Non-native English-speaking Teachers Research Articles

Prep school students’ perceptions of native and non-native teachers and effect of proficiency level on their perceptions

Many questions have been raised about the role of native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in language education, and the issue has been investigated in various aspects. The aims of this study are to shed new light on the issue through an examination of preparatory school students’ perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs and to find out the effect of their English proficiency level on learner’s perceptions. The participants were 60 prep-school students from lower-intermediate (30) and upper-intermediate (30) levels. Quantitative data for the study were collected using a 30-items questionnaire that was designed by Üstünlüoğlu (2007), adapted, and modified by Demir (2011). It was developed with respect to four aspects: in-class teaching roles, in-class management roles, in-class communication skills, and individual qualities. In terms of the reliability of the items in the questionnaire, Cronbach's Alpha was calculated as .75, which was acceptable. Referring the general results, the findings showed no significant difference between the students’ perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs in the four aspects evaluated. However, when the perceptions of lower and upper intermediate students were compared, their perceptions were found to be affected by their English proficiency level, and significant differences were found between perceptions of those students. The results revealed that upper-intermediate level students held more positive perceptions towards both NESTs and NNESTs in all categories.

Team Teaching in a Bilingual School: An Exploration of Teachers’ Interpersonal Aspects and Student Classroom Interaction

The purposes of this study were to explore the teachers’ interpersonal aspects of team teaching in a bilingual program and to examine whether “team teaching” increases classroom interaction. The data was collected during course preparation and classroom instruction through classroom observations and individual semi-structured interviews. The participants were provided from the school and taught in English by selecting the same loading cognitive subjects to avoid the problems of difficult learning content. The participants were two pairs; pair one consisted of one native English-speaking teacher (NEST) and one non-native English-speaking teacher (NNEST), pair two consisted of two non-natives English-speaking teachers (NNEST). The findings indicated that the “Team Teaching” model was not the only advantage for the students and teamwork but the teacher's interpersonal aspects showed that when they had no choice to choose their team, and they might feel uncomfortable. The different cultures (Logistical), attitudes (Interpersonal), and teaching styles (Pedagogical) also made them felt uneasy to work in teams. Comparing two teams of the study, team consisting of two non-native English-speaking teachers built a better relationship than the other team. It was combined with gender factors, culture, teaching style, language barrier, communication, and attitude. It is obvious that pairing teachers is not an easy job. School administrator should consider various factors in order to help the team work effectively and successfully. They expressed feelings of working as a team through various factors. Therefore, the results of this study indicate that a good team should follow the model type as “Team Teaching”. Keywords: Team teaching, Pedagogical, Bilingual Education, Interpersonal, Classroom interaction DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-33-15 Publication date: November 30 th 2020

The Professional Identity of EFL Teachers: The Complexity of Nativeness

The current study quantitatively examines the professional identity of 150 EFL teachers in the Israeli educational system. Findings indicate that native English-speaking teachers (“NESTs”) rate themselves higher than non-native English-speaking teachers. Still, fewer differences between the groups were found than predicted. While the results of this study support the idea of considering native English proficiency to be advantageous, the global situation of English use suggests that a different direction should be adopted. Taking advantage of the strengths of each group by embracing cooperation between teachers from different linguistic backgrounds could contribute to a stronger professional identity for language teachers, thus reducing the dichotomy between native English speakers and those who do not speak English natively.

Fitting In and Fighting Out

This study explores and problematises the various challenges six non-native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) faced in the ESL teaching profession. The purpose of this study was to increase an in-depth understanding of non-native English speaking teachers in terms of their perceived and actual employability, students’ perceptions of them, and the discriminatory practices they are often reported to be subjected to in the ESL industry in Australia. The number of international students studying ESL at Australian language centres has increased significantly in recent years and a concurrent increase in trained NNESTs seeking employment in these centres necessitates this study. The findings revealed that the participants still face challenges to some extent in the ESL teaching profession in Melbourne and their teaching approaches are impacted by their linguistic and educational experiences. The study also found that, contrary to popular belief, NNESTs do not use the so-called ‘traditional’ teaching approaches while teaching, despite their own learning of English through such approaches. As well, far from seeing it as a disadvantage, these teachers often utilise their non-native status as a positive source of inspiration to encourage ‘non-native’ students in the classroom. As data in the study indicates, the participants’ pedagogical approaches have been influenced by their past linguistic, educational, and cultural experiences, this understanding will help these programs become better attuned to teachers’ experiences and backgrounds and encourage NNES future teachers to examine their varied experiences in relation to theories of language acquisition, language teaching and curriculum design.

