Native Versus Non-Native Teachers of English - Essay Example

Native or non-native English speaker teacher of English Name Institution Date English speaking languages English is a language with great influence globally. It is taught widely all over the world under different conditions and rules. In developed countries, English teaching has evolved in two broad directions. This include for use in instruction of the foreign people intending to live in the country and for the advancement of the knowledge of the people living in the country. Teaching English as a language has followed distinct training qualifications. It has formed a separate professional association, which is a nongovernmental organization geared in seeking to further professional knowledge of interested group of individuals and for public interest. These two broad arms have different funding structures which influences the way English as a language is taught in schools and in colleges. It also influence the way schools are established. Teaching English as a language is important in achieving the goal of cross-cultural and Trans cultural communication which is important in fulfilling the demands of people who want to improve their English proficiency (Anchimbe, 2006). English as a foreign language (EFL) courses indicates the use of English language in a non- English speaking region. Study can occur in the home country of the students as part of the curriculum EFL courses are taken to pass an exam or as a necessity in ones education. It may be part of the school curriculum or as part of the foreign language. Teachers of EFL generally assume that the student learning English are literate as they use it as their mother tongue. ESL is learnt to function in the country as a necessity to function in the day-to-day communication. Language teachers often assume that difficulties that learners face in English are because of the degree of variation between native countries. Most people who teach English are native English speakers. They are schoolteachers and hold relevant teaching qualification in their countries. Problems exist because of poor qualifications of the teachers and poor training provided by institutions. Speaking the right English is important in the advancement of careers. Studies have shown that most people who have an advanced knowledge in English are able to advance in their careers. Many factors affect the level of delivery when teaching English language these factors include the cultural difference between the teacher and students, the socio economic background and the communicative power of the teacher. The teacher has to have a past teaching experience in order to qualify to be the best teacher for ESL. The teachers' attitude affects the level of performance of students. Teachers should be optimistic, and they should exercise patience on the students learning English as a foreign language as it is not an easy task (Mahboob, 2006, p.63). There are stereotypes that take for granted that native speakers are the best person to teach English. This assumption has left little room for the non-native teachers. The following examples are able to show that the non-native teaches have some advantages over the native teachers. Attitudes necessary for an English teacher should be a positive attitude that will encourage students to learn English more efficiently and effectively. Pessimistic attitude that is prevalent in some teachers is not acceptable and it makes the learning process difficult for the ESL students, as they will tend to conclude that English language is difficult (Phillipson, 1992, p.14). Is a native English teacher better Most people believe that English- native speaker a make ideal English teacher compare to others. They believe that they make good English teachers in ELT and EFL as well as ESL. In the beginning, the native English speakers were taken as the automatic English teacher. The entire teacher looked up to the native English teachers for advices in the complex questions. Having Native English teachers in an institution is projected as a commercial instrument to attract more English language learners. In advertisements, there are many advertisements that on English course that emphasize that the teachers that are needed have to be native English speakers. This implies that there is a very special feature that distinct the native English speaker from the other teachers. Native English teachers are used to gain more income for the institution. Native English speaking teachers are preferred by learners since they have a more structured approach of teaching the target language grammar and are better in dealing with the grammatical difficulties, which are essential in learning the language. They are more perceptive about the language difficulties. The native teachers are more cognizant of the constraints of the national curriculum and are, therefore, more adapted to teach English language (Samimy & Brutt-Griffer, 1999, p. 132). They are more aware of the stringent examinations requirements, which are welcomed by ESL students. In a number of third- world countries, there is a shortage of EFL teachers and, therefore, there is an increased case of non-native teachers teaching who are less proficient in English language. They have difficulty in writing complex sentences, and they make many grammatical errors. Most of them claim that that is not their fault, as they do not have money or time to improve their English. This does not give them any chance to teach English language (Medgyes, 1994, p.78). In some countries teacher, training is limited to a narrow scope of handling subjects. The native teachers are more advantaged as they will enjoy the privileges of having a wider variety of approach when teaching. Since English is their first language, they will look for ways of ensuring that they give the best content for the students. From previous research results, it is found that the students generally prefer the native teachers to the non-native teachers as they strongly agree that the native teachers' have a casual way of teaching the English language, and they have wider