Effective Teaching and Teaching Style Preferences of EFL Teachers A Review Research

English language is considered as one of the most important languages around the world not because it is the most widely spoken language in terms of native speakers, but rather due to the fact that it is the language through which international business is conducted, scientific and technological progresses are disclosed, news and information are reported and most notably it is the language of communication among nations from different parts of the world (Graddol, ۷۹۹۱; Crystal, ۰۲۲۲).The importance of English language as mentioned above has highlighted the importance of teaching and learning this language as a second or foreign language all around the world. Moreover, as Farhady, Sajadi and Hedayati (۰۲۷۲) asserts learning English as an international language plays a crucial role in current educational system of Iran, international marketing, and diplomacy. A successful learning or teaching of English is affected by different factors. It should be noted that individuals all have preferences or styles for doing things. Styles influence the person as an individual and differentiate him/her from someone else. One of the most widely known applications of styles is in education. According to Knowles (۷۹۹۲), one of the determining factors in learners' successful learning is teaching styles.Different definitions of teaching style have been presented by different scholars. For instance, Cooper (۰۲۲۷) and Heimlich and Norland (۰۲۲۰) believe that the term teaching styles refers to the classroom behavior associated with the teaching beliefs of a teacher and is not restricted to a teaching method or a technique. Fan and Ye (۰۲۲۱) define it as teachers’ preferred way of solving problems, carrying out tasks, and making decisions in the process of teaching.For Grasha (۰۲۲۰), teaching styles are enduring personal qualities and behaviors that determine how teachers conduct their classes. In a similar definition, Artvinli (۰۲۷۲) asserted that teaching styles are the leading factors that shape and assure the success of a highly complex teaching-learning process. Teaching styles can affect how teachers present information, interact with students, and supervise coursework. Accordingly, many researchers (Heimlich & Norland, ۰۲۲۰; Razak, Ahmad, & Shad, ۰۲۲۱; Soliven, ۰۲۲۲) highlight the vital and crucial role of teaching style in providing students with good learning experiences and enhancing students’ academic outcomes.Large amount of supportive evidence such as studies carried out by Conti (۷۹۹۱) and Miglietti and Strange (۷۹۹۹) stress the effect of teaching style on learners' achievements. But are all the styles successful in achieving the educational goals or more directly what is an effective teaching? As Kabadayi (۰۲۲۱) assert, it is evident that all teachers have individual attributes relating to their teaching processes and they teach differently because of their psychological differences which can affect their choice of style and ultimately make them successful or effective teachers. Brown and Marks (۷۹۹۱) believes that successful teachers are the ones who constantly investigate their own teaching experience and that of others to be more aware of the strong and weak points in their teaching experiences and preferred styles. It means that they continuously criticize their teaching performance in the classroom and their choice of appropriate preferred teaching style.Since teachers play a key role in pedagogical success, there is an urgent need to know them and their personality factors (Anderson, ۰۲۲۱). Accordingly, there is a necessity for all and especially EFL language teachers to investigate how their teaching styles affect progress of different students in their class and whether their teaching is really an effective one or not.