Ebook - Bilingual Teachers
Ebook - Bilingual Teachers
Ebook - Bilingual Teachers
Promoting the
Value of Bilingual
EL Teachers
Table Of Contents
Abstract 1
Introduction 1
Conclusion 13
References 14
Page 1
Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
Abstract
There is a common, but mistaken, assumption that language teaching should best be
placed in the hands of native speakers. Although the misperception of the superiority of
native speaker teachers has been challenged in the professional ELT literature, many
continue to hold fast on this misguided belief, often resulting in discriminatory practices
towards non-native speaking teachers. The purpose of this paper is to raise greater
awareness among stakeholders about this issue, so that they can make more informed
decisions about hiring and pedagogical practices. We first look closely at current
practices that wittingly or unwittingly support and exacerbate the ideology of native
speakerism and then offer some suggestions on how ELT professionals can promote non-
native speaker teachers’ professional credibility. We also propose a set of qualities that
all teachers, regardless of their language or geographical backgrounds, should have.
Introduction
The increasing growth of learners of English, which is closely linked to the global spread of English
and the growing recognition of English as an international language, creates an increasing demand
for English teachers. Recent data shows that non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) are
estimated to outnumber their native English-speaking counterparts. For example, 80% of the 15
million English teachers worldwide (or around 12 million) are NNESTs (Freeman et.al., 2015).
Nevertheless, NNESTs are often perceived to have a lower status than native English-speaking
teachers (NESTs) (Mahboob, 2010).
Native speakerism - a term coined by Holliday (2005) refers to an ideology that upholds the idea
that so-called native speakers (NSs) are the best models and teachers of English because they
come from a Western culture from which the ideals of ELT methodology and practices originate.
The idea that native speakers are better language teachers has been seriously challenged by
TESOL scholars, chief among these is Phillipson (1992) who strongly argued against the unfounded
perception that NESTs were, by nature of their birth place, better ELT instructors. He coined a now
familiar term “native speaker fallacy” and claimed that the perceived native speaker superiority was
based on weak and unsound reasoning. Likewise, Medgyes (2001, p. 436) draws our attention to
the advantages of being NNESTs:
The consensus among TESOL scholars now is that a good teacher is a good teacher regardless of
their country of origin; and in attempt to eliminate the division of native speakers versus non-
native speakers, some scholars have also proposed alternative terms for NNESTs, such as bilingual
or multilingual teachers (McKay, 2002).
The terms NNES and NNEST, however, cannot be magicked away (Pacek, 2005 cited in Floris, 2018).
As Medgyes (1992, p. 344) pointed out, “The ELT profession acknowledges the native/non-native
distinction, or at least uses it in everyday life”; and when the dichotomy still exists, Medgyes
continued, “The question ‘Who’s worth more: the NEST or the non-NEST?’ is bound to arise” (p.
334).
Sadly, in 2019 or 27 years later, the same terms, the same question and the idea of native
speakerism are still widespread in the workplace. The debate about who was the ‘best’ kind of
teacher of English is still heard; and NNESTs continue to be regarded as less competent from both
linguistic and pedagogical perspectives and often subjected to overt or covert discriminations (e.g.,
a lower pay package, a heavier teaching load). The following sections discuss some of the most
obvious discriminatory practices in the workplace.
Hiring Policies
Many NNESTs face discrimination in the hiring process. Moussu (2006), for example, found that the
majority of language teaching vacancies listed on the virtual job boards were offered to NESTs only.
Mahboob and Golden (2013) maintained that the criterion of ‘nativeness’ was still being required in
79% of the advertisements observed; and 49% of the advertisements stated specific countries that
the applicants must reside in. Obviously ‘nativeness’ here is linked to applicants from one of the
seven countries, often referred to as the Inner Circle countries (Kachru, 1992). Crump (2007)
examined several websites advertising jobs and they showed that the demands for English teachers
were high especially in Asia but, “for many of these jobs, the main requirement for the teachers is
that they be native speakers of English, not that they be qualified as English language teachers” (p.
