Is this fact or fallacy? Caitlin Nolan devised a study to find out
Much research provides, and some anecdotes suggest, that the key stakeholders – ie, employers and students in the English language teaching (ELT) industry – prefer to both hire and be taught by native English-speaker teachers (NESTs). The same is true of the parents and government who foot the bill. This perception of the native English speaker as the optimal educator of the English language has existed for many decades. As a result, fully qualified and highly competent non-native English speaker teachers (NNESTs) are continuously under-valued compared to their native English-speaker counterparts, based solely on what their first language is.
However, as we step into life after a global pandemic which has changed the way we teach and learn forever, is there a (welcomed) shift in our thinking? Have the events that have taken place in the past couple of years, that is, the Covid-19 pandemic and Brexit, provided us with a lens that allows us to accept that NNESTs are needed and also greatly appreciated?
These questions arise from a pilot study completed as part of my PhD, which aims to investigate the teacher identities of native and non-native English language teachers, and how they are perceived by EFL students and employers in private language schools in Ireland and Spain. This small, but essential study, has raised a number of interesting points in relation to the so-called ‘ideal’ native speaker.
The study
A sample of 14 Spanish/Basque English as a foreign language (EFL) students, two of whom were proficient (C2) level and 12 of whom were advanced (C1) level, studying in a private language school in the Basque region of Spain, were invited to participate in the pilot study.
Nine males and five females, with an average age of 16, and who had a first language of either Spanish or Basque, took part in the study in which they completed a questionnaire. This student profile was chosen as these students, at age and language level, have been taught by many different teachers throughout their language-learning journey. Thus, they were thought to be the cohort of students who could give the most information about their varying experiences of language learning.
Both quantitative (closed questions) and qualitative data (open questions) were included in the questionnaire in order to explore students’ perceptions of native and non-native EFL teachers. The questionnaire consisted of 20 questions and areas under scrutiny included students’ opinions of what they felt makes a great teacher and students’ preference between NESTs and NNESTs on their strategies for teaching grammar, vocabulary, pronunciation and the culture of English-speaking countries.
Findings and analysis of results
Analysis of the responses given by participants to the survey questions showed that all participants perceived learning English to be either important or very important. When asked why they are studying English, reasons included travel, career, study, communication and English’s status as an international language. It was clear from the initial stages of the questionnaire that all participants were serious about learning English, and were very conscious of their opinions and attitudes about their previous teachers and learning experiences.
Participants were asked to describe what being a good teacher meant to them. Their conclusions were that teaching method, having a love for teaching and having a good personality were key characteristics of being a good teacher. Within the aforementioned themes, traits such as being patient, helpful, having a sense of humour, creating enjoyable classes, having a good connection with the students, and having different and alternative teaching strategies were identified as important characteristics of what makes a great teacher. Strikingly, only one respondent deemed being a native speaker of English as a criterion for what makes a stand-out teacher. Subsequently, participants were asked what type of teacher they preferred for developing different skillsets.
Previous literature has demonstrated that having a native accent is often seen as an advantage of NESTs. This was reflected in the pilot study, where 70% of the participants chose NESTs as their preferred option for teaching them pronunciation. One participant also highlighted the need to always speak English as beneficial for their pronunciation and speaking practice: “I prefer having a NEST teacher…because I just have to try speaking English every time.”
However, some participants also commented that having a non-native English accent is more valuable, as students can understand them better and that they won’t develop a disingenuous English accent as a result.
The definition of NNESTs was called into question during the study, as participants determined it to only include Spanish/Basque speakers. Therefore, this raises the question as to whether students discern non-native speakers as teachers of their own nationality rather than non-native speakers of English from around the world. While this finding may seem minor, I think it may point to a further point of contention when describing what is and what is not a non-native speaker. This has been echoed repeatedly in previous literature. Many studies are found to be lacking an appropriate definition for a non-native speaker of English, as definitions are widely varying. As a direct result of this, the question must be asked: should EFL students be asked whether they prefer to be taught by a NNEST or a NNEST who shares the students’ first language? I believe the preferences of students would be widely altered if the question was rephrased.
The female participants in this study displayed a preference for NESTs when it comes to the teaching of vocabulary, as they deem them to hold superior knowledge in terms of the range of words. The males, however, were not concerned with the native/ non-native speaker status of the teacher. Instead, they were predominantly concerned with the teaching method being used, their levels of preparation and how professional they are. This division between the genders in terms of their preferences for NESTs and NNESTs was a continuous theme throughout the pilot study, and not just for the teaching of vocabulary. In general, the females showed a much greater preference for NESTs over their male counterparts, a finding that I have not discovered in preceding literature. At the very least, the gendered nature of this response certainly merits more in-depth exploration as this study is scaled up. In addition, it shows that for some students, the native or non-native English speaker status is secondary to the qualifications, preparedness and training of the teacher.
Moreover, many of the female responses included a justification as to why they preferred to be taught by NESTs. A recurring argument used by the participants included a preference based on the premise that they have “real” teaching qualifications or that “they studied how to teach”. The rationalisations provided by these participants point to a bigger issue than just a personal preference of NESTs over NNESTs. Rather, they showcase a genuine misconception of the qualifications, abilities and competencies of NNESTs. In essence, a number of the reasons provided in this pilot study for a desire to be taught by NESTs over NNESTs appear to be decided as a result of misinformation.
The global spread of the English language has resulted in an unprecedented rise in the number of people studying English across the world. Current estimates project that the number of people speaking English worldwide is in excess of 1.5 billion. As a result of this remarkable growth in the number of people studying the language, employers have been required to increase the number of teachers they employ. This gap has been largely filled by NNESTs. As a teacher who has taught in both English-speaking countries and non-English speaking countries, I have observed what I can only describe as blatant discrimination against NNESTs. It may be true that the aforementioned gap is filled by non-native teachers, however, I would argue that this is out of necessity rather than a desire to do so. When asked why they are reluctant to hire NNESTs or be taught by NNESTs, employers and students often give reasons that align with the findings in my pilot study. Findings which are not based on substantive evidence.
Job advertisements for English teachers globally explicitly state that they only want an applicant to apply if there are from one of the countries that they have listed, ie, countries such as the UK, USA, Canada and so on. Teachers from these countries, who have English as their first language, are perceived as simply superior. Reasons for this may vary, but if this small pilot study is anything to go by, “it’s what the students want” is not a sufficient enough answer anymore.
Caitlin Nolan is a year three PhD candidate in Applied Linguistics at Mary Immaculate College, Limerick. Caitlin is a qualified EFL teacher and her research centres on the area of teacher identity. The research conducted in this publication was funded by the Irish Research Council under award number [GOIPG/2022/1406].
