Abstract:

Since teachers are considered one of the influential elements in the teaching context whose effective practices can lead to the success of the students, many researchers have attempted to identify and extract the factors which make a teacher effective. In a similar vein, this study is an attempt to identify the factors contributing to the effectiveness of Iranian EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teachers from their students’ viewpoint. To this aim, 202 public schools students (male=107, female=95) from different cities of Fars province, Iran, filled in a 50-item Likert-type questionnaire on the effective English teachers’ characteristics. Data gathered through the questionnaires were subjected to factor analysis to extract the main contributing factors. Results indicated that based on these students’ views, eight factors were mainly responsible for making an EFL teacher effective. A comparison of the importance attributed to each factor by the students made it clear that teachers’ Socio-affective Skills was considered as the most important factor. Furthermore, less and more motivated students held different views regarding the importance of these factors too. Results of the study along with their implications for the theory and practice of English teaching as well as teacher training and professional development programs are also discussed.

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