12).
Many job ads explicitly or implicitly suggest that the ideal candidate is young, white and Western-
looking (Ruecker & Ives, 2014). Furthermore, it was found that the majority of the advertisements
focused more on benefits (e.g., living abroad, free tickets) and only 14% pointed to experience as
an essential requirement. It is not surprising that a program director once claimed, “We bring
plumbers, carpenters, grandmothers, and dairy farmers—those kind of people—to teach English”
(Tennant, 2002 cited in Liang, 2009).
Sadly, such hiring policies are even nstitutionalized in some countries such as China or Japan
through visa regulation. “For many NNS English teachers, qualifications, ability, and experience
were of little help in the job market where the invisible rule appeared to be No NNS need apply”
(Braine, 2013, p. 13).
Stakeholders’ Views
At the same time, many NNESTs also have their legitimacy challenged by their “customers” or
stakeholders who express their concerns about their teachers’ language skills and authority in the
classroom. The use of the term “customer” or stakeholders here refers to not only students but also
parents, employers, publishers, government, and other private and public parties. NNESTs are often
viewed as learners of English, and therefore, they are not valued as legitimate authorities to teach.
A study by Mahboob (2003) involving 122 adult English Language Professionals (ELPs) program
administrators in the US found that 58.9% highlighted “native speaker” criterion when making
hiring decisions as they believed that NESTs had the required proficiency in English and would be
qualified language teachers. Kelch and Santana-Williamson’s (2002) study found that students held
a more positive attitude towards teachers with native accents. Another study by Reis (2011) also
found that students showed a strong preference for British and American accents. As Guerriero
stated, “at almost each interview I have attended so far, I have been told that students usually
prefer a native English speaker and because of this, the company’s hands are tied” (in Sekino, 2016,
par. 20).
Detailed examination by Öztürk and Atay (2010) showed that private schools preferred to employ
NESTs in order to increase their school’s selling points. This confirms that the presence of NESTs,
“has proven itself as an important marketing tool” (Tatar & Yıldız, 2010, p. 114) although the
NESTs might have less teaching skills, experiences or academic qualifications.
This also supports Holliday’s observation as follows: “I have heard influential employers [in the ELT
industry] in Britain say that while they would abolish the discriminatory differentiation between
‘native speakers’ and ‘non-native speakers’ tomorrow, they can’t because their customers demand
it” (2008, p. 121). Thus discriminatory attitudes and practices continue to exist to please parents
and students and to secure business.
Interestingly, the native speaker myth is somehow internalized by the “victims” of discrimination
themselves. Many NNESTs believe that being a NS is an advantage so they themselves prefer to
hire NESTs for their language schools and choose NESTs as their language models. Such a point of
views is based on some studies conducted by Llurda & Huguet (2003), Inbar-Lourie’s (2001),
Samimy & Brutt-Griffler (1999), and Reves & Medgyes (1994) (as cited in Braine, 2005).
A study by Pessoa & Sacchi (2006) revealed that the NNESTs they observed preferred to be passive
participants when their NEST colleagues were around. They somehow viewed their NEST
colleagues as being more competent, so these NNESTs were reluctant to share their ideas or
showcase their abilities. Further findings of this study indicated that NNESTs preferred to assign
NESTs for crucial pedagogical responsibilities such as developing the curriculum, improving
teaching methods, or teaching more advanced courses.
Studies by Reis (2011 & 2012) found that the self-perception of NNESTs was closely related to
their own perception of an ideal English teacher. A small study towards 11 pre-service teachers
taking a “World Englishes” course showed that at the beginning of the course, these student
teachers believed that NESTs would serve as the best language teachers because English was the
language used as NESTs’ daily communication tool (Floris, 2013). The perception of NNESTs
towards their NEST colleagues might be due to the long-held belief that the NESTs were better
teachers of English. Such self-perceptions might decrease teachers’ own self-confidence and
indicate that they might still consider themselves as being less capable teachers of English.
