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

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
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Nguyễn Minh Huê ê, M.A.

Hanoi, 2010


DECLARATION

I, Diem Thi Hao Tam, certify that this thesis is the result of my own research and the –
substance of this thesis has not, wholly or in part, been submitted for a degree to any other
university or institution.
Hanoi, September 2010
Diem Thi Hao Tam


ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
First and foremost, I would like to express my special and sincere thanks to my
supervisor, Ms. Nguyen Minh Hue, who has given me great help with this thesis. Without

3

PART B : DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW

4

I.1. Introduction………………………………………………………………………

5

I.2. Definition of a good teacher ……………………………………………………

5

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

6

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

10

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

10

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

11

- Students……………………………………………………………………………….

20

II.3. Data collection methods and procedures ……………………………………….

20

II.3.1. Questionnaires .......................................................................................

21

II.3.2. Interview................................................................................................

21

II.4. Data analysis ........................................................................................................
CHAPTER III: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

22

III.1. Introduction……………………………………………………………………
III.2. Teachers and students’ perceptions of the personal qualities of a good teacher
of English………………………………………………………………………….…..

22


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



4. Conclusion……………………………………………………………………...
REFERENCES
APPENDICES


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 .....................

23

Table 1: Teachers and students’ perceptions of professional development and
academic requirement.................................................................................................

24

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

26

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

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

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,


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

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,

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

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 wellorganized (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


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.


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

- 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.
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

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