Is a Native Speaker the Best Teacher?

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Table of Contents

Outline
Introduction
Native teacher advantages &disadvantages
Non-native advantages & disadvantages
Argument for non-native superiority
Experiences of learning a second language
Conclusion
References

Outline

International Corporation has led to assimilation and integration of different cultures into other countries. It is currently normal to find a non-resident working comfortably in a foreign nation. This is motivated by different experiences and skills that may be helpful in a certain organisation.

However, one area has not appreciated the services of non-natives. Despite their commendable services in other employment sectors, non-native speakers have not been preferred to teach English language especially to the natives.

This is mainly due to their accent that may interfere with the communication skills of the learners. Apart from influence of accent, other qualities possessed by these teachers qualify them to offer commendable services to students.

Introduction

Teaching languages in institutions is a critical issue that has been a source of debate on the choice of an English teacher. In selecting a teacher for a particular subject, the administration mainly considers qualifications and experience of the teacher and his or her capability to handle the subject.

Other issues like race and cultural background are insignificant matters. However, when it comes to choice of a language teacher, rules are re-examined to determine whether the teacher is a native speaker or not.

Employing a native speaker is a rule applied in many schools whenever they want to recruit an English teacher. Apart from the necessary academic qualifications, school administration will want to know who among the applicants is a native speaker, and who is not.

From there the non-native speakers are eliminated even if their academic qualifications are better than those of the native applicants.

According to, Phan (2008 pp 24-26), these applicants are not given a chance to express their ability; ‘it is assumed that because of their mother tongues influence they will not be able to deliver quality services to students’

A non-native speaker being denied an opportunity does not only involve the school administration, some administrations who have allowed non-native teachers to handle language classes have received negative response from students who prefer to be taught by a native speaker.

Such an attitude is planted in their minds and they feel that a non-native teacher may not understand their language needs. Some of these students are not ready to listen to the teacher not because of the quality of his or her services but simply because he is non-native speaker.

The discussion below is a critical analysis of both the advantages and disadvantages of a native and non-native language teacher.

Native teacher advantages &disadvantages

Schools and students may prefer a native teacher because he has a deep understanding of the language. Compared to the non-natives who had to learn the language at later stage, a native teacher is used to the language because they have been learning it since they were borne.

Ellis (2002 pp 75-78) enumerates that being native also gives a teacher an advantage of knowing students’ weak areas when learning a language. They will integrate what they went through as they grew up learning the language and the acquired skills about the language that puts them in a better position to handle the real learning issues of their students.

Native teachers are not affected by the accent. Accent is an important aspect of communication that no parent, school or student will desire to compromise. A native teacher will ensure that his or her students are identified by their accent.

A non-native is likely to interfere with it through the pronunciation of words for example; an Italian can easily be distinguished from an American by their accent. A native teacher provides a conducive learning environment for the students who look at him or her as a person they can easily identify with which gives them confidence.

A native teacher will be able to handle a beginner’s class by giving necessary translations to pupils who may not be familiar with some difficult words.

Despite the preferences of a native teacher above, he or she may not always be the best choice for the students due to some reasons. A native teacher takes many things that students are supposed to be taught for granted.

This is because; he or she has mastered the language so much, that it may not be easy to deliver the best services to the students. Some native teachers who are preferred because of their background may not necessarily have teaching skills.

There is a difference between written and spoken English that consideration when teaching. A native teacher may be eloquent yet weak when it comes to the written language.

Native teachers may rely on their experience of speaking the language to teach students rather than using their technical skills. This makes it hard for the students to learn the basic rules of the language that form its foundation.

Non-native advantages & disadvantages

Despite the discrimination that has existed for long against a non-native teacher, he or she is a choice that should be given priority. First, a non-native teacher who has interest in a foreign language reveals how much passion he has for it that he decided to pursue it as a career.

His career is not primarily based on earning a living but also on passion. He will therefore deliver the best services as he encourages the students to love the language passionately. A non-native teacher has a better understanding of the challenges that learners of a language go through due to similar experience he has had, Llurda, (2006 pp 22-25).

Therefore, non-native teacher understands the real areas that learners will face difficulty and help them accordingly. Despite their challenges in accent, non-native teachers are endowed with basic skills required for learning and teaching the language that places them in a better position to teach it effectively.

Students who have difficulty in grasping the language can always be inspired and motivated by their non-native teacher. He will be an example they can look up to and get assurance that if he made it despite his or her background they can also make it.

However, a non-native teacher may not be able to deliver quality services to the students due to a number of weaknesses. His accent may affect the spoken language of students that may make them to loose their identity. For instance, there is a difference between German and American English.

If a pupil of American origin interacts so much with a German English teacher, the pupil will tend to acquire such an accent that may make other people mistake him to be a German. Non-native teachers have a direct influence on the cultural beliefs of the students, in citing examples for sentence construction; a teacher of German origin will site examples as per his background.

This is because of the integration of cultural aspect to the learning process that may make the students learn more of a foreign culture than their own. A non-native teacher may not be preferred for a beginner’s class because; he or she may not be able to translate some English words to the native language for proper understanding.

Most students hold a certain negative attitude towards non-native teachers. Such students may not be convinced that he or she is qualified to teach them properly.