Quantifying Native Speakerism in Second Language (L2) Writing: A Study of Student Evaluations of Teaching

Abstract Despite the continually growing number of non-native English-speaking (NNES) teachers in English language teaching, the profession is nonetheless still shaped by native speakerism (Holliday 2005), the idealization of native English speakers (NESs) as linguistically and culturally superior to their NNES counterparts. Such an ideology leads to negative perceptions toward NNES faculty even if they hold equal qualifications to their NES counterparts. This study sought to determine whether multilingual students themselves evaluate instructors differently based on the instructors’ language background. Based on 5,050 Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) scores compiled over three years (2015–18), independent t-tests and MANCOVA analysis revealed a statistically significant relationship between NNES students’ perceptions of teacher effectiveness and instructor’s language background. Such findings were further compounded by instructor’s gender and course variables, additionally disadvantaging NNES instructors. The broader implications are for institutional stakeholders to be cognizant of the prevalence of native speakerism in L2 writing contexts and use holistic models for teacher assessment to adapt more equitable approaches to assessing underrepresented faculty.

Learners’ satisfaction with native and non-native English-speaking teachers’ teaching competence and their learning motivation: a path-analytic approach

ABSTRACT This study explored the relationship between learners’ perceptions of native and non-native English-speaking teachers’ teaching competence and their motivation for learning English as a foreign language (EFL). Data were collected from 218 EFL learners in an intensive English programme in four universities in mainland China using two instruments: Student Satisfaction Questionnaire and English Learning Motivation Questionnaire. We conducted path analysis with latent variables to investigate the relationships between teacher competence and motivation using AMOS. It was found that: (1) EFL learners’ degree of satisfaction with native and non-native English-speaking teachers’ teaching competence had a minor impact on their English learning motivation; (2) there were several direct causal relationships of the subcategories of satisfaction with teaching competence to the subtypes of English learning motivation; and (3) satisfaction with teaching competence had an indirect influence on the subtypes of English learning motivation. We conclude with a discussion on the implications of the findings for our understanding of the construct of teaching competence and pre-service or in-service EFL teacher education.

Identity formation: An auto-ethnography of Indonesian student becomes a legitimate speaker and teacher of English

Several studies have investigated how the TESOL program influenced the construction of Non-Native English Speaker Teachers’ identities, yet few literature concerns about the negotiation of NNESTs’ identity as legitimate speakers and teachers of English. This paper was an auto-ethnographic investigation of my personal experience as one of international students in the TESOL program at an Australian university. Drawing on Norton’s theory of language and identity, this study examined a complex process of my identity formation as a legitimate speaker and teacher of English after studying one of a critical pedagogical unit ‘<em>Language, Culture, and Curriculum</em>’. The findings revealed that the TESOL program enabled me to discover and explore another part of myself as a legitimate speaker and teacher of English through linguistic constructs and rich knowledge given in that unit. It also supported that a critical pedagogical unit could empower international students to form their identities as confident and professional English teachers back to their countries.

Implementing explicit pronunciation instruction: The case of a nonnative English-speaking teacher

Studies in second language teacher cognition (SLTC) of pronunciation teachers have increased in the last 10 years, due mainly to the fact that the decisions teachers make about explicit instruction are critical for the development of second language (L2) pronunciation in learners. Although recent research has indicated that nonnative-speaking teachers (NNSTs) can be as effective as native-speaking teachers (NSTs) in pronunciation instruction, and that their training needs resemble those of NSTs, the way NNSTs implement L2 pronunciation instruction has not been studied extensively. This is important to understand given the number of NNSTs of English worldwide at present, and because of the potential benefits of nonnative-speaking pronunciation teaching models in general. In this study, I analysed the way an experienced NNST implemented explicit pronunciation instruction in a context of English as a foreign language (EFL) to understand both his actual teaching practices and the rationale behind such practices. Using a framework of knowledge base of language teaching, this study demonstrates how factors such as previous teaching and learning experiences, teaching context, and L2 learner characteristics shaped and guided the techniques the teacher implemented in class. These results are discussed in terms of implications for pronunciation teaching and teacher training purposes.