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Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
Native speakerism and the native speaker fallacy which result in discriminatory practices can
undermine the value of pedagogical training, teaching skills and professionalism in ELT. Liang
(2009) further discusses the consequence of such job discrimination and states that a NNS teacher
may face many frustrations and challenges. “These challenges are often disempowering, destroying
a NNS teacher’s self-confidence, self-efficacy, and even self-worth” (Liang, 2009, p.163). Unless we
find ways to stop discriminatory practices, our profession will not progress beyond its current state.
Professional Associations
Teachers’ professional associations have a significant role to play in reducing or eliminating the
concept of native speakerism by, for example, supporting teachers’ professional development and
establishing policies that foster equity for all. TESOL, an international professional organization,
has set a good example. It has clearly stated that both NESTs and NNESTs have the right to obtain
equal opportunities (see, Position Statement against Discrimination of Nonnative Speakers of
English in the Field of TESOL, TESOL, 2006). TESOL International also has a Non Native English
Speaker Teachers Interest Section (NNEST-IS) which addresses issues related to the professional
development of NNESTs.
Such initiative needs to get further support from other professional organizations in other
countries such as TEFLIN (Indonesia), Braz-TESOL (Brazil), etc. Taking actions when discriminatory
practices are found, informing schools on the strengths of NNESTs, encouraging research,
publications, and presentations on the role of NNESTs, are some actions that can be considered by
these professional associations in our field.
Teacher training programs should also play a leading role in challenging and changing pre-service
and in-service teachers’ perspectives towards NNESTs and NESTs. An introduction to the rise in
NNESTs movement, the role of English as an International Language (EIL) and its pedagogical
implications should be included in teacher training programs.
To give impact to the society, pre-service or in-service teachers who enroll in teacher education
programs can be assigned to publish an opinion essay about equality, attend an advocacy campaign
and publish a comprehensive report about it, or develop a comic strips or a short video discussing
native speakerism to be published via social media. An example of a comic strip developed by our
students is available via http://bit.ly/2LjbMq9. For more classroom ideas, teachers or teacher
educators can visit TEFL Equity Advocates’ website (http://teflequityadvocates.com/) or refer to
Matsuda’s Preparing teachers to teach English as an international language (2017) and Floris’
Introducing English as an international language (EIL) to pre-service teachers in a World Englishes
course (2014).
Such comprehensive training programs will hopefully remind non-native speakers about their
potentials, increase their confidence to become English teachers, and motivate them to see NESTs
as their equal partners, not their superiors, in the language teaching profession.
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Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
School Administrators
School administrators should provide working environments that value and promote equality.
Teacher recruitment should be based on education credentials, not the nationality or the place of
birth of the applicants. All language teachers should be encouraged to continuously develop their
professionalism, for example by attending seminars, joining professional organizations, enrolling
for graduate studies, etc. Regular meetings with program administrators and colleagues are also
necessary to discuss general issues, to voice concerns, fears and questions in teachers’ day-to-day-
teaching. Mentoring and evaluation systems are also necessary as the systems provide feedback
about which skills or competency that language teachers need to ‘polish’ or to improve.
It might also be a good idea for the school administrators to employ teachers coming from the
inner, outer and expanding circles. By having teachers coming from various parts of the world,
students can experience the diversity of English and will have to use English to communicate with
people coming from different origins. This mirrors what English speakers do or experience in their
daily lives.
In responding to parents’ and students’ questions about the employment of language teachers, it
might be a good idea for program administrators to introduce all language teachers at the
beginning of the school year. The introduction should focus on the teachers’ educational
background, seminars/workshops attended, academic achievements, current and future educational
projects, etc.
