Teach English in Tanghe Zhen - Linyi Shi

“Hello, my name is Tanya. I’m 25-years-old. I’m living in China for more than seven years. I have graduated from the university and gained a bachelor degree in English. I’m proficient in the language and countless certificates along with my excellent grades can justify it. Now, I want to work in China as an English teacher. The only tiny aspect is I’m Russian (=non-native) …” That was a model conversation between the employer in the Chinese English training school and a potential applicant. Everything went smoothly and a hiring manager looked enthusiastic, until the applicant has committed a crucial mistake – confessed that she is not an English native speaker. As a result, at the end of the interview the manager promised to contact the applicant as soon as possible, but in fact he never did. This true story illustrates inequality on Chinese English teachers’ job market. Various Chinese Internet job platforms underrate non-native English-speaking teachers. The preference is given to native speakers who are seen as more proficient in their mother tongue, and that is why competent and the way more professional, than those, whose motherland is not Canada, the USA or the UK. Among the arguments from recruiters, that can be heard frequently, are: the students want to learn standard English from a person who can transmit an original culture; they prefer to listen to “correct” pronunciation; and they simply like to be around the native-speaker. Well, the customer is always right, but does it make non-native English teacher less competent? Does this fact give more credits to the native speaker to become a good teacher? These questions require a more detailed analysis. In my essay, I am going to analyze some of the aspects of teaching by native-speakers (NESTs) and non-native speakers (NNESTs), and try to prove that non-native speakers are not necessarily inferior to natives. First of all, it is necessary to understand that our advantages do not grant us a professionalism. To see this point clearly it is worth to ask yourself naïve, childish questions: “If I have a good ear for music does it make me a good musician or singer? Or if I have two legs and can kick the ball, does it make me a good football player?” It is true that each of us has a certain potential. But far from all of us use their hidden talents to the maximum. People, in most of the cases, cannot achieve high results without practice or specific knowledge in the field. It is also fair for teaching. Teaching is a skill. A good teacher must know how to present the material effectively; how to awake students’ interest; how to introduce grammar in a meaningful way; how to conduct the classes; and what teaching techniques and methods must be applied so that the lesson will be comprehensible. Only qualified, responsible, thoughtful and trained teacher can provide it. Secondly, many of native speakers learned language naturally (from the language environment), which makes it difficult for them to anticipate students’ problems. Sometimes, it is very difficult to see for native speakers how, at first sight, obvious things may lead to confusion and misunderstanding among students. On the other hand, for non-native speakers English has become the second language. It means that they have been in students’ boots as well. They have encountered the same problems, and they must know how learners feel. They have worked out their own strategies of learning, and they may share their own experience and give useful tips on how to master a language. This fact may give to NNESTs a solid advantage. Thirdly, NNESTs may introduce new methods and teaching styles that he/she acquired in his/her own country and absorbed as a student. A teacher may know and share practical ways to teach the material with the use of chants, songs, or games, that he learned as a child and have helped him to remember grammatical structures or vocabulary. ITTT TEFL course provides teachers with clues how to structure and organize the class, all the steps that are highly suggested to follow, but NNESTs may suggests their own tactics & strategies that have been omitted. All the good ideas are welcomed as long as they prove their practical use. Moreover, non-native teachers may set a role model to their students and stimulate their study. If students will see in front of them a teacher with a decent pronunciation, with a good command of English, very skilled and professional in his/her field, who is enthusiastic, dedicated, and charismatic, it could serve for them as an additional motivation. The students may think that “if someone had polished and perfected the knowledge to such high level, so why can’t I achieve the same? What prevents me from being up to the mark? One day I would be just like him/her”. Definitely, it could serve as a good promotion. In conclusion, it has been proven that non-native English-speaking teachers are not necessarily worse in the matter of teaching. There are things, which even native speakers may be extraneous or unfamiliar with, that prevents them to conduct a better lesson. While there is a number of advantages that skilled, well-trained and educated non-native English teachers may introduce into and diversify the learning process. All of them may become appealing to recruiters and must be considered before hiring.