Native or Non-native English Teacher: Is this a Legitimate Question?

In English Language Teaching (ELT) industry, especially in ESL/EFL contexts, one can safely say that a great majority of employers are tempted to recruit instructors from English speaking countries, i.e. native English teachers. The latter are relatively thought to offer quality teaching to their learners. This being the case, non-native applicants in the global English job market have to contend with the scarcity of job offers. Even though they have high credentials, they are usually rejected just for the fun of it, the fact that wrongly insinuates that natives are usually better language teachers or perhaps born to be perfect teachers. As such, one can’t help but question whether being a native speaker of a certain language makes them a better teacher of it. More specifically, once a native English teacher is there, shall we overlook their knowledge of methodology and pedagogy? Blatantly put, is being a native necessarily makes you a better teacher of English? Let’s debrief our common sense!

There are a number of misconceptions that underlie recruiters’ preference for native English teachers over non-native ones. Satisfying the learners’ needs has always been a major driver of development in English language institutions. As they presume that speaking like a native is the right pre-set goal for their clients, employers are fired relentlessly to recruit native English instructors. For them, as it seems, non-native teachers will always fall short of benchmarks set for English teachers. It’s no wonder then that less pedagogically-informed choices can lead to ineffective decisions. In fact, formal and professional learning of academic language skills can’t be ensured by a recruit, whether they are native or not, if there is a lack of methodology, skills, training, or qualification. It is true that native teachers can speak English fluently and naturally, but this doesn’t guarantee that they can teach its skills and aspects unless they have had some pre-service training. How can they teach skills like grammar, reading, writing, communication, etc. without a solid background in teaching methodology? That’s what the businesses should consider if they really seek quality outcomes.

Another misconception the employers or their clients may have is that a native speaker uses their language accurately without any mistakes. This has been refuted by a survey conducted by the global communication skills company, Communicaid. In English speaking countries, out of 10 job applications, four are rejected because of poor grammar and spelling. On the other hand, there are a large number of non-native speakers that have excelled as teachers and university professors in native countries, teaching students the idiosyncrasies of their own language. Likewise, numerous successful educational programs are designed and led by non-native speakers. What is more, some best-selling authors write in non-native languages. For example, many Arabic language publications were written by non-Arabs. To illustrate, “Lisan Al Arab”, which is the best-known dictionary of the Arabic Language comprising 20 book volumes, was written by a non-Arab author, Ibn Manzur, who was born in Libya. The Arabic context doesn’t shape an exception. The Polish Joseph Conrad, the Russian Vladimir Nabakov, and the African Chinua Achebe were non-native English Speakers. Nevertheless, in the 21st century, several great experienced successful English teachers are being crossed out at this moment just because of their origins.

To conclude, the EFL/ESL employers are free to hire whomever they see as the right ones for their clients. However, I believe that they, besides the international English teaching community, can play a compelling role to help nullify such misconceptions on non-native English teachers. Another crucial step is to sensitize all the stakeholders that academic learning of a language should not be confined to emulating a native speaker, but it rather should be driven with more promising aims.

2 COMMENTS

Joe September 21, 2018 At 5:59 pm

So you’d like to learn from someone who isn’t qualified, can’t speak or use the language correctly and still has a lot to learn about the material being taught…if you had read his article you’d know that was what he was arguing against, so thank you little miss for proving my point. By the way sir is spelt with a small s, not a capital S unless it’s the first word in a sentence…
S. P. Tartala September 22, 2018 At 2:11 pm

I agree with you. I am a native speaking English as a Second language teacher in the U.S. Some of my colleagues are from other countries and they seem to instinctively know what our English learners need. They are excellent teachers. Teachers should be trained to be teachers. The belief that anyone can teach is a byproduct of the general disrespect society shows to our profession.