varieties of activities in class. Native- speaking teachers are more advantaged in term of pronunciation and in terms of cultural knowledge. Native- speaking teachers are better grounded with a metaphorical base of their language, and this makes information transfer and communication during teaching easy for them. This is important when teaching an ESL class since the ability to communicate is an important requirement for students. A larger number of native teachers have learnt another language and have a better experience on the problems that are faced when learning a language. In learning other language, they are more exposed to different methodologies that are used in learning and, therefore, they stand at a better position to compare and identify the beat method of approach. This makes them stand on the same position as the non-native English-speaking teachers as they are also experience in the study of a second language. They will be in a better position to understand the needs of the ESL students (Burchfield, 1992). English courses taught by the native English teachers are more expensive as compared to the others. This shows that the native English teachers are more advanced and are more experienced compared to the other teachers. It posits in a higher position than any English course taught by non-native speakers. Most people believe that cheap is expensive and, therefore, most of the students prefer to be taught by the native teachers. They have a notion that they will understand more the English language and, therefore, earn the trust of the students. Native English teachers are perceived to be the best compared to others because of the power of originality. What attracts people to these teachers is their originality. They believe that the native-speaking teachers can be able to provide a valid and steady judgment in English, as it is their own language. They are capable of detecting grammatical errors and expressions in their own language regardless of whether they are in a position to explain what they are ill formed. When research analysis is done on the native English speakers, they are found to be rudimentary with better qualifications when compared with the non-native teachers. This is associated with the original English comprehension that is inherent in them. They have a greater ability to demonstrate a greater understanding of the fluency and appropriate language. They have better pronunciations, and they appreciate more the cultural connections of the English language. It is generally considered that the Excellency in English language proficiency is strongly related to excellence in speaking English language. Native English speakers have not only good pronunciation of English words but also they are more preferred by learners. Pronunciation is important for students taking ESL courses, as the marking of the oral examination requires that you pronounce correctly the words. Most non-native English teachers have as a problem in pronunciation yet it is a very necessary requirement. Most non-native English speakers have fear of using language that they have to teach. Due to this fear, they tend to be pessimistic and aggressive. They have a linguistic insecurity, which provokes them to have a prescriptive and intolerable attitude. The pessimistic type of the teachers tends to be obsessed with grammatical errors, and they pay little attention to pronunciation and vocabulary. They pay no attention to linguistic appropriateness. They tend to believe that no one can learn a language without learning its grammar. Non-native speaking teachers are both teachers and learner at the same time. They are under a lot of pressure to learn other things. Native teachers stand a better chance than the non-native teachers do since they already have English background. Non-native teachers are less commitment and they are handicapped when it comes to handling and the use of English. The most frequent areas where they lack incompetence are in the fluency in of the English language and vocabulary use. Native- speaking teachers are more natural with the language and they make the language more real. They believe that the communication is more important unlike the non-native teachers who tend to lean more on the accuracy of the spoken language. However despite all those believes, there is no scientific validation of the allegations. ELT warns against over reliance of English learners on the native speakers. A teacher is not merely qualified to teach a language because it is his native language. ELT warns against the use of vernacular to teach English language in education systems. In some countries, it is believed that the beat teacher is the one that has a native speaking competence in the foreign language and should come from the same linguistic background with the learners. This means that he has knowledge of the differences that are existent between the languages. In this case, non-native English teachers can make good teachers like the native speakers with their obtained competence. Most native English teachers enter the classroom with cultural patterns that they have adopted from their home countries. For example, some cultural norms such as the students being quiet unless the teacher asks questions is a culture that has been adopted and used in most of the Asian countries. In relation to the standardization of the English language taught and use in teaching, there are doubts in this tenet. Native teachers without professional background have no standard. While the native speaker maybe deemed ideal for ELT, it is still very far to say that they are far from fallacy. This is because most native English speakers are also speakers of some nonstandard varieties of languages. They have more than one language that they refer to as mother tongue. Non-native English speaking teachers are employed based on their experience in teaching ESL and based on their professional background. Professional background is important in determining and dealing with the challenges that are faced by the ESL students (Reves & Medgyes, 1994, p.354). Being a native speaker is not a guarantee for