A MULTILINGUAL COMPARATIVE STUDY OF TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ON THE INFLUENCE OF NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE TEACHERS TOWARDS THEIR LEARNERS IN LANGUAGE CLASSROOM
DAHLIA SYAHRANI BINTI MD.YUSOF
PARAMESWARI SHUNMUGAM
Multimedia University
VIJAYAKUMAR VENGADASALAM
Multimedia University
RAJANDRAN PERESAMY
1. Introduction:
Many studies have been conducted comparing the effectiveness of native and non-native speakers of English teaching English language. Some have argued that native speakers are the best teachers since they are used to the language or have ownership towards the language. Some have also argued that any teacher with a formal training is a good, qualified teacher of the subject.
Much research has been done to compare the effectiveness of native and non native teachers teaching English. Yet, few attempts have been made to analyze the issue in a larger context or specifically, in a foreign language teaching context as a whole. Much less attempts have been made to compare the perception of teachers teaching English and teachers teaching other foreign languages.
2. Research objective:
This study aims to explore foreign language teachers’ perception on their influence towards their learners in the language classroom. It is to compare the perception of two groups of foreign language teachers in which the first group consists of 1 native speaker teacher teaching French and 1 native speaker teacher who is teaching Spanish and the other group consists of 2 non-native speaker teacher teaching English language.
3. Research Procedure:
This is a small scale study involving four foreign language teachers from
Two other teachers are non-native-speaker teacher (NNS) teaching English language. Both have formal qualification (M.Ed/B.Ed) to teach the language. One teacher has studied abroad prior to teaching and has 8 years experience of teaching English. However, her first three years of teaching English was done without formal training. The other NNS teacher obtained formal teacher training education from Universiti Kebangsaan
The teachers were asked to write down their thoughts and feelings on their experience as language teachers. They were asked to focus on how they might have influenced their students in the classroom. Several discussions were held to clarify some issues and gain deeper insights on their recorded experience. Comparison on similarities and differences were made and summarized in the findings.
4. Literature Review
For many years an antagonism has been created between native speaker teachers and non-native speaker teachers in teaching a target language. According to Harmer, J (2007:118) ‘many non-native speaker teachers have felt a sense of injustice and sometimes even inferiority at what they perceive as the assumed superiority of the native speaker’. Rajagopalan (2004: 114) mentioned in his book that ‘it was once assumed that there was some kind of inbuilt superiority for inner circle speakers of the language’. He added by saying that ‘this situation bred extremely enervating complex among many non-native speaker / teacher’. Initially, non-native speaker teachers were facing an uphill battle in teaching a second or foreign language. This group of teachers were not given an equal treatment and not allowed to be on par with the native speaker teachers even though they are as/more qualified than the native speaker teachers. NS teachers are given more privilege and stand better chances for in terms of career and personal development. NNS teacher are always treated as a “Second-class” citizen by the society. This is due to the ‘widely-held prejudice born out of ignorance about what teachers do and affect they can be expected to have on their students’ (Harmer, J.:2007:119). NNS teachers are always caught in the web of linguistic prejudisme where they are often seen as less capable and qualified to teach the target language as they are not the native user of the language. Their credibility to teach the target language would always be in doubt even though they have obtained sufficient educational training and paper qualification from reputable teaching institutions. Apart from that, they would also be overlooked when it comes to other benefits such as yearly bonus, rewards, oversea holiday trip and etc.
This scenario is ‘what Adrian Holliday calls as “native speakerism - which he describes as a ‘pervasive ideology within ELT, characterized by the belief that “native speaker” teachers represent a “Western Culture” from which springs the ideals both of the English language and English Language teaching methodology’ (2006:385) – still alive and well in some quarters, not least in the minds of some students as a mother tongue will somehow help them learn better’ (Harmer, J.:2007:119). Most students prefer to learn a second or foreign language from native speaker teachers because of their linguistic confidence on the teacher’s linguistic ability as they are the native speakers and first language user of the language. They feel more confident to learn from NS teachers because they believe that NS teacher would be better in providing the correct pronunciation with the actual accent and accurate linguistic knowledge (form) together with its function in the culture.
