Language Teaching Research Quarterly

The paper examines the relationship between EFL learners' first impressions of their instructors and their speaking performance. The study employed a mixed-methods approach, combining a test and a questionnaire to provide a comprehensive analysis. The participants were 81 EFL learners at Taif University. The results revealed that the correlation coefficient (r) for the scores and all the constructs was small and not significant, indicating that the first impression of the students of their instructors did not affect their performance on the speaking test. We observed that the correlations among the constructs ranged from medium to high positive correlations. The study used a questionnaire to collect data on the factors that influence the first impression of the instructors, such as physical appearance, attitude, and communication style. The results showed that physical appearance and attitude were the most significant factors that affected the first impression of the instructors. The study also found that the participants who had a positive first impression of their instructors tended to perform better in speaking tasks and had higher levels of motivation and engagement.