English Major Female Student-Teachers' Perspectives on the Characteristics of Effective English Language Teacher: A Case Study of the English Unit in the College of Education at Kuwait University

Abstract

The present research aimed to identify the characteristics of the effective English language teacher from the perspective of the female student-teachers at the English Unit at the College of Education -Kuwait University. The sample consisted of 300 participants, )147( female student-teachers majoring in intermediate and high school stage and )153( female student-teachers majoring in elementary school stage. The reliability in this study was measured by calculating the Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient, which its result was )0.869(. The analysis of the responses given by the study sample was done using the SPSS program to find out the percentages, averages and standard deviations. In addition, t-test and One Way ANOVA were applied for further results and analyses . The obtained results revealed several findings. First, the rating of the characteristics of the effective English language teacher was based on high means as follows: socio-affective skills )3.969(, personality )3.954(, pedagogical knowledge )3.923(, subject-matter knowledge )3.577(, and assessment of students' language (2.816). Second, there were significant differences according to the research variables in domains three and four according to major in college and in domains two and five according to high school specialization, and only in domain four according to years of study.