Foreign students perceptions of a nonnative speaker lecturer of english at a british university. While the native non native speaker polemic seems to have abated, research on the special role played by non native teachers in the teachinglearning operation has been gaining ground. Also, a good teacher will introduce their students to many different accents, and varieties of english. Tefl advice from a non native english teacher teaching. The purpose of this study was to investigate taiwanese english as a foreign language efl students perceptions and preferences toward native englishspeaking teachersnests and nonnative englishspeaking teachers nnests who hold a degree from a country where english is the dominant language through addressing the differences of their english instruction. How are nonnativeenglishspeaking teachers perceived by. You can navigate through the website using the native american chart, the native american map. In order to draw an effective comparison between the responses from nonnative and native. While this is a good rule for teaching a language, this approach can be frustrating for students especially those who are older and beginners.
More than 20 years ago, in the early 1990s, there was a lot of discussion about the position of teachers of english who were either native or non native speakers of the language. This new, updated edition of a classic work uses the content of the earlier editions as a basis for. They also tend to differ in terms of teaching behaviours. As it was said before, nonnative teachers have moved through the process of learning the language and they are familiar with the difficulties that the learners are mostly likely to encounter. It doesnt matter at the lowest levels but once a student progresses into the intermediate level it is very useful to them to be taught by a native speaker or.
Medgyes 1994 has highlighted the following differences between them. Pdf the non native teacher prateet baskota academia. Three years later, in 1994, peter medgyes, a reader at eotvos lorand uni versity in budapest and native speaker of hungarian, published the nonnative. Being native or nonnative is not the essential point because.
A thoughtful article by andrew woodbury about nonnative speaker v nativespeaker english teachers caused an enormous comment thread when it was posted on teaching english british councils facebook page this week commenters were attacking and defending both sides of the native speakernonnative speaker teacher argument. Nonnative teachers attitudes towards english as a lingua. This is probably the strongest argument against studying with a nonnative but is balanced by the teachers knowledge of the students mother tongue and professional ability nonnative teachers are often wellqualified. I am so happy and proud to have this opportunity especially because i have admired your work. However, in addition to a growing number of articles 2, only one fulllength book, entitled the nonnative teacher medgyes, 1994, has been written on the subject. His main professional interests lie in teacher education, language policy and humour research. As their tutor, i feel so sorry for them and really want to help them. Challenges faced by nonnative teachers in teaching english to nonnative learners implication of students and teachers perceptions of native and nonnative speaking teachers in teaching nonnative learners data analysis findings cultural orientation 32% t agreed feeling. This study analyzes 58 nonnative preservice elementary school english teachers narratives about their pronunciation learning and teaching. As most of us acknowledge, nonnative speakers of english nns often have problem with pronunciation. Despite the many advantages that a teacher sharing the students mt can bring, native speakers are always preferred when it comes to hiring. It is often helpful for students to be able to ask questions in their. However, in addition to a growing number of articles 2, only one fulllength book, entitled the non native teacher medgyes, 1994, has been written on the subject.
Out of all the countries in southeast asia, cambodia is the easiest place to find a job teaching english. Nonnative english speakers can provide a model of english as the lingua franca, and will have studied correct pronunciation models idiomatic english. Phil in english education kathmandu university 1994 doctor of. While many learners would like to speak idiomatic english, the fact is that most of the english conversation they will have and should have will be in nonidiomatic standard english. Indeed, i would contend that a deficient command of english may even have hidden advantages. Master of arts english as a second language, december 2004, 89 pp. Yet teachers who are nonnative speakers can bring a lot to the classroom. So, if a non native teacher manages and directs his qualities well enough, he can move ahead of his native counterparts. Specialist website for english language teaching elt, english as a foreign. How difficult was it to find a job as a non native english teacher. A comparison of these two kinds of teachers is made following medgyes 3 dimensional framework. Its easier for a whiteskinned person to get a job without qualifications or skills than someone who was born and raised in australia but his parents were vietnamese. The focus shifts in part ii from the speaker in general to the nonnative teacher of english. The nonnative teacher elt paperback august 1, 1999 by peter medgyes author see all formats and editions hide other formats and editions.
Professor medgyes, first of all i would like to thank you for this interview. Find the job you are seeking among the best job offers on trovit. Native and non native english speaking eslefl teachers. Selfperception of nonnative speaker teacher of english. Can you mention any advantages of being a non native teacher in a private school. I also argue that, in elt, native and non nativespeaking teachers reveal considerable differences in their teaching behaviour and that most of the discrepancies. It sparks discussion and understanding among 4 th through 12 th grade students about the experiences of navigating the two worlds of native and nonnative life, including racism that contributes. The other trend attempts to get rid of the native speaker versus nonnative speaker division.
Pdf among the trends which have recently emerged in elt, two are challenged in this article. This paper reports on case studies of three nonnative english speaker teachers who teach english as a second language esl to adults in australia. Your help will be highly appreciated and this will help me a lot for the sake of my nns students future. Challenges faced by nonnative teachers in teaching english. The book is divided into six parts, each subdivided into two chapters.
