Abstract:
This article discusses an internal factor that is believed to have a significant influence on EFL teachers’ quality, that is teachers’ perception on EFL teachers’ professional characteristics. This article aims to investigate EFL teachers’ perceptions on the characteristics of professional EFL teachers and to investigate whether teaching experience differentiates their perceptions. The study was conducted in Cimahi, West Java. The subjects were 119 EFL senior and junior high school teachers from 31 schools. Subjects were chosen through cluster- random sampling. Data were taken through a survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study used 13 dependent variables to describe teachers’ professional characteristics of Professional Competency. To describe the subjects’ characteristics, respondents were grouped into categories which become the independent variables (Inexperienced Teachers, Relatively Experienced Teachers, and Very Experienced Teachers). To test whether teaching experience differentiates teachers’ characteristics, ANOVA Test was employed. The results of the study show that teachers have positive responses to the characteristics described in the 13 variables and that teaching experience differentiates teachers’ perceptions towards professional characteristics of EFL teachers.
