An Effective English Language Teacher: Teachers’ and Students’ Views

Abstract

Studies have various definitions of an effective English language teacher with many characteristics. The study aims to figure out students’ and teachers’ views on the characteristics of an effective English language teacher in a Vietnamese context. The study employs the Vietnam English Teacher Competency Framework (ETCF) to evaluate a Vietnamese teacher of English language presented in the National Foreign Language Project 2020 by Ministry of Education and Training (MOET), which displays their characteristics of knowledge of English language and curriculum, knowledge of language teaching, knowledge of language learners, professional attitudes and values in language teaching, and practice and context of language teaching. The participants were 20 teachers of English and 20 English-majored students at a university in Vietnam. A structured interview was the primary method to examine teachers’ and students’ views, and then qualitatively coded transcripts were analysed by themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The results showed that all participants had strong and different views and agreed that an effective English language teacher should employ all characteristics as knowledge of English language and curriculum was most remarkable. The study is a foundation for language education administers, educators and policy makers to evaluate a language teacher as well as requirements to select an effective English language teacher in an institution.