Effective Teaching Effectiveness

Effective and efficient learning on the part of the students highly depends on teachers and the actions they take in their classes (Markley, 2004). Jordan, Mendro, and Weerasinghe (1997) reported that “by spending a few years with effective teachers can put even the most disadvantaged students on the path to success whereas a few years with ineffective teachers can deal students an academic blow which they may never recover”. However, Language practitioners and researchers have already recognized that teachers do not have a complete control over what learners learn from English language courses (Allwright, 1984 as cited in Breen, 2001a; Salimani, 2001). According to Williams and Burden (1997) learners perceptions of teaching have a great influence

Students have different learning needs, cultural backgrounds, family structures, and beliefs about the value of schooling...” (Goodlad, 1990; Haberman, 1995; Koerner, 1992; Wells, 1990). These variables beside their psychological characteristics, personal attributes and experiences affect their perceptions of what’s going on in the classroom and also their perceptions of teachers’ effectiveness. Shimizu (1995) says “Different learners have different images of good teachers”. Further, learners’ perception of effective teaching may vary from that of their teacher. Goodlad (1990) believes that Students coming from backgrounds different from the teachers exhibit a wide range of behavioral and academic characteristics about which many teachers are uninformed. The students may lack confidence in the teacher’s ability, when a teacher and his/ her students have opposing views about what should occur in the classroom. Dörnyei (2001) and Horwitz (1987) claim that without confidence and motivation learning is unlikely to

McCabe (1995) examined the preferences of students regarding the teaching characteristics of their teachers. His findings showed from learners’ perspective an effective teacher uses humor, is lively in interactions, and utilizes a variety of instructional techniques. Brosh (1996) identified the characteristics of EFLT perceived by the high school teachers and students. For both groups commanding the target language and teaching comprehensibly were of highest importance. While students gave more weight than teachers on items about treating students fairly and making lessons interesting, the teachers gave more weights than students on items about developing motivation. Hadley and Hadley (1996) reported on characteristics of “good” English language teachers by the Japanese university students. The results revealed that Japanese students emphasized teachers’ personalities rather than what they do in class. Makarova and Ryan (1998) investigated gender-specific features of students' perception of their teachers in Japan. Their findings revealed statistically significant variation in the relative importance of the qualities considered highly important for effective English teachers by male and females. The findings of a study