Cambodias requirements are much less strict than its neighbors. Peter medgyes is a hungarian teacher trainer, academic, and prolific author. Teachers selfefficacy beliefs and their english language. Revisits the issue of the native versus the nonnative speaker in the area of english language teaching. The nonnative english speaking eflesl teachers selfimage. On the other hand, nonnative speaker teachers of english non nests are often aware of their own language gaps and the fact that they cannot possibly.
In most school systems, the immersion method is not used to teach english but the goal of esl teachers should be to speak english in the classroom whenever possible. While the nativenonnative speaker polemic seems to have abated, research on the special role played by nonnative teachers in the teachinglearning operation has been gaining ground. Certain varieties of english spoken by native speakers in countries in the centre phillipson, 1992, such as general american and received pronunciation, are usually considered to be the model in efl contexts tanabe, 2003. Native englishspeaking teachers versus nonnative english. The main goal was to examine the teaching behavior of two groups of teachers, native and nonnative, who have exhibited differences not only in terms of their language backgrounds, but also in terms of their qualifications and relevant teaching experience. Robert phillipson coined the term native speaker fallacy to suggest that the ideal teacher is a native speaker, somebody with native speaker proficiency in english who can serve as a. Can you tell me, what are the problems areas that faced by them. Here is where medgyes displays his original views and findings, and especially in the chapter on the bright side of being a non native he offers information and tools that may help teachers overcome their inferiority complex and start establishing their own identity as professionally competent non native teachers of english. There are certainly challenges a tesol teacher faces when teaching english.
The original edition won first prize for methodology books in the english speaking unions duke of edingburgh english language book competition in 1995. Successful teaching is so much more than just being native. Inservice teacher development, nonnative english teachers, novice teachers, teacher education programmes. As an american student none of my spanish or french teachers have been native speakers. Based on extensive research, the updated third edition of the non native teacher, by peter medgyes, is a very insightful book, which deals with these and many of the other nightmares that both nests and non nests experience throughout their careers. The government does not require a tefl, fouryear college degree, or. However, there is always a danger that the nonnative teacher will pass on his or her mistakes to the student. Perceptions of nonnative speaking students in a graduate tesol program. Native and nonnative teachers differ in level of l2 competence.
Exploring nonnative english speaker teachers classroom. It does not follow from this, however, that non native speaking teachers are by definition less efficient. In the non native teacher peter medgyes, a hungarian, wrote about the relative advantages and disadvantages, problems and insights, of both groups. Up to 70 per cent of all jobs advertised on the biggest job search engine for english teachers are for nests yes, i have counted. Check out this blog post article to learn where you can find additional free resources for your native american unit. The nonnative speaker teacher oxford academic journals. The nativenonnative issue would not be a selection criterion provided the nonnativespeaking efl teacher was a highly proficient speaker of english. Studies that have looked at language choices of nonnative speaker teachers are limited, with the focus being on teacher perceptions of government policies such as the south korean governments tete foreign language policy, and whether or not teachers can effectively teach according to such policies kim, 2002, as cited in kang, 2008. Everyday native is the first collaborative teachers resource created by nonnatives and native americans to focus on the daily lives of native youth. First, participants did not have the same attitude toward their roles as nonnative english speakers regarding pronunciation learning and teaching.
He was a founding director of the centre for english teacher training at elte. Jenks, 2012, including the use of elf in the teaching of pronunciation, grammar, in elt curriculum development, in teacher training and in culture e. If an instructors speech does not match this native model, students and their parents, as well as teachers themselves. Medgyes and others published when the teacher is a nonnative speaker find, read and cite all the research you need on. The aim of this article is to analyze their differences in order to prove that nonnative teachers have some advantages which should be taken into account.
At the same time, nonnative speaker efl teachers can pave the way. In this paper, the roles of native speaker ns and nonnative speaker nns teachers, including japanese, are reconsidered from a perspective of english. The recent trend along with the implementation of the revised course of education has endowed alts assistant language teacher with even more significant roles in language education in japan. But for a nonnative english speaker teacher nnest, its a different story.
It sets out to show that while there are differences in the teachers backgrounds, there are also similarities which derive from their nonnative status, and from the fact that they are highlevel bilinguals of english and at least one other. A history of research on nonnative speaker english teachers. This book examines the differences in teaching attitudes between teachers of english who are native speakers and those who are nonnative speakers, and makes a realistic. Medgyes 1994 and braine 1999, it took almost ten years for new discussions to emerge from establishments such as the nonnative english speakers caucus in the teachers of english to speakers of other languages tesol organization in 2003 in favor of the nonnative english speaker teachers nnest. In the third chapter a teachercentred approach, medgyes argues that, even in an era of learnercentredness, the teacher holds the key position, and discusses the respective roles and responsibilities in the power relationship between them and. Perceptions of nonnative students in a graduate tesol program. Nativespeaker english teacher or nonnative which is. If youre a native english speaker teacher nest then youll have seen an abundance of teaching opportunities out there. Adult esl students perceptions of native and nonnative english speaking teachers. In when the teacher is a nonnative speaker medgyes examines the differences in teaching behavior between native and nonnative teachers of english, and. Nonnative preservice english teachers narratives about. The term was coined to highlight the dichotomy between native englishspeaking teachers nest and nonnative englishspeaking teachers nnest issues related to nnests attract the attention. The problems that are faced by nonnative speakers of english. The present study adopts the terms native and nonnative because the distinction between them is the primary.