Native vs Non-Native English Speaking Teachers : An Analysis of Business Schools in the Tertiary Education Sector

Abstract

The study examines how Business Schools at universities in Korea can motivate Korean, English as a foreign language (EFL) learners in business courses under the policy of English-medium instruction (EMI). This research focuses on the role of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) and native English speaking teachers (NESTs) in an EFL environment. To conduct the experiment, EFL learners’ motivation changes and qualitative interviews are collected; the NNEST class (n = 19), and NEST class (n = 18). The results of the motivation survey showed that at the beginning of the semester, the NNEST class learners displayed a lower level of confidence and intrinsic motivation than that of NEST class learners. However, by the end of the semester, while the intrinsic motivation levels remained the same, the NNEST class showed a higher level of confidence, interest, and extrinsic motivation than that of NEST class. Qualitative interviews were also done after the semester ended. The results of the interviews showed that motivation changes had no direct effect on classroom satisfaction in EFL contexts as learners understood the differences between NNESTs and NESTs, and their expectations in class of these two teachers were clearly different. Based on the findings, the paper also provides some policy advice to universities so as to help increase Korean EFL learners’ motivation and class satisfaction under the English-medium instruction policy.