Unfortunately, they failed to realize that ‘the world is changing and English is no longer owned by anybody in particular, least of all the native speakers of the world who are in a minority which is becoming daily less significant – at least in numerical terms . It is clear therefore that any superiority that native speakers might once have had is rapidly becoming less sustainable. In the end, the value of a teacher depends not just on their ability to use a language, but also on their knowledge about that language and their understanding of how to facilitate both that ability and that knowledge in the minds of their students. This is not to suggest that there is anything intrinsically wrong with native-speaker teachers; on the contrary, good native-speaker teachers are worth their weight in gold. But then so are good non-native-speaker teachers, which is the whole point’ (Harmer, J. 2007:119).
5. Findings
Teacher Performance
All the teachers agree that regardless whether you are native or non native speakers of the language, you can teach effectively given that you have proper teaching qualification and educational training. However, at the advanced level, the NS teacher may contribute more to learning. Students at this stage have acquired all the basic knowledge of grammar and structure. Based on the NS teachers’ experience, students who have some advanced level proficiency of the target language would seek to improve their pronunciation and grammatical knowledge of the target language. In terms of pronunciation, they would aspect to obtain near-native accent or pronunciation. Native teachers might contribute most to this aspect.
Linguistic Competence
The NS teachers do not seem to feel superior over NNS teachers regarding their capability and skill to teach. However, they feel that students might benefit from their authentic accent. Nevertheless, they feel that accent may also vary from one location to another location. There is no one standard accent that one can actually call the standard that everyone can follow.
This is agreed by the NNS especially with regard to English language. Since English is used worldwide, the claim that British accent is the standard is also diminishing. The NNS teachers do not seem to feel inferior that they are not native speakers of the language that they teach. They both have formal training and both feel that they are competent users of the language with good knowledge in grammar and structures of the language. In fact, one NNS also feel that grammar is her source of pride and could be an advantage over NS without qualification who might teach the subject.
However, the French teacher added that knowledge of a foreign language teacher should encompass knowledge about the language (linguistic competence) as well as knowledge of how to use the language or communicative competence. A foreign language teacher should be able to explain the ‘how’s and ‘why’s of the language.
Cultural Competence
One contribution of native speakers as highlighted in the discussion is that a native speaker knows more about the culture of the language they are teaching. The theory of language as culture may be a central, important part of students’ language acquisition process. Since learning a language is similar to acquiring a different way of thinking, a native speaker would best demonstrate this.
The native speaker would become a model of a foreign identity that students might aspire to imitate. Students could mimic the tone, common expressions used, and perhaps the attitude of the teacher as one model of a native speaker. Moreover, the native speaker can also explain the history, significance of events, or activities in the culture. On the contrary, a non-native speaker may have to study the information.
Students’ expectation
The NS teachers found out that some students expect to learn the culture of the language or perhaps for its aesthetic value. For instance, the French lecturer found out that some students in her class wanted to learn French because the language is thought to be romantic or is the language of romance. The Spanish teacher also said that some student also expected to know part of Spanish culture through learning the language. They view the language to be beautiful due to their exposure to Latin dances and Latin movies. This means that there are students who felt that learning from a native speaker might give them access to part of the culture if not all.
One NNS teacher also found out that some of their students perceive that only native speakers should teach a language. With this expectation in learning a foreign language, they might think that only native teachers can fulfill that expectation. If this is what the students wish to obtain, then any other teachers may not reach that standard. Students’ hopes and expectation in learning the language may differ and affect teacher’s perceived performance.
On the other hand, English language students usually take the course to study the language as an international medium of communication. To achieve this objective, they may not feel that having a NS teacher to be so important. Any teacher competent in the language might perform well.
Confidence
The native speaker teachers feel that they are very confident teaching the foreign language since it is their mother tongue plus they know the methodology to teach. They also know almost anything regarding the culture of the people speaking the language. It is easy for them to tell the meaning of certain expressions without having to seek clarification elsewhere.
In contrast, one NNS feels comfortable teaching the language up to a certain level. She feels comfortable in explaining the meaning of certain expressions or teaching the language in context since she was taught in a native country setting. However, it was difficult for her to handle some queries on idiomatic expression or proverbs unless they were among those she knows. She would have to study more on idiom, proverbs and different types of expression in English to gain more confidence in the field.
Interestingly, one NNS who was trained abroad started teaching English without acquiring proper training in teaching the language. She taught using her experience of using and communicating in the language. Like native speakers without qualification, she had answered grammar questions based on her experience of living among native speakers. She admitted that without formal training, she had felt uncomfortable teaching Grammar to the students. Although she was proficient in the language, she could not answer many queries on the structure and technical details of the language. She became more confident only after she acquired a formal training. None of the other teachers went through this experience. The other teachers in the study had all obtained their formal training prior to teaching.
