Native and Non-native: A Controversial Idea of English Teacher

Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research(JETIR), 2018

There is a presupposition that the only language teachers who can be trusted are the native speakers while as others are of the opinion that being proficient in English language is just one of the qualities of a good English language teacher. There is a scarcity of empirical studies that explore the differences between native and non-native teachers of English (Samimy and Brutte-griffler, cited in Braine,1999,p.130) This paper discusses and examines the belief whether native speakers are the better English language teachers than non-native English language teachers for the overall improvement of English teaching-learning situation. IndexTerms-ESL/EFL, Native Speaker Teachers (NSTs), Non-Native Teachers (NNTs), Language Skills, Bilingualism. ________________________________________________________________________________________________________

To allude to the 'native speaker' concept and investigate the native speaker effects, this research looks into the perceptions of 25 Thai EFL university students towards native English speaking teachers. How native English speaking teachers influence the participants' learning behaviours and motivation to learn English are also perceptually reported. Two research instruments, the survey questionnaire and the semi-structured interview, are employed for this study. The findings indicate overall positive perceptions towards native English speaking teachers, pointing that their classes are mostly fun, interactive and motivating. The flexible and interactive teaching methods and styles used by native English speaking teachers are found to be most favoured, followed by their approachable personality traits and the students' vast opportunity to practice oral and written English. Most participants, if given an option to choose a teacher, have a salient preference to study with native English speaking teachers in which case neither teachers' age nor gender matters. There seems to be a strong relationship between studying with native English speaking teachers and the participants' learning behaviours and motivation to learn English.

Academic Journal of Nawroz University

This paper aims at finding out the opinions of Kurdish English language learners of their native-nonnative teachers of English as a foreign language; identifying which group of teachers is more useful to them ; native or non-native English language teachers and in which language skills. The study has hypothesized that Kurdish university students show positive beliefs of native English language over nonnative English language teachers.In order to validate the objectives and hypotheses of the study, a questionnaire consisting of (14) items that included (9) general items and (5) items on the teaching of each of the following language skills grammar; vocabulary; pronunciation; listening ; reading and speaking was given to one hundred students studying English at four private universities in Kurdistan of Iraq. SPSS V.22 (Statistical Packages for Social Science) was used to determine the significant differences between native English language teachers and nonnative English language teachers of English as a foreign language as perceived by students at all levels of language learning skills item by item for all the (14)items used. The ANOVA 1 test was used to determine the difference and significance of the dimensions of the study. The study has revealed that, in general, students significantly preferred to have native English language teachers more than nonnative English language teachers. However, students significantly preferred nonnative English language teachers to native English language teachers in teaching them grammar. On the other hand, students thought that native English language teachers were better than nonnative English language teachers in teaching them speaking, pronunciation, vocabulary and listening.

2015

This study aims at investigating the perception and preferences of EFL university students in Saudi Arabia towards NTs and NNTs and to identify whom they prefer in teaching them each language skill. A modified copy of Baniabdelrahman's (2012) translated copy of a questionnaire which was built by Lasagabaster & Sierra (2005) was used to collect the needed data. The participants in the study consisted of Saudi first year university students (the preparatory year students at King Saud University, Kind Fahid University, and King Khalid University) in the first semester of the academic year 2013/2014. The cluster sampling method was used in choosing the students. The class was the unit of choice. The results of the study showed that there were significant interaction between the students' gender and their language level of proficiency. They also showed that there were no significant interaction between the students gender and the location of their university; there were no signif...

Vision: Journal for Language and Foreign Language Learning, 2020

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.

English Review: Journal of English Education

In the field of TESOL, the perception that Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs) are better than Non-Native English Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) has influenced language schools, recruitment policies and institutional leadership practices. The tendency to recruit more NESTs and achieve improved learning outcomes can be seen in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) and English as a Second Language (ESL) contexts. This paper aims to investigate whether NESTs or NNESTs have any impact on the EFL learners� language proficiency in Saudi EFL context. This quantitative study adopts pretest-posttest experimental and ex post facto designs to determine students� achievement in two language skills, namely speaking and listening. The two groups of participants are EFL students in a foundation year program at a Saudi Arabian University. One group was taught by a NEST and the other by a NNEST. The quantitative data were analyzed by using SPSS. The findings indicated that teachers� nativeness and ba...

This qualitative research study examines 158 Thai EFL, 3rd-year, undergraduate students' perceptions of Thai English teachers (TETs) and Native English teachers (NETs). The purposive convenience sample was three English-major cohorts studying at UBRU, Thailand. A content analysis of 158 'Compare and Contrast' essays entitled 'Thai English Teachers and Native English teachers' was conducted and followed repetitive reading and coding of the data. The initial twenty-four identified codes were collapsed into five code groups. These groups were then collapsed further into two emerging themes. The research indicates that the students prefer NETs when learning Listening, Speaking and Writing skills and preferred TETs when learning Grammar. The students also clearly indicated a preference for the varied, interactive activity based teaching methods employed by NETs over the didactic, textbook, gramma-translation methods used by the TETs. The limited use of L1 in the EFL classroom was perceived as appropriate because it enabled understanding of complicated grammar concepts. It also reduced students' interactive anxiety. The students did however indicate a preference for NETs when their perceived proficiency levels are higher. This study should aid readers understanding of Thai EFL undergraduate students and inform teaching staff about important considerations when developing EFL educational programmes in Thailand.

Journal of Emerging Technologies and Innovative Research (JETIR) www.jetir.org, 2019

Teaching of English to non-native students has always been a topic of discussion among the researchers. As English has acquired the status of an international language and has become a status symbol, it has become important to study this language in this age of Globalization. English has become a compulsory language in almost all schools and higher studies across the globe. But there are also some complexities to teaching of English as a foreign language to non-native students. This paper discusses the obstacles faced by the EFL learners and the role of teachers and some of the teaching problems in the situation. IndexTerms - EFL/ESL, Language Skills, Motivation, Non-Native Learners, Native Speakers

ASEAN Journal of Management and Innovation, 2021

The emergence of non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the ELT industry has paved the way for many opportunities, as well as issues and challenges that question the NNESTs' capabilities. The objective of this study was to investigate Thai students' perceptions of NNESTs pedagogical and linguistic qualities and how they relate to their learning outcomes using a correlational method to analyze the data from the sample population of 422 grades 4-12 Thai students under Educational Area 1 in Nonthaburi, Thailand. A survey questionnaire was made to mollify the data collection with 10 questions about pedagogical qualities and 10 questions about linguistic qualities. Two open-ended questions were included in the questionnaire to support the responses. Data were then analyzed using Pearson r and ANOVA as the main statistical measurements. The overall grades of the respondents in English were collected together with the survey questionnaire. The study indicates that Thai students have a very high level of perception of their NNESTs' pedagogical and linguistic qualities. However, there is no correlation between students' perception of the NNESTs' pedagogical and linguistic qualities and students' learning outcomes.