Teach English in Nanwangdian Zhen - Heze Shi

Nearly a year ago, I joined a TEFL introduction session in Sheffield, UK, a tutor said that they were an increasing number of non-native English speakers applying for a TEFL certification these days. Now the percentage of non-native English speakers are about a half of the whole applicants. While years ago, only a small proportion (about 20%) of non-native English speakers applying for a TEFL certificate. I also met some non-native English speakers in the session, their original countries varies from China, Middle East to South America. Most of them were already teachers in their own country, they mainly needed a certificate to further improve their English, start their own English workshop, or get a promotion in their organisations. Nowadays, Asia has become a popular place for English Teachers all around the world. Many native and non-native English speakers are seeking for English teaching jobs in Asian countries, such as China, Korea and Thailand. With the largest population, China seems to have the greatest job opportunities for English Teachers. Besides, as a native Chinese speaker, I am familiar with the English teaching conditions in China, and know many non-native and native English speaking teachers there. Therefore, this essay mainly discusses TEFL for non-native English speaking teachers in China. To begin with, in China, one can be an English teacher without a TEFL certificate as a native Chinese speaker. Normally, they just need to gain high scores in IELTS or TEFOL, or pass the TEM-8 (Test for English Majors-Band 8) as an English-major student. For those who wants to teach in public schools, they need to apply for a teaching certificate authorized by the Chinese Education department. Therefore, most Chinese teachers will not apply for a TEFL course if they just want to teach English in their motherland. It seems that the TEFL/ TESOL certificate are only required to native speakers in recent years. However, for those English Teachers whose first language neither English nor Chinese, they still need to have a TEFL/ TESOL certificate for teaching English in China. There are many disadvantages for non-native English speakers who teaches English. One major disadvantage is the salary. Non-native English speakers usually receive much lower pay than native English speakers. In China, the pay for a native Chinese speaker is approximately three times lower than a native English speaker. Surprisingly, these teachers from other non-English speaking countries, such as Russia, Croatia or Arabic countries, often get a higher pay than Chinese teachers. This may result from their western looks. When cannot find a qualified native English speaker, some schools and organisations tend to recruit someone that looks like an native English speaker instead. These foreign teachers, as many parents imagined, usually have better English level than native Chinese teachers. On the other hand, there are also some advantages for non-native English Teachers. Normally, non-English speakers have better understanding of grammar than native English speakers. This is mainly because many native English speakers have not learned grammar in schools, they acquire English language mainly from daily communication. During my session last year, I was surprised to find out that so many native English speakers did not even know the present perfect tense. Also, non-native English speakers know the process of English language learning better. They have learned English through taking English classes themselves, so they would know what questions and difficulties students would have in English class. To conclude, there are an increasing number of non-native English speakers taking TEFL courses now, although it might not be a requirement in their own countries. Non-native English Teachers could also teach English well, however, they still face more difficulties comparing to native English Teachers. (The topics between the website and the auto-email are different. After emailed the question, I chose a topic from the email.)