Assessing the L2 pragmatic awareness of non-native EFL teacher candidates: Is spotting a problem enough?

Abstract The assessment of pragmatic skills in a foreign or second language (L2) is usually investigated with regard to language learners, but rarely with regard to non-native language instructors, who are simultaneously teachers and (advanced) learners of the L2. With regard to English as the target language, this is a true research gap, as nonnative English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) constitute the majority of English teachers world-wide (Kamhi-Stein 2016). Addressing this research gap, this paper presents a modified replication of Bardovi-Harlig and Dörnyei’s (1998) renowned study on grammatical vs. pragmatic awareness, carried out with non-NEST candidates. While the original study asked the participants for a global indication of (in)appropriateness/ (in)correctness and to rate its severity, the participants in the present study were asked to identify the nature of the violation and to suggest a repair. Inspired by Pfingsthorn and Flöck (2017), the data was analyzed by means of Signal Detection Theory with regard to Hits, Misses, False Alarms and Correct Rejections to gain more detailed insights into the participants’ metalinguistic perceptions. In addition, the study investigated the rate of successful repairs, showing that correct problem identification cannot necessarily be equated with adequate repair abilities. Implications for research, language teaching and language teacher education are derived.

The Journey to Becoming an English Academic Writing Instructor as a Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher

This presentation is an autoethnography that explores my identity as a non-native English-speaking writing instructor. The presentation narrates my feelings, opinions and observations about my educational journey from when I was an undergraduate student in the English department and first introduced to academic writing in English, to becoming a non-native English-speaking teacher (NNEST), until I became an English academic writing instructor. Throughout my years of teaching English to non-native speakers and teaching English academic writing, being foreign to the English language has always had a presence either in the way I identified myself or in the way my society labeled me. Society focused mainly on my non-nativeness to English. However, I was able to self-consciously see my strength of understanding and comparing the writing norms of my first culture with those of the target culture, which was reflected on my teaching in the classroom. Much of the research on NNESTs has focused on issues such as their pronunciation, vocabulary, students’ perceptions, but this study focuses on how I negotiated my identity in teaching writing.

From experienced to professional practitioners: a participatory lesson study approach to strengthen and sustain English language teaching and leadership

PurposeThis study arises from a recent school-based professional development (PD) programme conducted for English language teachers (ELTs) in a secondary school in the Kingdom of Bahrain, where a participatory lesson study (PLS) strategy was implemented to develop four ELTs' teaching skills and their senior teacher's leadership. The influence of the PLS on creating a participatory PD experience for the participants was investigated through exploring their perceptions of their professional growth during their PLS experience.Design/methodology/approachFollowing a qualitative interpretive approach, a total of eight lesson study cases and 16 meetings were conducted and analysed.FindingsThe main factors that influenced the participants' perceptions of their professional growth in PLS were high self-efficacy and confidence; dominancy of their peers; the informality of the PLS practice; and reflective practice. Relatedly, the results revealed critical thoughts about PLS as a means for ELT's self-directed PD in non-native English-speaking contexts.Originality/valueThe study provides an alternative approach to PD that can be offered for ELTs in any ESL/EFL context that focusses on supporting non-native English-speaking teachers' practices by associating theory with practice. This approach has enabled them to gain the practical skills they need and develop their awareness about the theoretical principles of these practices. For the first time, teachers were given the role to act as the trainers and the theorisers of their own teaching practices.

Teaching pronunciation in the Indonesian context: A native speaker or ELF model?

Today, the numbers of English speakers are geographically and culturally diverse. The discussion on which pronunciation model of English should be introduced to learners of English has become under discussion among English language practitioners. Should English teachers teach pronunciation aiming at near native accents or at intelligibility in which learners can understand different models of English? As a country where English is a foreign language and Non Native-English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) are vastly available, Indonesia has posed its uniqueness due to its diverse learners’ and teachers’ backgrounds. Under this circumstance, then, there has been a frequent question to whether NNESTs can help learners to develop their English pronunciation. This paper discusses English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) model as suggested by Jenkins (2000) in teaching English pronunciation that can be implemented in the Indonesian context. It suggests that what matters more to learners is improving their intelligibility in English pronunciation rather than aiming for near native accents. English teachers are encouraged to develop a pronunciation instruction that suits the learners’ needs and interests without discriminating any model of English. Finally, a conclusion is provided with my argument that ELF model will be a better model to be implemented in the teaching of pronunciation in the English classroom in Indonesia.

