Characteristics of effective EFL Ecuadorian instructors

Abstract

Having a clear idea on what the main characteristics of effective English as a Foreign Language (EFL) instructors according to university students´ perceptions can help us enhance our teaching and research practices, to find better ways to improve ourselves as professionals and the relationship with our students. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory study was to find out about the main characteristics of effective EFL instructors perceived by Ecuadorian university students. The participants were fifty-four Psychology majors’ students who were asked to state their opinions about their perceptions of effective teachers in an open-ended question, part of their mid-term exam. Results show that university students think that the 5 most important characteristics of effective EFL teachers are: i) responsible (43%); ii) friendly (31%); ii) passionate (31%); iv) dynamic (28%); and v) humorous (24%). It is recommended to socialize the current results with Higher Education Institutions administration and EFL instructors to create a sense of awareness and propose to do more research at the national level.