Abstract:

The objective of this study is to investigate Moroccan English language learners’ perceptions of the characteristics of effective teachers. It also aims to examine the extent to which these characteristics are related to the learners’ demographic variables (e.g., gender, age group, and instructional level). Moreover, the study seeks to find out if other characteristics may emerge from participants’ stories about qualities of effective teachers. 130 EFL leaners following their studies at Sultan Moulay Slimane University in Beni Mellal, Morocco were requested to fill out a questionnaire asking them to rank twenty-eight items describing seven well-documented characteristics that they believed effective teachers possess or demonstrate. Moreover, a follow-up interview of eighteen students was carried out. The results revealed that the study sample endorsed the teacher characteristics of student-centredness, enthusiasm about teaching and ethicalness higher than subject knowledge, teaching method, classroom management and humor. The male students rated teaching method more highly than the female students, whereas the younger students rated pedagogical knowledge or instructional competence characteristics higher than did the older students. The findings of the present study suggest some useful implications for language teachers.

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