Native and Non-Native Educators
The status ‘Native Speaker’ relates to someone who was born in a country, where English is a mother tong. The non-native speaker is happened to be the one who was born in a country where English language was spread through colonialism and gained some official status. On the contrary, where the English was spread by Lingua Franca there was no official status at all. However, it is stated that there is a possibility that English language was the first language to be exposed to by so called non-natives which makes them according to this fact, native speakers of English.
According to Kramsch (1997) native speakership is neither a privilege of birth nor of education but " acceptance by the group that created the distinction between native and non-native speakers " (p.363). She argued that natives are not ideal educators because of their unstandardised speech, influenced by their occupation, gender and social status. On the contrary, Chomsky defined that in pedagogy the native speaker of a language is an " ideal speaker-listener, who knows its language perfectly" (p.3).
Native speakers are given the authority of their language, due to their natural process of learning, in terms of language, compared to having learned the language later in life. This is accomplished cooperation with the language and the speakers of the language. Native speakers are not necessarily familiar with all the grammatical rules of the language, but they have a good "intuition" regarding the rules, because of their experience with the language.
The native / non-native teacher decision should be based on students' needs analysis.
It needs to be pointed out that whether if it is about native or non-native teachers, in both cases they should be aware of that L2 students rely on models provided mainly by their teachers (through referrals, guidance and example) and are exposed to language through the media. This leads to a discussion as to who the ideal model for the language learners is.
As stated, there is a high demand for native speakers of English abroad a specially in private sectors, and as a consequence they have a little desire to become better teachers, as they do not feel the need to study their own language further. Therefore, it is more likely that they will be less qualified. However, there are many advantages to having a native speaker of English as a teacher. In comparison to non-native English speaking teachers, native teachers of English are more likely to be respected by foreign students. They can offer better communication skills thanks to their flexibility that allows them to use various phrases and colloquialisms that are commonly used. Furthermore, native speakers can offer cultural knowledge and can provide insight which adds to their confidence. It is believed that they are informal, fluent and accurate according to pronunciation. However, In the past, as it was already mentioned above, the native speakers, ‘British’ colonised many countries around the world and influenced the languages. Therefore, it is difficult to say what the accurate accent of English language is.
People learn English for many and very diverse reasons. These reasons should be taken into consideration when planning the classes or individual lessons for successful learning. It is equally important for both, teachers and the learners. The aim is to understand the required proficiency which is probably one of the most important aspects of good learning.
If a student requires only basic language skills of aim to communicate while traveling, focus on the proper use of the third conditional is irrelevant. On the other hand, if the
student seeks a higher level of understanding of grammar, teachers need to accept that role-playing games may not always be the best option. Most students complain that although they understand English, they do not feel too confident enough to join the conversation. There are many reasons why a lot of students finds themselves in this situation, for example; Students mostly translate from their native language into English, the reason for "blocking" occurs mainly due to nervousness, lack of confidence and so on. Students try to search for specific words instead of simply describe what is meant.
For this reason, non-native speakers seem to be ideal teachers for L2 learners as they have a distinct edge for teaching lower level students. Non-native speakers usually rely on textbooks, materials and their own knowledge. They concentrate on all areas such us; Speaking and Listening that enable learners to improve their skills in listening and responding, Speaking to communicate and engaging in discussions, Reading which enables learners to read, understand and obtain information and Writing classes which enable learners to write to communicate and to improve their spelling, grammar and punctuation skills. In college settings the combination of non-native and native teacher, when each of them is focused on a different area of language, allows students to actually use the skills learned by the non-native teacher in the communication developed by the native teacher, through everyday practice. In the same way they learn different accents thanks to interaction with the other non-native speakers.
When teaching abroad, non-native speakers can explain difficult grammar points in learners’ native tongue with great accuracy and mainly, the standard English is more than
likely to be used. In other words, they do not fall into the trap of using wrong language rules. In addition, non-native teachers have undergone the same steps and so they know
what second language learners need and are flexible to the needs of each of them having the knowledge of students background.
In view of this, it is worth to consider that when teaching English in an English speaking country, the learner is exposed to the language on the daily basis, and so having native or non-native teacher is not the main concern. While teaching English abroad, the learners are limited because they hear English only in the classroom. Therefore, having a non-native teacher abroad who speaks the same language as the learners, can be a disadvantage. Majority of non-native teachers of English do not speak the language they teach through the lesson, and are mainly concentrated on grammar and translation (GTM). As a consequence of this, learners’ communication skills are not developed. On the contrary, having a native teacher without the ability of speaking the same language, both the learners and the teacher are forced to speak the studied language using eclecticism (varied methods) such as Direct Method when the material is at first presented orally, using actions or pictures. Mother tongue is never used and translations are not provided. The preferred type of exercise is a number of questions in the English language through dialogue or stories answered in English . Culture associated with the target language is taught by, for example, presentation and is considered as an important aspect of language acquisition. Learners are better motivated and are given the opportunity to be exposed to English as much as it is possible. As a result, their communication skill is developed much quicker.
However, native speakers of English as it is mentioned earlier, usually do not have the right qualification and required pedagogical skills. Despite the fact that many of them have a high academic qualification in a different subject, it often happens that native speakers of English are more likely to be hired as ESL teachers than qualified and experienced non-native teachers due to the desire for students to gain an experience in an English accent.
To summarise, students prefer certain teaching styles which are determined based on their needs. Students should be taught how to communicate just as well as grammar and writing skills, otherwise, they will not be able to become fluent speakers or succeed overseas as job applicants. If the teaching is based more on grammar and translation the communication will not be developed and consequently students will not know how to turn their skills into communication. In other words, they will not be able to understand a word or make a simple oral sentence in terms of communication with other English speakers. Canagarajach (2006) suggests that native speakers should be aware of worldwide varieties of English in which he describes the “ need to move between communities in our multidialectal world “ (p. 26). This suggests the idea mentioned earlier, that the combination of both native and non-native speakers of English is required for a successful learning. Inver of this, it would lead to gaining ‘excellent’ non-native speakers as competent and respected English teachers and maybe the possibility to achieve the same opportunities that are currently privilege of native speakers.