Drawn and Spoken: Young Learners' Visions of an Ideal ELT Teach

This qualitative study explores young learners’ perceptions of an ideal English language teacher through drawings and semi-structured interviews. Conducted at a government primary school in İstanbul, the study involved 20 students (14 female, 6 male) from 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades, selected through convenience sampling (Creswell & Creswell, 2018). Data were analyzed thematically under three main categories: characteristic specialties, physical appearance, and preferred teaching approaches and materials. The analysis process began with a thorough reading of all student drawings and interview transcripts. Repeating themes were identified respectively within each data type and then grouped into overarching categories. The coding was carried out collaboratively with a supervisor, and to enhance the reliability of the findings, an independent researcher reviewed the themes to ensure intercoder agreement. Findings indicate that young learners perceive ideal teachers as happy, kind, sympathetic, knowledgeable, humorous, engaging, and socially interactive. In terms of physical appearance, the majority of participants depicted the ideal teacher as female. Regarding teaching approaches and materials, students favored arts and crafts, course book activities, interactive board games, and speaking activities. These insights highlight the importance of understanding young learners’ expectations to create engaging and effective English language learning environments. The study also provides implications for teacher education programs, emphasizing the need for emotionally supportive and pedagogically adaptable teaching methods.