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    Selvi 2009 The Non Native Speaker Teacher

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    gabar.coal
    This document discusses the conceptualization and treatment of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the field of English language teaching (ELT). It notes that NNESTs have traditionally been viewed as defective communicators compared to an idealized native speaker. However, the ownership of English is now understood to be shared among all speakers regardless of nativeness. Nevertheless, NNESTs are often accorded lower professional status than native English speaking teachers (NESTs). The document argues that the ELT field needs to move beyond using the native speaker as the sole benchmark and embrace the strengths of both NESTs and NNESTs to foster more appropriate English learning opportunities.

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    Selvi 2009 The Non Native Speaker Teacher

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    gabar.coal
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    This document discusses the conceptualization and treatment of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the field of English language teaching (ELT). It notes that NNESTs have traditionally been viewed as defective communicators compared to an idealized native speaker. However, the ownership of English is now understood to be shared among all speakers regardless of nativeness. Nevertheless, NNESTs are often accorded lower professional status than native English speaking teachers (NESTs). The document argues that the ELT field needs to move beyond using the native speaker as the sole benchmark and embrace the strengths of both NESTs and NNESTs to foster more appropriate English learning opportunities.

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    Selvi 2009 the Non Native Speaker Teacher

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    This document discusses the conceptualization and treatment of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the field of English language teaching (ELT). It notes that NNESTs have traditionally been viewed as defective communicators compared to an idealized native speaker. However, the ownership of English is now understood to be shared among all speakers regardless of nativeness. Nevertheless, NNESTs are often accorded lower professional status than native English speaking teachers (NESTs). The document argues that the ELT field needs to move beyond using the native speaker as the sole benchmark and embrace the strengths of both NESTs and NNESTs to foster more appropriate English learning opportunities.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    34 views3 pages

    Selvi 2009 The Non Native Speaker Teacher

    Uploaded by

    gabar.coal
    This document discusses the conceptualization and treatment of non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the field of English language teaching (ELT). It notes that NNESTs have traditionally been viewed as defective communicators compared to an idealized native speaker. However, the ownership of English is now understood to be shared among all speakers regardless of nativeness. Nevertheless, NNESTs are often accorded lower professional status than native English speaking teachers (NESTs). The document argues that the ELT field needs to move beyond using the native speaker as the sole benchmark and embrace the strengths of both NESTs and NNESTs to foster more appropriate English learning opportunities.

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    of 3

    key concepts in e l t

    The non-native speaker teacher


    Ali Fuad Selvi

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    ‘Non-native English-speaking teachers’ (NNESTs) have tended to be
    conceptualized within E LT along the same lines as NNS in general. The
    second language acquisition literature traditionally ‘elevates an idealized
    ‘‘native’’ speaker above a stereotypicalized ‘‘nonnative’’, while viewing the
    latter as a defective communicator, limited by an underdeveloped
    communicative competence’ (Firth and Wagner 1997: 285). The resulting
    (in)competence dichotomy positions the NNS/NNEST as a deficient or less-
    than-native speaker (cf. ‘near-native’, Valdes 1998). In an attempt to
    solve this problem, a number of alternative terms have been suggested,
    for example ‘proficient user’ (Paikeday 1985), ‘language expert’ (Rampton
    1990), ‘English-using speech fellowship’ (Kachru 1992), and
    ‘multicompetent speaker’ (Cook 1999). However, the field is still a long way
    from reaching a consensus about whether to adopt any of these labels.
    Debate about this issue is particularly important in the realm of teaching
    and learning English as an International Language (Jenkins 2000; McKay
    2002). In this context, NNS are estimated to outnumber their ‘NS’
    counterparts by three to one (Crystal 2003), the ownership of English is
    shared by all its speakers, regardless of their ‘nativeness’ (Widdowson
    1994), and 80 per cent of English language teachers worldwide are thought
    to be NNESTs (Canagarajah 2005). Nevertheless, N N E S Ts are often
    accorded lower professional status than ‘native English-speaking teachers’
    (NESTs) (Mahboob 2010). It is widely accepted that the presence of ‘native
    speakerism’ (Holliday 2005) of this kind in the English language teaching
    profession leads to ‘unprofessional favouritism in institutions, publishing
    houses, and government agencies’ (Medgyes 2001: 433), frequently also
    resulting in unfair employment discrimination (Selvi 2010).
    Phillipson (1992: 185) refers to such unethical treatment of qualified
    N N E S Ts as a result of the ‘native speaker fallacy’: a prevalent assumption
    that ‘the ideal teacher of English is a NS’ (ibid.). Using the NS as
    a benchmark for teaching employment in this way can cause NNESTs to
    suffer from the ‘I-am-not-a-native-speaker’ (Suarez 2000) or ‘impostor’
    syndrome (Bernat 2009), leading to negative consequences for their
    teacher persona, self-esteem, and thus their in-class performance as well.
    Consequently, the global E LT enterprise has been criticized for positioning
    the NS as the ideal English teacher and thereby creating a false dichotomy
    between N E S Ts and NNESTs (Moussu and Llurda 2008). The need to go
    beyond the NS as a benchmark in English language learning and teaching

    E LT Journal Volume 65/2 April 2011; doi:10.1093/elt/ccq092 187


    ª The Author 2011. Published by Oxford University Press; all rights reserved.
    has therefore been widely argued for in the field (Braine 1999, 2010
    Mahboob op.cit.).
    Subscribing to the dominant ‘either/or discourse’ (i.e. NEST or N N E S T) in
    this area has also been seen as problematic because it attempts to establish
    a direct causal relationship between language proficiency and pedagogical
    practices (Braine op.cit.). Such discriminatory attitudes have led the US
    TESOL organization to adopt two ‘position statements’ (TESOL 1992,
    2006) opposing such discriminatory practices. As a result of such
    initiatives, the E LT field is now moving towards a more encompassing
    ‘both/and discourse’ (i.e. NEST and NN EST) that embraces the strengths
    and limitations of both teacher populations in various teaching settings

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    (Matsuda and Matsuda 2001). This reconceptualization enables
    cooperation and collaboration that can foster more educationally,
    contextually, and socially appropriate English language learning
    opportunities (Mahboob op.cit.). As a result, on a micro level, learners of
    English as an international language can gain access to a wider
    sociolinguistic and intercultural repertoire (McKay op.cit.). On a macro
    level, it lends further support to the establishment of a professional milieu
    that ‘welcome[s] ethnic, racial, cultural, religious, and linguistic diversity’
    (Selvi 2009: 51).

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    188 Ali Fuad Selvi


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    The non-native speaker teacher 189

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