Monday, March 2, 2015

Part 3: Native vs. Non-Native English Teachers- Who Wins?

credit: www.leadershipthoughts.com


The first and second parts of this series showed the most common criticisms of native and non-native English teachers against each other.

Native teachers criticize non-native's English skills- accent, pronunciation, grammar and cultural knowledge. On the other hand, non-natives argue that a lot of native teachers give English teaching a bad name. 

(See Part 1 and Part 2)

In this last part, let's see the pros and cons of native and non-native teachers. Yes, you read the previous sentence right. Even native English teachers have disadvantages in ESL teaching. And yes, non-native teachers have some advantage against native teachers.

In the early 1990's, Peter Medgyes did an interesting research regarding the perceived differences between native and non-native English teachers. More than 300 ESL teachers- natives and non-natives, from 11 countries were surveyed in this study.

Here's the summary of his study's results. He divided the results into 4 parts.

A. Own Use of English

Native teachers/ Non-native teachers:
- speak better English and speak more confidently / speak poorer English and less confidently
- use real language / use "bookish" language

B. General Attitude
- more innovative, more flexible and more casual / adapts a guided approach, more cautious and more strict
- less emphatic and less committed / more emphatic and more committed
- attend to perceived needs / attend to real needs
- have far-fetched expectations / have realistic expectations

C. Attitude on Teaching English
- less insightful/ more insightful
- use less to no L1/ use more L1
- translates less/ translates more
- give less homework and fewer tests/ gives more homework and more tests
- focused on fluency, meaning, colloquial / focused on accuracy, form, grammar,
  registers and oral skills                            formal registers and printed word

D. Attitude on Teaching Culture
- supply more cultural information/ supply less cultural information


Aside from these results, his study also highlighted the following findings:

1. Native teachers are definitely more proficient in the language. However, proficiency does not mean efficiency in teaching.

2. Although non-native teachers are not as proficient as the native teachers, they use more effective language-learning strategies and they are more sensitive to their students. They also anticipate and prevent language difficulties better than native teachers.

3. Native teachers supply more cultural information while non-native supply more information about the English language.

4. Native teachers provide good language model while non-native teachers provide good learner model.

So Who Wins Now?

After all the arguments and presenting these findings, who ultimately is the better teacher?

As cliche as this will go, I would still have to conclude that it depends on the learner's purpose and level.
If a learner is a beginner or feels overwhelmed by studying English, a non-native teacher seemed to be a better choice. If a learner is already proficient and want to use English in more contextual way, a native teacher is a good choice.We also have to factor in the learner's learning style.

The argument between the natives and non-natives will continue as ESL teaching is constantly evolving. What's good to keep in mind is that: Just like other professions, to be an effective ESL teacher is not dependent on one's country of origin.
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