excellence in communication in English. Communication in itself is much more dormant than the words used in the process of communication. In the case, of a teacher and a learner who have different cultural background there will be an inevitable cultural distance in their communication. There is a large infrastructure of social and cultural components that determine what has to be said and how it should be said. Non native English speaking teachers are effective guide for ESL students in relation to the social and cultural aspects of language learning. Being ESL student it involves more than just acquiring language skills such as grammar, speaking and reading. For most of the ESL students, it requires learning about a country and being in a position to overcome cultural shock. It also involves the mechanisms that are needed by them in order to fit into the foreign cultural peer groups. Native English speaker’s background enables them to have the ability to address many issues related to the ESL holistic and emphatically (Seidlhofer, 1996, p.79). Being an ESL student means that most of their time you will be alone and most of the time you will be considered as a social inept by the native peers. Teachers who have a firsthand experience in these challenges are preferred more than the native teachers who have no experience. Considering grammatical perspective, native domains too have poor and inefficient speakers within them. Error analysis in linguistics originated from the study of the native English speakers and not non-native speakers. This indicates that the native English speakers are also bound to make mistakes. The mistakes that are made by the native speakers are hard to manage since they have grown up knowing that the errors are correct. ELT exertions that are based on the native speakers origins without solid ELT training is not safe from the errors associated with language transmissions. Non-native English teachers are able to translate words from the local language for the students. They are aware of the systems in place that are existing in the country and they are aware of when to change things. They bond easily with the students as they are more aware of what motivates and what does not motivate the students (Coppieters, 1987, p.547). Considering the rules of correctness of the English language usage, the language that is used has to be very correct. English language is so complex such that being a native speaker does not guarantee that one is a proficient speaker. Proficiency comes with the training and experience in the language. Other factors determine the proficiency of the language. This include; language change or revolution, dialect variations and the differences in the socio cultural contexts. There are many variations the type of English that is used beyond the borders of the English speaking countries. This is because of the differences that exist in the spellings and the grammatical errors. Learning English with people who are geographically and culturally fitted seems more appropriate for ELT learners. Having native teachers with cultural background differences will create a cultural distance that can impede the absorption of English knowledge. This indicates that universal norms that guard English language teaching will no longer be applicable globally in teaching ESL. ESL students need to appreciate the fact that they are going to embrace different cultural diversities (Kachru & Nelson, 1996, p.76). Most people with different purposes of learning nationally and local intelligence are the major targets of ESL. These people learn this language to obtain the information of the local communities that they are going to live with them. Native English teachers are not likely to place teachers in the shoes of the learners. Most ESL students are planning to go and study in foreign countries need to have knowledge in the society that is going to be their homes. This is unless the teachers have had an opportunity to learn a foreign language. If not the case, they might never have to understand the underlying difficulties that face the students. Non-native teachers are more aware of these challenges and therefore, are much better. They are better at predicting the potential linguistic problems that a student might face. As a pendulum of current trends in this field, a good ESL teacher is the one who considers variations that are present in English language and are also able to identify the alerts and the status quo of the changes. He should be able to expose these changes to the students because there is no language that can be understood outside its context and outside the society in which it is spoken. Because English is spoken not only by the whites but also by many ethnic groups, it is important that the definition of proper English should be geared to cover all this variations. Exposing ESL students to different 'English's 'will be more beneficial to them as they will finish their course and may enter the university and be non native instructors. Non-native speaking teachers will encourage the learners whom they do not share the same mother tongue they have the knowledge on some of the challenges and tribulations that are associated with learning the target language. When non-native speaking teachers have multilingual classes, they take English as an international language and therefore they set a very ample environment for learning English. ESL student will finish their course and work in a society full of people with different ethnic, linguistic backgrounds and cultural believes (Janopoulos, 1992, p.12). Non-native speakers serve as imitable models of the successful English learner. If all the English teachers were native, the learner will believe that one has to be a native speaker to qualify to be an English teacher. Non-native teachers are successful learners that act as models for the other students. These teachers use their learning experience in a more reflective way to ensure that the students can handle the challenges that he faced in the same way. A non-native speaker is an informant, and he is a perfect language model. He has developed