Maum (2002) believes that such a policy would shift the emphasis in hiring policy from who the job
candidates are (i.e. native or non-native speakers) to what they are (i.e. qualified English teachers).
The Center for English as a Lingua Franca (CELF) of Tamagawa University in Tokyo, Japan might be
one role model for schools or courses that wish to promote equality for NNESTs and NESTs (see
Floris, 2016).
Classroom Teachers
Many students prefer native speaker teachers. This might be due to students’ lack of knowledge on
EIL, native speakerism, how languages should be taught, and what a good language teacher is
(Reis, 2011). Classroom teachers should introduce their students to non-native speakers of English
whose language is both intelligible and acceptable despite the fact that they do not speak the
native speaker variety. This, in the long run, will help educate the students that English does not
belong to native-speakers only.
Teachers can use online videos, audio recordings, TV programs to provide systematic exposure to
various Englishes spoken by natives and non-natives. Teachers might ask their students to visit The
International Dialects of English Archive or Channel News Asia’s Live TV to listen to or watch non-
native speakers who use English to communicate their thoughts or to share the news with other
English speakers from different first language backgrounds.
Social media or teleconference applications such as Skype in Classroom and Facebook also provide
features that enable students to communicate with other English speakers. By communicating and
interacting with English speakers outside their classrooms/schools, students will learn that being
native or non-native is not important in communication.
The Internet also provides millions of reading texts written by non-native English speakers. News
written in English published in Bangkok Post or The Nation (Pakistan) can be used to show how
English writers who might not be originated from the inner circle countries can publish good
writings.
Classroom teachers also have numerous opportunities to inform their students that a good
language teacher is not associated with his/her nationality. Topics such as “My Favorite English
Teacher” or “How I Learn English” can be discussed in any English classrooms; and the discussions
can further continue with the teachers’ explanation on the characteristics of a good language
teacher or techniques to learn and improve English proficiency.
Researchers
More studies on the issue of native speakerism should be further explored. Topics may include
particular stakeholder’s reasons for choosing NESTs/NNESTs, or how NNESTs deal with inequality in
their workplace. It is also interesting to study how teacher associations or school administrators
create a sustainable system to deal with native speakerism and to promote the value of NNESTs.
An example is Crossroads Café, a TV drama that featured Romanian, Mexican, Chinese and Egyptian
characters who stayed in the United States and had to deal with the issues of multi-ethnicity,
culture shock, communicative misunderstanding, etc. During the show’s breaks, there were
informative segments Cultural Clips and Word Play segments in which various accented speeches,
English varieties, or ways of living were highlighted by the narrators. In Korea, this TV program was
broadcast by EBS (Korean Educational Broadcasting Station) and had more than 50,000 regular
audience; 70% of them were not involved in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT) (Shim,
1998). Such a program can help familiarize the community to the existence of EIL and good non-
native English speakers and enlighten those who are not well-informed about recent developments
of English.
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Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
There are also some websites, blogs, or Facebook groups that have been trying to enter the public’s
consciousness. NNEST of the Month, TEFL Equity Advocates, and Non-native English Teachers
Facebook group for example, have been promoting equal employment opportunities, sharing
teaching tips or experiences of NNESTs around the world, and providing spaces to leave comments
or feedback. Social media can bring together teachers and other professionals from different places
to build network, exchange resources, speak out against discrimination, and increase the presence
of NNESTs for a global community.
Obviously, all English language teachers need to have a reasonably high level of proficiency in
English to carry out their teaching and to serve as a model of competent users of English
(Renandya et.al., 2018). This, according to Canale and Swain (1980), includes grammatical
competence, sociolinguistic competence, and strategic competence. Grammatical competence
involves knowledge of vocabulary, grammar rules, word formation, sentence formation,
pronunciation, and spelling.
