 | native / non-native English speaking teachers |
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Hello everyone,
I went to TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) convention in NY. As I wanted to know what is happening in the TESOL field, I attended five plenary sessions out of eight. In summary, the major topic was “To become aware of the diversity of English, English learners and teachers, and think how to deal with it.” In this broad topic, native English speaking teachers (NEST) and (NNEST) non-native English speaking teachers’ issue drew my attention.
In one of the sessions, the speaker introduced some experiences of NESTs and NNESTs. A NEST taught in Korea and Oman. In both cases, she got experience of being refused by her students. The reason was assumed that she could not build commonalities with her students; she didn’t know the students’ culture or first languages. She decided to leave the countries before long.
Another story was about a NNEST who was an immigrant to the US when she was very young. She went to her primary school but she was not accepted by other students because she could not speak English. The only place she felt she was accepted was in her ESL class. She learned English very hard and became an ESL teacher. However the hardship she went through is still staying with her. It affected her identity so much.
The speaker introduced some more cases with the problematic issues. Then she suggested that all of the teachers learn from their experiences, and based on them, develop their own pedagogy to help their students learn English.
Right after listening to the speaker, I had a bit puzzled feeling. As for me, those issues were not major things in helping learners. However the next moment, I recalled one scene in my class about 8 years ago. In the beginning of a term, one of my Japanese students around early 20s said directly to me that he didn’t want to learn from a non-native English speaking teacher, me. As that was my first experience, I was shocked. I said to him, “Though I am a non-native speaker of English, I can help you learn English because I have experience of learning it. I know what is difficult for learners and how to overcome the difficulties. ” That was the best I could say. He was not happy at all. Since that day, I thought and thought. “What does it mean to be a non-native English speaking teacher? What can I do for my students?” “Is what I said to him really true? Am I really helping my students with my experiences as an English learner?” He showed me the reality of the students’ point of view. He gave me a big question of what I am.
Later, in studying the Silent Way, I have reached a conclusion that it doesn’t matter whether a teacher is native or non-native. What matters is if the teacher can help students learn efficiently or not. Actually a teacher needs to have eyes of both native and non-native speakers. It’s really demanding.
In teaching English, I need high proficiency. I strongly feel it when I’m giving feedback to my students’ production such as “What you said works” or “It doesn’t work,” in order to help students build criteria of a target. I sometimes cannot tell if it’s correct or not. I don’t have the intuition. I really wish to be a native English speaker. On the contrary, when I find my students having hard time to understand a target, often I can tell what prevents them from getting it. My experience as an English learner helps me.
On the other hand, in Japanese teaching, I’m a native Japanese speaking teacher. I have no problem in giving feedback to my students’ production. However, I do have difficulty to look at Japanese language from my students’ side. To make my Japanese level as basic as my students’ and find what is difficult is very hard. Also, analyzing Japanese is difficult.
To meet the demand, I need to overcome the difficulties in both sides. It would definitely help me subordinate my teaching to students’ learning. My challenge is be an efficient teacher beyond the level of native or non-native target language speaking teacher.
If you have thoughts on this topic, I would like to hear from you.
Michiko
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 | Re: native / non-native English speaking teachers |
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Hello again Michiko, I have just written in my previous post about the "trivia" of cultural differences. Of course, they are not trivial in the sense that they cause a lot of the problems we see in world today, but in the classroom they are totally irrelevant to the business of education. Teachers and students create a lot of unnecessary problems for themselves by paying attention to cultural issues. Your student 8 years ago was denying himself the opportunity of learning in the situation he was in. The question is not whether NESTs are or are not better teachers than NNESTs (supposing such a thing could be objectively measured) but what people believe to be the case. You present very clearly the objective advantages and disadvantages of NESTs and NNESTs. I'll put things in a more personal way: if I decided to continue learning Japanese, I would prefer to have a NEST Silent Way teacher but if I had to choose I would prefer a NNEST Silent Way teacher to a NEST non Silent Way teacher. In fact, where I live I only have the possibility of a NEST non Silent Way teacher so I haven't signed up for the class. I won't do so until I can put aside my wish for a NEST Silent Way teacher and be open to whatever the NEST non Silent Way teacher has to offer. All the best, Glenys |
 | Re: native / non-native English speaking teachers |
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I am very late to this thread, but that is because I am very late to this discussion board. I was very happy to learn of the board, by the way, and send my thanks to Glenys and anyone else who had a hand in setting this thing up. Back to the thread, I remember participating in a workshop led by Roslyn Young, where she asked us all if we thought it was possible to teach someone to ski even if we didn't know how to ski ourselves. That stuck with me. Then a couple years later, at the age of 43, I tried skiiing for the first time, and I concluded it wasn't possible. Skiing, that is, and therefore also the learning and teaching of it. But as the skiers zipped past me lying there on the mountain, I could see that it was indeed possible. Now, what about what Roslyn asked us? Well, I had such a hard time at skiing that I decided to change the focus to teaching, and then I refined and limited it a bit to, "Is it possible to teach English pronunciation if you do not have a 'native' command of English pronunciation?" Sure, as long as you don't make the assumption that you can model your way into students' heads and then out their mouths. As long as you don't assume that you've accomplished anything terribly significant by simply showing a student how well something can be said. Like this was an end in itself. I had a Japanese teacher for a very short time once who would simply not stop talking. I finally gave her a pointer and told her I was going to speak now, and if there was a problem she should just tap the table, and I would take it from there. I really just needed someone to listen to me and let me know where I was stumbling. I would much rather have a sensitive teacher who was very observant, and of course had the criteria in the target language to let me know where I needed help. Now, with skiing, the feedback was immediate. In learning Japanese, I don't have the benefit of that searing pain. I need a teacher who will can tell me when I've fallen or twisted my knee, and that teacher can be either a native speaker or not. Hope this makes sense to someone. |
 | Re: native / non-native English speaking teachers |
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Hi Don, and welcome to the discussion board. I'm glad you've found it –and us! I agree with Glenys, I would rather have a sensitive Silent Way teacher. For me, NEST or NNEST is of secondary importance. I went to non Silent Way Japanese lessons, (and, a different year, Russian lessons.) In both cases, I lasted only a few classes! It was more than I could take. I also tried to convert a non Silent Way Japanese teacher into a non-talking teacher, but that too was very difficult. Every time I made a mistake, she wanted to tell me the answer. I didn’t think to tell her she could only tap on the table, Don! Frankly, Michiko, I must admit I have very little confidence in the kinds of things that are said very seriously at TESOL conferences. The NEST teacher who was rejected by her students in both Korea and Oman might have just been a terrible teacher, after all. And the conclusion “she suggested that all of the teachers learn from their experiences, and based on them, develop their own pedagogy to help their students learn English” is so ordinary, so banal as to be totally useless, at least for me. And last of all, but by far the most important for me... I don’t speak perfect French, but I can definitely recognize it. I know what it is. When I teach French, I know what the students should be doing with themselves in order to sound French. If I spent my time modeling, of course it would not be good for them, as they would be trying to imitate a NNFST (non native French speaking teacher). When I teach French, I always remain silent whereas in an English class, I allow myself to speak sometimes. I am very rigorous abut this but less rigorous in English. Cheers to all, Roslyn PS Where was I in April when these postings were made? I must have been away from home, as I didn’t see them arrive. |