Teach English in Sanyuan Zhen - Hanzhong Shi

NESTs vs NNESTs? According to Babbel Magazine – www.babbel.com - approximately 1.5 billion people speak English – that’s 20% of the Earth’s population. This number will rise to 2 billion by 2020. Roughly 360 million are considered native speakers. English is the world’s lingua franca (a second language that people from different countries have in common) and is the most commonly studied foreign language in the world. A study by GSV Advisors for Pearson English, a leading English language training company, indicates that English language instruction for non-native speakers is a $63 billion a year industry. A fast growing and very lucrative market with a great demand for English-speaking teachers. An estimated 250,000 native English speakers teach English abroad in non-native English-speaking countries, the so-called NESTs. This is thought to be only 20%, which would imply that there are 1 million non-native English speaking-teachers; the NNESTs.(1) Being a novice in the world of TEFL I regularly looked at job postings and vacancies and noticed that in a vast majority of these there was a specific demand for native speakers only. Up to 70 per cent of all jobs advertised on tefl.com are for native English-speaking teachers. Why was the first question that came to my mind. Fact of the matter is that it’s a mare’s nest. NESTs have obvious linguistic and cultural advantages. As stated by some (2) NESTs bring more vocabulary and better pronunciation to the classroom. A study amongst Saudi students indicated that classes from NESTs showed more diversity with games and interactive activities. NNESTs on the other hand tend to have more grammar knowledge, as this is the field in which they have been educated and often possess a tertiary level English teaching qualification. But it is also said that they lack the language experience required to teach natural English (3). However, a native learned the English language natural and thus cannot always comprehend the struggles it may bring along to learn as a L2 language. Professor John M. Levis, who is a Professor of Applied Linguistics and ESL at the University of Iowa clearly states that learners won’t get pronunciation automatically from their teacher. It must be taught. It’s not something that you catch from the person you’re in contact with. It’s not contagious. Many people though believe that being taught by a native speaker is the best way to learn a language and this belief has its influence. As a result, it has become so important in the industry of English learning that it is seems a “trademark”. I consider myself bilingual, coming from the Netherlands, where Amsterdam’s 72.41% of English proficiency in the adult population rules the list of all the capitals in the world speaking English as a second language.(5) Having lived for years in three different English-speaking countries and having worked solely in an English-speaking environment with both L1 and L2 speakers throughout my working career, I too, find myself guilty of keeping up that common misconception. When I heard my employer at the school’s information evening announcing that I was an English native I didn’t intervene. Feathering my nest, I suppose. Native speaker is used as a recruitment criterion, which would imply the high standard of the teaching. That is a fallacious argument. I have no desire to stir up a hornet’s nest but what really matters is whether one is passionate or not about teaching. A graph with the main elements that a language teacher should have indicates that he/she should have 30% linguistic competence, 30% teaching competence and 40% passion (4). So, in all fairness, both groups can be equally good or bad teachers, it all comes down to the factor of passion. A good teacher always strives to become a better teacher. And it’s the teacher’s ability to trigger its learners to become better speakers of the language. Factors as qualifications, experience and demonstrable language proficiency do play a role obviously but the passion for teaching and educating is key. I think that the TEFL-society could be functioning here as a love nest and bring the two together. The TEFL Equity Advocates and Academy already sets a great example with their website. Its founder Marek Kiczkowiak, also winner of the TeachingEnglish blog award, encourages people to step up and combat native-speakerism through - supporting each other - stop alienating and using stereotypes - emphasizing one’s personal strengths To cumulate; there is a wealth of publications related to this topic and in the process of preparing for this essay I’ve read many articles about the pros and cons of NESTs and NNESTs. Although it hasn’t altered my opinion, it did enrich me and highlighted to me the true essence of teaching; passion. Perhaps it could it be that I suffer from a(n) (empty) nest-syndrome? Sources: 1. internationalteflacademy.com 2. Henrick Oprea – henrickoprea.com 3. GetEmerson on DISQUS, in a board discussion of the British Council Voices 4. Sabridv.wordpress.com 5. www.ef.com.es/epi