Differences in Teaching Styles and Oral Language Proficiency of Non-native English Speaker Teachers: As Perceived by the Iranian EFL Students

Non-native English speaker teachers’ (NNESTs) dominant teaching styles and oral language proficiency have recently garnered considerable attention of researchers during the past several years. To determine whether they have been effective teachers from their students’ perspectives, this study intended to scrutinize the possible differences of Iranian senior BA and MA students’ perceptions of their non-native ESTs’ dominant styles of teaching together with oral language proficiency in between and across the universities on the whole. To this end, 103 senior EFL senior BA and MA students participated in the study by the use of multistage cluster sampling procedure from three universities of Isfahan, Shiraz, and Yasouj. For the purpose of data collection, one teaching style questionnaire (TSQ) and one analytic scale for assessing the oral proficiency (ASAOP) were utilized. Through inferential statistics, the results showed that no significant differences for teaching styles and oral proficiency were seen between BA and MA students perhaps due to being exposed to the same university teachers, educational environments, and inter- and intra-communications. Further, the students perceived the dominant teaching styles of their teachers across the three universities quite differently significant, for which history of universities, experience, educational facilities, educational environments, academic ranks of professors, research productivity, and teachers’ marking criteria were influentially involved. Subsequently, as regards the students’ perceptions of their NNESTs’ oral language proficiency, no crucial differences were reflected to occur among the three universities. Presumably, apart from their accent and pronunciation, NNESTs’ interestingness, over-preparedness, qualification, and professionalism have considerably affected their students’ perceptions. Through this study, one can reap benefits from the pedagogical implications of the attained results within the academic settings of the Iran country.

Experiences and Challenges Perceived by Indonesian EFL Teachers as Non-Native English Speaker Teachers (NNESTs) in Thailand

This study investigated the experiences and challenges perceived by Indonesian EFL teachers as the NNESTs in Thailand. The study used a questionnaire and interviews to collect primary data from seventeen Indonesian EFL teachers in Thailand. The study discovered that most of the Indonesian EFL teachers are eager to teach English in Thailand to have teaching experience abroad, to improve their English skills, and to earn higher salaries. Besides, the Indonesian EFL teachers did not find difficulties in adapting to the new cultures in Thailand, even though adjusting to the teaching environment became a challenge. Moreover, third, the Indonesian EFL teachers were treated equally as the NESTs, although their salaries were lower than those of NESTs. Lastly, the study reported issues in English classes, such as students' motivations, linguistic gaps, and plagiarisms, which trigger the creativity of Indonesian EFL teachers in English classes.

The differences in Indonesian ESL students’ motivation and perceptions of NEST and NNEST

Different teachers might have different influence on students’ motivation as well as perceptions. The present study aims to analyse the differences in students’ motivation and perceptions toward of two different types of teachers; NEST (Native English Speaking Teachers) and NNEST (Non-Native English Speaking Teachers). The present study applied a mixed method approach by distributing a set of questionnaires to sixty junior high school students and interviewing four of them to answer its research questions. The results indicate students’ motivation to learn English with NEST because students think it will improve their speaking skills. In addition, NEST’ accents and cultural knowledge motivate students to learn English with them. On the other hand, the results suggest that students are motivated to learn English with NNEST because they are more understanding to students’ learning difficulties and NNEST can resort to students’ L1 when students need it. Thus, students seem to have their own perceptions of the disadvantages and advantages of NEST and NNEST. To minimise the disadvantages, co-teaching seems imperative to be conducted to improve students’ learning experience. In addition, pre-service teachers need to be aware of their own advantages and disadvantages either as NNEST or NEST. Educational institutions should also provide in-service teachers training to help their teachers reducing their disadvantages and maximising their advantages.

An investigation into native and non-native teachers’ assessment of Chinese students’ English writing

This study compares the assessment criteria which native English-speaking (NES) and non-native English-speaking (NNES) teachers applied in their writing evaluation in a Chinese context. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods, it examines not only how the two groups of teachers assess students’ writing holistically, but also how the two groups differ in their analytical reasons for their ratings. The results showed that in holistic evaluation, the NES and NNES teachers differed significantly, with the former assigning higher scores to all the essays. In terms of the analytic evaluation of the ten specifically categorised features, the two groups showed statistically significant differences in four categories. The NES teachers were more lenient in evaluating the categories of ‘grammar’ and ‘sentence structure’, but the NNES teachers were less severe in rating the categories of ‘ideas’ and ‘arguments’. An analysis of the findings reveals that the differences in the assessment of students’ English writing between the two groups of teachers may originate from their language learning experiences, language teaching methods and language teaching beliefs.

