Rezvani Reza, Miri Parisa
Department of English Language, Yasouj University, Yasouj, Iran.
Front Psychol. 2021 Jun 22;12:702250. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.702250. eCollection 2021.
In instructional contexts, instructor credibility or ethos is deemed to play a paramount role in teacher-student interaction and relationships. Much effort has been devoted to instructor credibility conceptualization, measurement, and its association with other instructional variables of interest in dominantly quantitative inquiries. However, little research has been undertaken in second-language education in which communication is both a means and an end. This qualitative research set out to explore the perception of the students of instructor credibility in the context of higher English education and how gender, nativeness, and subject matter might impact their perceptions. It also aimed to study how instructor credibility could, in turn, influence the engagement and success of the students. Thirteen senior students of English as a foreign language from a university in Iran participated in this study. They were given a scenario about their prospective professors for two courses of "Research Methodology" and "Essay Writing." The professors included four native English- and Persian-speaking male and female PhD holders. The participants were, then, interviewed about their perceptions of instructor credibility, their choices of instructors, and how they would affect their engagement. The data were recorded, transcribed, and recursively analyzed using an inductive thematic analysis. While instructor credibility is commonly characterized as a three-dimensional construct, involving competence, character, and caring, the data analysis generated a new component of performance concerned with the effectiveness of classroom knowledge presentation and activity organization. Caring also emerged as a constituent of a more inclusive component of rapport. Interestingly, albeit they viewed native English professors as generally more competent due to their nativeness, they perceived non-native professors as more credible for both courses, mainly because of their rapport building and familiarity with the needs and challenges of the students. Most of the participants also viewed male professors as more competent and communicative for both courses. The participants also tended to argue that perceived instructor credibility would encourage them to put in more effort in their academic undertakings and to engage in class activities. This would ultimately enhance their academic achievements and success. The paper discusses the findings and implications for second-language instructor credibility conceptualization and practice.
在教学情境中，教师的可信度或气质被认为在师生互动和关系中起着至关重要的作用。在以定量研究为主导的研究中，人们在教师可信度的概念化、测量及其与其他感兴趣的教学变量的关联方面投入了大量精力。然而，在第二语言教育领域，由于沟通既是手段也是目的，相关研究却很少。这项定性研究旨在探讨高等英语教育背景下学生对教师可信度的看法，以及性别、母语和学科内容如何影响他们的看法。它还旨在研究教师可信度如何反过来影响学生的参与度和学业成就。来自伊朗一所大学的13名英语专业高年级学生参与了这项研究。他们收到了一个关于两门课程“研究方法”和“论文写作”的未来教授的情景描述。这些教授包括四位以英语为母语和以波斯语为母语的男女博士。然后，研究人员就他们对教师可信度的看法、对教师的选择以及这些选择将如何影响他们的参与度对参与者进行了访谈。数据被记录、转录，并使用归纳主题分析法进行递归分析。虽然教师可信度通常被描述为一个三维结构，包括能力、品德和关怀，但数据分析产生了一个新的维度——表现，它涉及课堂知识呈现和活动组织的有效性。关怀也成为了一个更具包容性的融洽关系维度的组成部分。有趣的是，尽管他们认为以英语为母语的教授由于其母语优势通常更有能力，但他们认为非母语教授在这两门课程中更可信，主要是因为他们善于建立融洽关系以及熟悉学生的需求和挑战。大多数参与者还认为男性教授在这两门课程中更有能力且沟通能力更强。参与者还倾向于认为，教师的可信度会鼓励他们在学业上付出更多努力并参与课堂活动。这最终将提高他们的学业成绩和成功率。本文讨论了这些发现以及对第二语言教师可信度概念化和实践的启示。
