposure to the

Janguage

To help students become proficient speakers of fargel language, the largel

language needs to be used as much as possible in the classroom Frequent and sustained

opportunities for interaction provide stdents with practice in both producing meaning and in checking the commprehensibility of their messages (Long, 1983) As a resull, our students would have more opportunities to cngage it speaking lasks 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

4) 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 nmust first understand it There were some studics have put cmphasizes on giving students clear

explanation In the study done by Morgan and Morris (1999), students associated good

teaching with explanahon which was made to the whole class as well as to the individuals Furthermore, good explanation is expeelod froma good English teacher

Brown (1994) describes that good explanation skills include clarity and fluency of the

Janguage used, emphasis and interest through voice, using examples, organization of ideas

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and feedback to the students

i) Being Up-to-date

Itis 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 ot listening to Tn order to help keep English teachers up-lo-date, they need Lo stretch oat and touch the world They should read some professional publications, novels, magazines, classics and English journals ‘hey should stay alert to changes in the youth culture, capocially chamgos in Iangage, dross, and music By doing so, tcachers can understand

what moves, disturbs, or stimulates young people in language teaching

L3.3 Perceptions of students and teachers on a good language teacker

Teachers arc constantly being enriched by daily contact with their leamors 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 leamer hes an equal part in the leaming process According to Yorto (1989) “The experiences that students bring with thent are important

in their learning and should, in consequence, also be important in our teaching, his is particularly true in secand- language classes where we deal with students of varied sacial

and culoiwal backgrounds and where whai we do as teachers might be socially and/or

culturally alien to the students” (p.3A) Rnglish-language teachers should learn continually

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

of incorporating everything they Jeam into their teaching ‘he idea of considering the Jearners’ and Leachers’ perceptions as much as possible 1s discelly cormevied with the

answer to the question what makes a good English language teacher?

a Teachers’ perceptions

For the language teachers themsclvcs, motivating students to lcam 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 soles of a language teacher, they described the roles clearly as follows

* Primary role as a teacher in the classroom:

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- to provide useful leaming experiences,

~ to provide a model of correct language,

- to answer leamers’ 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 icaching approaches to meet studemis’ needs

“The good teacher of modern languages (Sanderson 1983):

1 uses the foreign language predominantly

2 is vigikint about pronunciation, intanation and stress, 3a, uses the foreign language for classroom instruction, 3b uses the foreign language for the teaching/leaming message, 4a praises correct responses,

4b is sympathctic/pesitive about wrang responses,

4c, conveys warmth in delivery of the message,

Ad conveys warmih 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 oxpluins tasks elcarly,

a, is varied with regard to materials, 9b is flexible with regard to objectives,

10 builds up on pupil 2rrer, 1L provides a variety of language activity,

12 involves the whole group,

13 is skilled in handling cquipment,

14, promotes use of the foreign language by pupils

&, Students’ perceptions

In addition to teachers’ persceptions, students’ pereeptions on a good language

teacher are also esseutial Some students were asked about what constituted a good teacher

of foreign languages in Altmann’s (1981) study and some viewpoints described by the

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students are as follows:

- Areal second language teacher is on ny stde

- 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

- Areal second language teacher is more interested in how I learn than what T learn

- A real second language teacher doesn’t make me feel anxious und afraid Hef she

provides many choices

- A real second language teacher leis me teach myself even if it takes longer A real

language teacher talks so I can understemd what he or she meuris io say

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

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

- Areal second language teacher wants me to evaluate my awn work

From the above description, the characteristics are unique and specific to the teacher of foreign languages Girard(1977) carried oul 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

languags 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

He teaches a good pronunciation

Lle explains clearly

He speaks gous English

He shows the same interest in all the pupils

lle makes them participate

NAW

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 desoribing

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language of foreign teachers

L4 Studies on teachers and students’ perceptions of a good teacher of English

Being a good English language teacher, students’ ways of leaming a language is a crucial piece of information At the same time, knowing how students see a good

language teacher is also important Tis believed thal students hold a wide variety of beli 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 toachsrs (Richards ct 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

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

Tlowever, T wonder whether the characteristics of a good language teacher found in the above sindics are appropriated for English (oachùng mnd learning in Vietnam Meanwhile, there seems to be no study on teachers and students’ perceptions of a good

Inglish teacher in Vietnam As a language teacher, who is teaching Mnglish in Vietnam, 1

want la investigate whal tnain characteristics Vielnarncse students desire from thai

preat sense of patience, a good communication skill and fluency of his/her language Class activities are imporlanl far sturlents, nal whal teohniques an English lcacher should apply

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

Tn return, we can say (hala good English teacher should demonstrale 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 Isacher af Engtish” held by students and teachers of English at Haidvong Medical Technical University?

2 What are the commonalities and differences between the teachers’ and students’ perceptions of a goad leachor of English?

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

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CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY This chaptcr 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

11.2, Participants

Teachers

Tn the research, there are 2 male and 8 fermale Tinglish teachers The range of their age is between 28 and 50 years old They come from the foreign language faculty of

Haidwong Medical ‘echnical Liniversity On average, most of the teachers have from 4-

20 years of Leaching experienc

‘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

IL3 Data collection, methods and procedures

Tnorder to gain data for the sludy, wo different instruments were employed: survey

questions and interview

11.3.4 Questionnaires

- Reasons of choosing questionnaires

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

to use questionnaires of various kinds ‘he popularity of questionnaires is due to the fact that they are casy lo construct and uniquely capable of gathering a large amount of

information quickly in a form that is readily processable (Domyei, 20031) A questionnaize as an instrument of a data collection has such advantages as low cost in time

and money, resporden| anonymity, and slandardization 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 io have the students’ and teachers” opinions on perceptions of a good language teacher, 1 decided to usc two types of

questionnaires (reserved for teacher and for students)

tA 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 imporlant to nol jmporlant with no option for an indecisive answer (l=very imporuml, 2Simportant, I=nol

very important, 4 not important) These questions foous on the two categories: roles of a

good language teacher and classroom practices of a good language teacher ‘he purpose of the questiormaire was lo obtain lhcir allitudes 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 (I=very important, 2=important, 3=not very important, 4= not important) All questions were written in Vietnamese to ensure

students accurals undersumding of all the questions before answering them

Procedures

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Prior to administering the survey to the participants | spent fifteen minntes with the

student participants during which T explained my

eh objechives and asked them ta

feel free as far as the participation in the study was concemed Then the questionnaire was piloted on a group of 70 students from 2 different classes and on a group of 10 teachers

and on Lhe basis af lhe responses, Ihe questionnaire was revised before it was administered

to the target respondents

11.3.2 Interview

- Reasons of choosing interview

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

research:

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

i 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 (a use inlerview as another supplemented instrament

- Pracedures

Pive teachers and ten students among the questionnaires respondents were chosen randomly for a following — up interview for more in — depth daia which mainky focus on the perceptions of the teachers and students towards the concept “good language teacher” Lach of the interviewee was asked 3 questions Since the purpose of the interview was to

‘have ware in-depth information,

IL-4 Data analysis

Data collected from three different sources were categorized into teachers* perceptions and

students’ perceptions of the concept “a goed teacher of English” The data were then

analyzed both descriptively and interpretively ‘The information was displayed in the form

of tables,

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