learning skills, which are beneficial to him and to the students. Native- speaking teachers may not have these skills (Edge, 1988, p.155). Non-native teachers may provide to student on ESL with more information about English language. They are able to do so since they have learnt how English language works during their learning process. They were once ESL students and their experience will be of greater advantage. This makes them better informants and instructor than their native speaking colleagues. Native speaking English teachers may not understand the internal mechanisms that are underlying the acquisition of a second language since their form of acquisition was unconscious (Medgyes, 1986, p.109). They are able to anticipate the underlying language difficulties. It is known form research that error occurs when two languages are similar where as positive transfer of knowledge occurs when two languages are different. Non-native English speaking teachers are more empathetic to the learners. This is associated with the reason that they were once students and they understand the challenges that the students face in the process of studying English as a foreign language. They can be able to give them advice and instructions that are necessary for them. They are more aware of their needs and problems as they are still struggling with the mastery of the language. Since they are still struggling with the mastery of English language, it makes them to be more sensitive and more lenient and, therefore, they are more preferred to the others. They form positive relations among the students due to their negative background. For adults who are pursuing and ESL course with low English proficiency, they are found to ask questions freely, which is essential in the learning process. It is so unfortunate that some countries will prefer to hire unqualified native speakers instead of qualified, non native English speaking teachers (Gass, 1983, p.77). Conclusion To sum up, are native speakers’ better English teachers than the non native speakers? The answer is negative. This is because no one by definition is better than the other. What makes one better depends on the teaching situation and the particular qualification of the teacher. However, it is more appropriate to have a good balancing between the type of teachers: non native teachers and native teachers. The existence of the notion that the native are better teachers is still prevalent. An ideal school is the one that has the balance between the native and the non-native English teachers. From the discussion, above it is wrong to say that native teachers are better than the non native since above points have revealed that they are much better than them. What is at stake for ESL is the efficiency and effectiveness in teaching English as a language and not the kind of the teacher who teaches the language? Teaching comprehension and cultural adjustment of the teachers affects the quality of English taught in schools and colleges (Phillipson, 1992, p.67). To be fluent and excellent in English, it is necessary that an individual does not have to be native English speaker. With appropriate skills and comprehension, non-native teachers can perform better than the native speakers can. In conclusion, non-native teachers can be much better than native speakers can. Any kind of discrimination should be avoided in the teaching of ESL and EFL in institutions and colleges. In some countries, this discrimination is more prevalent such that the teachers that are teaching English are exclusively native speakers. Most private institutions pay more attention to the word native speaking without paying attention to the academic qualification of the native- speaking teachers, as well as the experience that they have. Employers are more concerned with language proficiency of the teachers overlooking their teaching abilities. Non-native English speaking teachers have a higher capacity to teach English compared to the natives who are more focused on the proficiency of the language. The myth that native English teachers are better than the non-native English teachers will not disappear on its own, and it is the responsibility of the English-speaking teachers and other educators to address this issue. The credibility and competence of the teacher should be attributed to the qualification of the teacher when selecting the best teacher to teach ESL and EFL courses. References Anchimbe, E. A., 2006. “The native-speaker fever in English language teaching (ELT): Pitting pedagogical competence against historical origin.” retrieved on 12.05.2011. from http://www.linguistik-online.de. 29 December 2010 . Burchfield, 1992. Linguistic Imperialism. (Ed). Robert Philipson. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Coppieters, R., 1987. "Competence differences between native and near native speakers." Language, 63(3), 544-573. Edge, J., 1988."Native, speakers and models." JALT Journal 9(2), 153-157. Gass, S., 1983."The development of L2 intuitions." TESOL Quarterly 17(2), 73-91. Janopoulos, M., 1992. "University faculty tolerance of NS and NNS writing errors: A comparison." Journal of Second Language Writing 1(2), 10-21. Kachru, B. & Nelson, L., 1996. World Englishes. Sociolinguistics and language teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, (71-102). Mahboob, A., 2006. “Beyond the Native Speaker in TESOL.” Linguistik online, 63. Medgyes, P., 1986. "Queries from a communicative teacher." ELT Journal 40(2), 107- 112. Medgyes, P., 1994. The Non-native Teacher. London: Macmillan. Phillipson, R., 1992. ELT: the native speaker’s burden? ELT Journal, 46(1), 12-18. Reves, T., & Medgyes, P., 1994. The Non-native English Speaking EFL/ESL Teacher’s Self- image. An International Survey, System, 22(3), 353-367. Samimy, K. K., & Brutt-Griffer, J., 1999. To Be a Native or Non-Native Speaker: Perceptions of “Non-Native” Students in a Graduate TESOL Program, In Non-Native Educators in English Language Teaching, 127-144. Seidlhofer, B., 1996. “It is and undulating feeling”. The importance of being a non-native teacher of English, VIEWS, 5, 63-80. Read More