What are an English Teacher’s Responsibilities and Roles?

Due to the need for English skills in today's era, English Teachers are seen around the world. It is perceived in this generation how English is widely used, how English is a must, and how English makes people comfortable. These are the reasons why English teachers travel across boundaries to educate people with English skills.

This post was written by our TEFL certification graduate Maricor B. Please note that this blog post might not necessarily represent the beliefs or opinions of ITTT.

Skills and qualities

But becoming an English teacher encompasses numerous skills, personal qualities, and even talents that may serve as his/her advantage. Beyond the professional training that an English teacher must have, his/ her personal qualities are also one that is taken into consideration. Just like other teachers, English teachers should also master the lessons before teaching and English teachers should also build rapport among students. But what are the unique qualities of an English teacher? To become an effective English teacher, along with pedagogical knowledge are the communicative and socio-affective skills and personality skills of an English teacher are all considered.

Also Read: How can a Student’s Family Assist in English Learning?

Knowledge

Pedagogical knowledge is very important for an English teacher. An English teacher must have a wide knowledge of the four skills of the English language (listening, reading, writing, and speaking), must have a high level of vocabulary, must use spoken English fluently especially inside the classroom, and must have mastery of grammar rules. Similarly, Sundary (2016) supported this information through her research, The Qualities of An Effective English Language teacher: University Students' Perception. She found out that an effective English teacher must have a deeper understanding of the reading, writing, listening, and speaking skills of English. Also, familiarity with grammar, pronunciation, writing, and vocabulary is also important.

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Social skills

Furthermore, the communicative and socio-affective skills of an English teacher is another relevant characteristic. An English teacher must know how to sympathize with students, show support to students, assist students whenever it is needed, maintain a light and conducive classroom atmosphere, communicate to students inside and outside the class. These communicative and socio-affective skills are also related to the personal skills of an English teacher must-have. The following is a list of the personal characteristics an English teacher should have: helpful, friendly, humorous, fair, polite, respectful, flexible, attentive, supportive, fair, having a good temper, punctual, neat and tidy, inspiring and can motivate students to learn. These countless characteristics of an English teacher may seem demanding but further studies have shown the importance and effectiveness of these. Al-Khairi (2015) revealed that it is highly recommended for EFL teachers to be helpful, dedicated, committed, considerate, updated of their student’s interests, and should motivate and inspire their students.

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If all English teachers encompass these characteristics, there is a high possibility for effective teaching and learning. However, these characteristics do not come to an instant, but they are learned as time goes by. We cannot expect a fresh graduate English teacher to have all of these and we cannot also assure an English teacher practicing his profession for 40 years to incorporate all of these. Personal characteristics can be learned through our lives, or how we were raised or depending on the perspective of a person. But I believe, the biggest driver of every teacher is his/ her passion and love for teaching, because if we have a burning passion for what we are doing, everything follows.

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