Native English Teachers - Essay Example

It has been seen that there are problems with the varying standards for native speakers teaching in higher education in foreign countries. The main issue is the acceptance of a criteria for standardization and qualifications necessary for teaching English. Further, once the standards are established, there is a need to define a process for assessing the English teachers' performance and qualifications. Also, the English teachers' professional growth and career development are needed to be defined and actively pursued by the school authorities.

The current study is therefore aimed at evaluating the standards and qualifications of English Teachers and in assessing what are the current and future gaps in qualifications and requirements. Native English speakers are increasingly facing challenges due to the globalization of the language. English is no longer one language or a language owned by one country alone. With the advent of globalization and media liberalization across the world, English has become a language of communication for people with different mother tongues and dialects (Burns, 2005).

English is used not only with different accents but with innumerous nuances and local additions to it. Under the circumstances, there is a need for the Native English teachers to move away from the mindset of being a simply a teacher of the language to become some one who himself learns the concepts and traditions of the local people. Thus, an immediate requirement for the Native English teacher trainings is to include content on local usage of English, as well as on the local cultural and social environment.

This requirement can however be met only by the consent of the authorities who develop and sanction training and content material for the English teachers, and this may require time spent on obtaining field data or in evaluating the scope of such an approach. However, there is another approach that the teachers themselves can follow in order to be able to teach better in a global educational environment. This is by adopting a reflective approach to teaching instead of using a