Beliefs versus Declared Practices of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) Teachers Regarding Teaching Grammar

This study investigated English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers' beliefs, perceptions and declared practices of teaching grammar within a communicative language teaching (CLT) framework. Participants included 221 EFL teachers, who were teaching during the years 2013-2018 in different grades and schools throughout Israel. Participants were graduates of teacher training programs in colleges and universities and included Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNEST) and Native English Speaking Teachers (NEST).An on-line, self-report survey designed specifically for this study contained three closed questions and two open-ended questions. One-way ANOVA statistics, and mean scores of all the responses were performed on the quantitative data. Qualitative data were grouped, analyzed, and coded.Results show a discrepancy between EFL teachers' perceptions and declared practices of teaching grammar in classrooms. Results further reveal significant differences between NEST and NNEST teachers, as well as differences between teachers who teach in different grades (elementary school, junior high school and high school). Moreover, 'vocabulary' and 'speaking' were ranked of highest importance (58% and 55%, respectively), whereas 'writing' and 'grammar' were considered least important (24%). These findings have valuable implications for teachers and teacher education regarding teaching grammar in context and using contextualized activities.

How should we counter challenges in teaching pronunciation for EIL?

English as an international language (EIL) deals with the use of English in wider communication both global and local contexts. In an EIL context, people with different mother tongue (L1) use English to share ideas and culture. That is why intelligible English which should be no longer norm-bound is needed. Teaching pronunciation for EIL, especially should provide variety of English accents. English teachers should be flexible to the modification needed and fully informed of what, why, and how to teach and assess comprehensible English. Unfortunately, teaching English pronunciation has always been challenging for non-native English speaker teachers. In this retrospective essay, I discussed the challenges of teaching English pronunciation: the differences between English and students’ L1 phonological system, teachers’ strong and long-standing belief about unnecessary pronunciation, teachers’ excessive workload and insufficient teaching materials, and teachers’ lack of confidence due to native speaker preference model. Ideas to think about and a simple lesson plan to teach English pronunciation that is suitable for EIL context are provided.

Examining the influence of native and non-native English-speaking teachers on Korean EFL writing

Both Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) may have advantages as writing instructors, yet little is known about how they actually influence writing in EFL contexts like South Korea. To address this issue, 76 high proficiency Korean EFL university students from the International Corpus Network of Asian Learners of English (ICNALE) were separated into a group that received extensive native English speaker instruction (n = 57) and a group that did not (n = 19) using a self-survey. Analysis of essay content revealed that words used by Korean EFL writers with more NEST instruction are similar in difficulty and variety to native English writers. Concerning style, Korean EFL learners with more NEST instruction used stances to evaluate, validate, and state personal opinions, while learners with less NEST instruction used speech formulas and more unbiased logical arguments. Regarding grammar, Korean EFL learners with extensive NEST instruction used more sophisticated vocabulary, word forms, and verb tenses to create a novel argument using personal experience, whereas Korean EFL learners with low NEST instruction tended to use formulaic and logical arguments with more accuracy. Overall, results suggest that NEST instruction in Korea promotes more creativity and sophistication in composition, while NNEST instruction encourages more accurate use of language. In accordance with the findings, curricula or teacher training may be developed to ensure that each type of instruction shares the strengths of its counterpart.

Negotiating teacher identity: Experiences of Black teachers of English in Korean ELT

Most recent research on teacher identity in the TESOL field has focused on how non-native English-speaking teachers (non-NESTs) view and position themselves vis-à-vis native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), and which factors influence their construction of their professional identities. However, the perceived native speaker/non-native speaker (NS–NNS) dichotomy greatly oversimplifies a complicated phenomenon by representing it as solely linguistic and disregarding sociocultural and political issues. Beyond the question of nativeness versus non-nativeness, race, ethnicity, nationality, and cultural identity have played key roles in how teachers position themselves within English language teaching (ELT). These other factors may be critical in how others judge the capability of a teacher of English and authenticity of his/her English.