The Relationship between Teaching Style and Personality Type of Iranian EFL Teachers

The present study is an attempt to investigate the relationship between teaching style and personality type of a sample of Iranian EFL teachers, using the Teaching Activities Preference (TAP) questionnaire (Cooper, 2001) and Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, MBTI (Myers Myers, 1998). A third instrument called Students Perceptions of Teachers Success or Failure (SPTSF) questionnaire, developed by the researchers, was also used to examine the relationship between personality types of Iranian EFL teachers and their students perceptions of the teachers success or failure. The participants of the study comprised of 51 EFL teachers and 300 high school students. The results indicated significant differences among the MBTI types based on the teachers teaching style preferences. Each personality type represented a particular teaching style. There was also a relationship between students perceptions of their teachers success or failure based on the teachers personality types. It was found that Introverting, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving (INTP), Extroverting, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging (ENTJ), and Extroverting, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving (ENTP) teacher types were more successful than others as reported by the students. The type distribution and the predominance of Introverting, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ISTJ), and Extroverting, Sensing, Thinking, Judging (ESTJ) types among Iranian EFL teachers were other findings of this research.