A study on the learner satisfaction and the teaching style in an afterschool English program in Armenia

Abstract

Various research stated that teaching styles might affect both teaching quality and learner satisfaction. This study aimed to explore the causes of learner low satisfaction with the teaching styles in the afterschool English program. The study possessed a mixed-method approach as both qualitative and quantitative data were gathered. The participants were thirty-two intermediate level teenagers and three instructors selected with purposive sampling. A structured questionnaire for the teachers, class observations, student evaluation forms of the activities, a focus group interview with the students, and one-to-one interviews with the teachers were carried to gather sufficient and reliable data. The ``questionnaire and survey results were analyzed via the Statistical Package for Excel and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) using descriptive statistics, such as mean, frequencies and percentages, as well as the interview results were analyzed and compared with the previous data. The findings revealed four main preferred teaching styles among the three EFL instructors: Personal Model, Delegator, Formal Authority, and Facilitator. Another finding of the study disclosed a mismatch between the teachers preferred teaching styles and the actual ones they used in the classrooms. The findings also showed the connection between teaching styles and learner satisfaction through the activities the teachers used in the classrooms. Finally, the findings revealed a range of activities that needed to be improved in the three EFL instructors’ classrooms.