This issue was my main concern when I was trying to decide whether to do a
tefl course or not, I always felt that being
spanish and living in
spain were going to make me a second class
english teacher, as people in this country are obsessed with having native
english speaking
teachers to teach their
children to speak
english fluently. But I have studied
english in depth since very early age , I am married to a British man who didn´t speak a word of
spanish when we met, and I worked in the City of
london for 5 years. So the reason why I choose this research article is that I would like to be more confident with myself about teaching
english, so I will try to find out more about non native
english speaking
teachers(NNS) versus native
english speaking
teachers(NS). I will research for opinions ,
teacher experiences, and advantages and disadvantages that employers find when they need to choose between a NNS
teacher and a NS
teacher.
ADVANTAGES OF NNS
It seems to be a general consensus on the advantages of NNS
teacher:
NNS
teachers most likely have studied
english in far more detailed and depth than NS
teachers. This is a reality when you ask for example a UK native about grammar points. They have not studied grammar in school at all, and unless they have had proper training to teach
english, they wouldn´t know how to explain grammar points.
Another advantage is that being a NNS
teacher helps to understand the learner´s position better. Because they have been through the process of learning the language and have been trained to teach it, it can be said that they are in a better place to help students with particular language difficulties, especially if they are teaching students who share their mother tongue.
LEVEL OF
english
To become a good NNS
teacher you need to have a very high level of
english, because if you don´t your students will soon realize this and will lose respect for you. It might be a good idea to sit for a TOEFL exam beforehand to see if you have the proper level to become an
english teacher.
ACCENTS
Another interesting point to talk about regarding this argument is whether it is acceptable to keep your accent, or if it would be better to practice for example a British or American accent. Some experts think that you should adopt an accent from an
english speaking country, but others think that there are so many
english accents in the world (British, American,
australian, Scottish, Welsh, etc) that keeping your own accent shouldn´t be a problem. It is an interesting argument because for example you will find that in Great Britain there are lots of British citizens from Pakistan who have kept their own accent generation after generation, when they are speaking in
english, and they work for even government departments and their job is to answer the telephone to general public!
PRONUNCIATION
In 1999 in a
tefl symposium in
london and referring only to pronunciation where we might assume the dominance of the NS, it was stated:
1. knowledge: In many countries NNS
teachers have extensive formal knowledge of the phonology of
english. In contrast, many native speakers have very limited training in this vital area of language competence.
2. techniques: NS
teachers can be excellent models. However, a good model is not by definition a good instructor.
3. affectivity: NNS
teachers are only too aware of the difficulties in acquiring a second pronunciation, and so have greater empathy with their learners and the problems they encounter. In contrast, a NS may easily be unaware that certain sounds or techniques, (e.g. learners sticking their tongue out between their teeth), are embarrassing for the learner.
4. intelligibility: the NNS
teacher has had first hand experience as to what is or is not intelligible to other users of
english. Such practical experience of achieving intelligibility leaves them better able to judge what constitutes effective performance than NS
teachers, who will invariably judge success by comparison with NS performance.