Investigating the Relationship between EFL Teachers’ Accountability and Students’ English Achievement: The Case of Iranian English Teachers

This study investigated the perceived accountability of Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers from the perspective of their students. It also examined the relationship between Iranian EFL teachers’ accountability and students' English language achievement. A sample of 62 EFL students from private language institutes in Shiraz, Iran, selected through convenience sampling, participated in the study. Two primary instruments were utilized: the Teaching Accountability Questionnaire, adapted from Moafian and Pishghadam (2009), and the English achievement tests based on the Top Notch series to evaluate students' performance. Descriptive statistics revealed that the majority of the students expressed a strong agreement that their teachers demonstrated key factors of accountability, such as being interested in their teaching subjects, being well-prepared, and emphasizing important concepts. Additionally, they acknowledged the teachers' commitment to providing thorough answers and support both inside and outside the classroom. The students also believed that their teachers were open to criticism and constructive suggestions. Furthermore, Spearman’s correlation analysis demonstrated a significant positive relationship between teachers’ accountability and students’ academic achievement. These findings suggest that higher levels of perceived accountability among EFL teachers are associated with improved student performance, highlighting the critical role of teacher accountability in fostering educational success in Iranian EFL contexts. Finally, the implications of these results underscoring the importance of enhancing teacher accountability in improving language learning outcomes are discussed.