Knowledge of L1and L1 culture
One NS teacher feels that knowing the mindset and thinking styles of the local students is an added advantage. She would be able to understand the problems faced by the students make the learning process easier on students. An NNS teacher shares this viewpoint. For example, the NNS teacher relates her experience that Malaysian students often have difficulty in applying thesis statement in their essay. They normally do not write the thesis statement at the beginning of the essay. Often the main purpose of the essay is found at the end. The teacher then try to make students conscious that thesis statement is not part of the local culture. In their spoken L1, often their main point is put at the end not at the beginning. However, the teacher reminded the students that they have to carry a different mindset when learning English. This often makes the students more receptive with concepts in L2 that is different from their L1.
The French teacher feels that it is an advantage to know the L1 of the learner. This is because the teacher could translate some difficult words to help students understand the exact meaning of the word. The teacher can also translate some concepts into L1 so that students will not waste time understanding the concept when they have exactly the same thing in their L1. One NS also feels that students, especially at the beginning level, may be more comfortable learning from an NS since the teacher shares the same culture and might understand how they think and feel. A foreigner teaching the language might lead to stress or intercultural miscommunication. However, other teachers feel that translation should be kept to a minimum and not overdo it. Some students may take this for granted and might begin to expect translation most of the time.
Error Tolerance
In terms of error tolerance, the NNS teacher who has studied abroad is more relaxed and lenient when confronted with errors. Students are not frowned upon when they make grammatical mistakes. Very often she tried to understand the error from the learner’s viewpoint and then corrected it accordingly. This is influenced by her experience learning the language from native speakers who seemed to be more relaxed when dealing with errors.
Her viewpoint is shared by the Spanish teacher who feels that teacher’s attitude in the classroom should be conducive to learning. He feels that a language teacher should not make the students feel nervous or inadequate especially when making unintentional mistakes in the language.
Other aspects
An advantage of being NNS is the teacher could easily relate to students experience of learning the language. They have gone through the process of being bilingual and could know some of the problems faced by the learners of the language. It could help reduce students’ anxiety level.
On the other hand, a native speaker could easily demonstrate the correct diction, pronunciation and usage of the language. Students who enjoy authentic usage of the language could benefit from a native speaker teacher more than a non-native speaker teacher. However, basic level students may not benefit from this since they are still struggling with how to form correct sentences and getting the right choice of words. They might want to worry about acquiring the accent later.
Even though native vs non-native speaker teaching language subjects is an issue being explored, an important aspect to be looked into is on whether the learners are meeting the teachers’ expectation towards effective learning. One important question to be asked is “Do the learners have the opportunity to learn as of their learning preferences for an effective learning?”. This is where the learning styles’ issue plays its role to be explored and understood by the teachers who teach language or any other subject.
There are 8 learning styles as explored by Felder-Silverman (1988), which are active, reflective, sensing, intuitive, visual, verbal, sequential and global learning. An NS or NNS teacher may be an expert in the area of the language that they teach, but the content of the teaching must reach the learner in an appropriate manner to ensure that they understand and learn effectively. To achieve this, the NS or NNS teacher must understand the learners need or learning preferences and prepare the teaching materials which will ensure that the learners learn effectively.
6. Conclusion
Based on the study, it could be agreed that students in the beginner or intermediate level are more concerned with linguistic competence. At this level, teachers who are native or non native would be effective teachers as long as they have formal training in the language.
However, at the advanced level, many students may prefer the native teacher over the non-native simply because they expect to know some part of the culture other than acquiring the communicative competence in the language. The advanced level students might also benefit more from native speakers since they now demand extensive details on use and usage of the language. Some of them also may be keen to acquire near-native accent and pronunciation.
The teachers in the study perceive themselves to be confident in teaching their respective language be they native or non-native. They feel that they have the competence to teach the language since they all have formal training in teaching. Teachers from both groups agree that they have their own strengths and weaknesses and can contribute to students learning in their own different way.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Arva, V and Medgyes, P. 2000. Native and non-native teachers in the classroom. System 28: 355-372
Harmer, J. 2007, The Practice of English Language Teaching (4th Edition)
Llurda, Enric. 2004. Non-Native-speaker teachers and English as an International Language. International Journal of Applied Linguistics. 14 (3) pp 314-321
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