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

DIÊM THI
̣
HA
̉
O 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: Nguyê
̃
n Minh Huê
̣
, M.A.

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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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

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LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS

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

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and teaching methodologies will affect how students learn. Moreover, Jersild (1955) says

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 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.
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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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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

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

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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 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.

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

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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

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.
b. Students’ perceptions
In addition to teachers‟ persceptions, students‟ perceptions on a good language
teacher are also essential. 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:
- 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.

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.
I. 5. Summary
In Vietnam, English has always played a crucial role within the education system.
Language development is an important focus of education both for teachers and students.
If an English teacher requires certain level of skills and abilities in teaching English
effectively, including reading, writing listening, speaking and classroom language
assessment, a good English teacher needs to have more qualifications. They have to know

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.

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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