An Empirical Study on Outstanding English Teachers in High Schools : PM Theory and High School Students' Achievement

The objective of this research is to clarify, in an empirical manner, what outstanding high school English teachers are like. Firstly, 167 data samples were collected from students of an average academic level high school, by using the questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale. An exploratory factor analysis yielded six important factors. They are as follows: teachers who give good lessons to make sure students will pass entrance exams, who are knowledgeable and cultured, who give student-centered lessons, who treat students with counseling mind, who are strict on students in class, but can improve their achievement of English and who speak English fluently. Secondly, covariance structure analysis was conducted to clarify what kinds of latent variables existed and how much they influenced these six factors. The categorization of these six factors was also conducted in order to ascertain whether PM theory would fit in this research or not. The result of path analysis showed that generally these six factors should be divided into two categories: one is very similar to performance function (P Function) and the other is similar to maintenance function (M Function) as stated by Misumi (1978). Next, the comparison of path analysis was conducted between upper level and lower level students. After analyzing the data of lower level students, apparently they demand that outstanding English teachers should improve their students' proficiency in English with counseling mind, and give explicit instructions to their students. On the other hand, upper level students prefer English teachers with characteristics in performance function category