This competence refers to one’s ability to use the language correctly. Sociolinguistic competence
deals with appropriacy in using language. It refers to one’s ability to use the language correctly and
appropriately in specific social setting or situation. Speakers with high sociolinguistic competence
understand that the form, style, degree of politeness of language used at a job interview, for
example, are different from the ones used for teaching children. Finally, strategic competence
refers to strategies for effective communication especially when communication breakdowns occur.
Sometimes problems arise in the communication process although the speakers have good
knowledge of grammar and vocabulary. Strategies such paraphrasing, asking for repetition,
guessing, etc are needed when speakers get stuck in conveying their ideas, asking for permissions,
etc.
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Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
Different schools and countries might have different policies about the required level of teacher’s
language competency. In Hong Kong, for example, the required minimum level of teacher’s
proficiency was equivalent to IELTS 7 (Renandya et.al, 2018); while in Malaysia, the required level
is C1 of The Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) (Lee, June 2019).
Though advanced language proficiency is essential, this alone is insufficient. Teachers also need to
be aware about the, “variation in the use of English on a grammatical, semantic, pragmatic, and
discourse level” (McKay, 2018, p. 4), and they need to develop sociolinguistic competence or an
ability to use the language appropriately (2018). Strategic competence is also important as it
serves to, “repair breakdowns in communication, clarify meaning, or request further information”
(2018, pp. 4-5), especially in situations where misunderstandings occur because of lack of
knowledge and skills in English or because of cultural differences among the speakers. Both
sociolinguistic and strategic competence are essential and should be viewed as integral
components in addition to the language competence of teachers.
Besides language proficiency, teachers of English also need solid disciplinary and content
knowledge (Doğançay-Aktuna and Hardman, 2018). Disciplinary knowledge refers to deep
understanding, “about the nature of language, language learning, and language teaching” (2018, p.
1) and pedagogical content knowledge is knowledge of, “practical teaching skills/strategies that
they can use to make their teaching contextually appropriate and effective” (2018, p.1). In the era
of English as an international language, teachers need to be able to use their disciplinary and
content knowledge to develop teaching methods that cater to the needs of various uses, users, and
contexts of English. In other words, “teachers need to be able to undertake careful needs
assessment of their students, set realistic teaching goals, determine the most effective means for
helping students achieve these goals—whether it be through clearly defined tasks, pattern practice,
or communicative exchanges—and finally assess students’ achievement of the stated teaching
objectives” (McKay, 2018, p. 5).
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Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
Today’s English teachers also need to take on EIL-specific roles when teaching their students.
Renandya (2012) for example, suggests that teachers need to take on such roles as advocate of
World Englishes, promoter of multilingualism and multiculturalism, critical textbook user or writer,
and critical user of teaching methodology. These roles might be different from what we had in the
past. This is because the teaching of English is now being taught in a great variety of learning
contexts for learners living in various school/course settings that may require new concepts of the
appropriate role of teachers.
Brown (2012, p. 151) writes that a good language teacher today should also possess a skill set that
would help them become an effective EIL teacher. Some of these are listed below:
Interestingly, unlike their NEST counterparts, qualified NNESTs seem to already possess the skill set
above. We suggest they should capitalize on this and turn it to their advantage.
Conclusion
For many people, NESTs are often perceived as superior to NNESTs. This omnipresent, yet
unfounded, belief often leads to discriminatory practices against the local NNESTs. In today’s
globalized world, however, being a native or a non-native teacher should not really matter.
Teachers should be judged on the basis of their academic qualifications, professional competence
and experience, not their native/non-native status.
We urge ELT professionals and scholars to take more active and proactive roles to challenge this
misperception. It may take some time to accept the fact that professionally qualified NNESTs can be
as good as (or even better than) equally qualified NESTs, but we feel it is time worth spending. And
if we work together, the process can be less daunting and the goal may be achieved in a much
shorter time.
This paper was originally published in Floris, F.D., & Renandya, W.A.
(2020). Promoting the Value of Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers.
PASAA, 59(1), 1-19.
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Value of Non-Native English Speaking Teachers
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