Abstract

This study explores how university students’ perceptions of their classes and instructor personality contribute to their overall rating of the class. The study also investigates whether the students rate Japanese instructors and native English speaking instructors differently. Data was collected using a questionnaire comprised of instructional rating and teacher personality rating sections. The instructional rating section was based on the Instructional Rating Form (Tomasco, 1980), and European Portfolio for Student Teachers of Languages (Newby et al., 2007) whereas the teacher personality rating section was derived from Murray, Rushton, and Paunonen (1990). The study employed statistical analyses including multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), principal components analysis and regression analysis. The results of the study revealed that students’ perceptions of the class as interesting, organized and clear, positively influenced their overall rating of the class. On the other hand, their perceptions of their instructor as aggressive, dominant, anxious, and authoritarian negatively affected the overall rating. The findings also indicated that when it comes to Japanese instructors, personality traits such as sociable, ambitious, intellectually curious, intelligent, and gentle influenced students’ overall ratings.

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