Non-native teachers are at times discriminated because of their background, for instance some African Americans may be despised because of their skin colour. This may intimidate them hence affect the quality of their services to students.

Argument for non-native superiority

When a line is drawn between the qualities of a language teacher, it is clear that a non-native teacher is simply discriminated on attitude ground. A non-native teacher has the skills, knowledge, experience and passion for the language.

When all this attributes are combined together and appreciated in schools, the students are able to get the best learning services of a language, Ellis (2002 pp 93-97). Most schools are afraid of employing non-native teachers because of the response the students will have against them.

This small issue can be solved by the school administration. Denying the teacher chance to teach in a school due to resistance from the students is a factor that has contributed to such discrimination.

It shows the inability of an administration to take control of school affairs and instead giving students such authority. This also shows their weakness in administration by suggesting that they made a wrong choice in their selection procedure.

The school administration should not entertain such resistance of a non-native teacher from their students. Once the teacher has been gauged for quality, students have to be assured that he or she is the best choice that will deliver quality-teaching services.

Most students will resist them because the administration has not given them an assurance of his qualifications. It is the role of the administration to clear such kind of attitudes among students by encouraging them to value a teacher according to his capability.

Despite their background, non-native teachers are trained and qualified to teach English as their second language, in fact most of them have passed through reputable institutions that offer quality skills in the teaching profession.

Denying them the chance to teach due to their background is a suggestion that the teaching skills they acquired did not amount to anything. Gass (2001 pp 20-25) describes a non-native speaker as a person that understands the difficulty of learning a second language yet appreciated it by facing the challenges that came with it.

It is therefore clear that a non-native appreciates a language more than the natives who may take it for granted. This will also reflect on the attitude they will display when teaching it. A non-native speaker is eager to know more about a language.

He or she will therefore not only rely on the skills acquired during training but also have a desire to explore and find out more about certain language commands.

The extra knowledge they acquire will be transmitted to their students. Such privileges may not be granted to students who are taught by native teachers who rely on what they have previously acquired.

It is important for school administrators to understand that there was nobody who was born to teach a language, professionalism is acquired through the skills that have been acquired through education.

A person being born a native does not guarantee them quality teaching skills because; it is the technical knowledge received in their education system that qualifies them for the profession.

Experiences of learning a second language

Learning English as a second language has never been an easy task. The experiences that one may go through in their efforts to be fluent in it are challenging. Most people who had a passion for foreign language gave up on their way because they could not handle the challenges.

Those who managed to pursue it further like non-native speakers were inspired by the passion they had for it. They went through challenges of grasping the very first common words like greetings to complex stages where they had to learn vocabularies, Ellis (2002 pp 88-90).

Non-native speakers have a clear understanding of their second language more than their first one. They not only had to learn the words one by one but also had to practice and express themselves in an accent that is foreign to them.

The most challenging part of it is that they are not only supposed to verbally communicate the language but also know how to express it in writing. Spoken language may be easier to learn when such an association is maintained but the skills of writing it require a lot of dedication and commitment on the part of the learner.

The challenges that learners may face especially when they have to communicate in the language with native speakers may be unbearable to them. It takes courage for one to fumble with words in order to construct a sentence. Such experiences that non-natives go through makes them appreciate the language even more.

As they pursue a teaching career in English as their second language, they do so with the knowledge of the difficulties that a learner may face. They will integrate those challenges with teaching skills they acquired to give students the best, Rubdy (2006 pp33-36).

If students and school administrators knew what such teachers went through and still purposed to pursue the subject to such a level, then they would understand how much experience they have in a language they are not connected to because of their background.

Conclusion

The above analysis shows a different form of discrimination practiced in the education sector. It was a trend practiced and not seen as a big issue in the past. However, in the recent years, choice of a language teacher has been a debated topic where most people doubt the effectiveness of a non-native teacher.

With a clear analysis of the subject, it is realized that it is simply an attitude in the mind of school administrators and students that causes such a resistance. It may be caused by variety of applicants that school administrators receive for an advertised English language position.

They use it as a first elimination procedure when short listings applicants who are supposed to be interviewed. Considering the other hidden qualities of non-native teacher, it is clear that they will produce comparatively higher results for the students than non-native ones.

Most schools will also give preference to citizens in their appointments. This is usually because of the assumption that if they do not employ their own people then nobody will employ them. However, this is an attitude of the past that should no longer be a basis of employing people.

Ellis (2002 pp 99-102) Liberalisation and Multinational Corporation encourages the free interaction of all nationalities. Different ideas can only be shared when such people as non-natives are allowed to teach English language to the natives.

References

Ellis, L 2002, ‘Teaching from Experience: A New Perspective on the Non-Native Teacher in Adult ESL Australian’, Review of Applied Linguistics, vol. 25, no. 1, pp71 – 107

Gass, SM & Selinker, L 2001, Second Language Acquisition, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, London.

Llurda, E 2006, Non-Native Language Teachers: Perceptions, Challenges and Contributions to the Profession, Springer, New York.

Phan, LH 2008, Teaching English as an International Language, Multilingual Matters, Bristol.

Rubdy, R 2006, English in the World: Global Roles, Global Rules, Continuum International Publishing Group, London.

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