Jordanian f EFL Learners: What Makes a Foreign Language Teacher Effective?

Abstract

There have been numerous studies conducted to configure the characteristics of teachers that help them become effective in the classroom. The foreign language teachers have an important role as they are the stimulators of language learning for the students and therefore it is essential to study the role played by effectiveness of the teachers in the process of learning. Also, the previous studies have been singularly focused on teacher effectiveness and have failed to report the teacher efficacy in this scenario. The present study focused on the perceptions of teachers from the English language department and the department of English language and literature to evaluate the characteristics of English foreign language teaching in Jordan. The study adopted a survey questionnaire to collect the data and several vocational institutes and colleges were targeted as the sample. The effective teacher questionnaire and OSTES efficacy questionnaire were used for the purpose of data collection. The data was collected from 404 English language teachers. The study was completed through the application of ANOVA and independent sample t-tests based on the demographical background of the respondents. The results indicated that were no significant mean differences in the effectiveness of the teachers based on their gender whereas the scores for teacher efficacy indicated that significant mean differences were present. Moreover, the scores indicated that female teachers were more effective and exerted greater efficacy in the classroom. Moreover, there were significant differences in the effectiveness and efficacy of the teachers with respect to the time of the day at which classes are conducted. The study also provides some practical and policy making recommendations and implications for the study.