At Global LT, it’s our practice to hire instructors who have a native proficiency in the target language. We only hire teachers who hold professional degrees and most of the time that means we hire native speakers. Although, we know that non native foreign language teachers are just as valuable. In fact, all of the employees in our language department have studied one or more foreign languages, have spent time abroad, and some have experience as being a native (NS) or non native (NNS) language instructor. Recently, there has been research done on how students view both NS and NNS language instructors within the realm of ESL and even more recently, one large American University Spanish classes. Naturally, our interest was sparked by this subject matter.
In a few of the studies done in the field of English as a Second Language (ESL) (Cheung, 2002; Mahboob, 2001; Medgyes, 1992), NNS teachers were surveyed on how they perceived themselves as language instructors, in particular, if their “non native-ness” had any impact on the quality of language instruction. While most NNS teachers replied they believed they had some difficulties, they also believed very strongly in their overall ability to deliver quality instruction.
In the most recent American University study, published fall 2009 in Foreign Language Annals, the students, all NSs of English and enrolled in novice to advanced level Spanish classes, were asked the following research questions: 1. Do undergraduate students perceive NSs of Spanish as Superior to NNSs of Spanish with regard to their knowledge of the subject matter, their teaching ability, and their own learning potential, and does this vary across specific domains? 2. Do students’ perceptions vary depending upon proficiency level, previous or current instructor, or gender?
Percentages of Participants Who Perceived NSs as Preferable for Each Dependent Variable
Vocabulary Grammar Pronunciation Culture
Knowledge of
Subject matter 72% 43% 58% 70%
Teaching Ability * 25% 55% 66%
Learning Potential 43% 43% 67% 64%
*This cell is missing due to an error with the questionnaire.
Knowledge of subject matter - Participants in the study rated NSs on having a better knowledge of vocabulary (72% felt that way) and 70% felt that a NS had a better knowledge of pronunciation, 58% for culture, but only 43% preferred a NS’s knowledge of grammar. Teaching ability - There was a similar pattern occurring in this category: only 25% of students preferred a NS for teaching grammar, 55% pronunciation and 66% for the ability to teach culture. Learning potential - Surprisingly, only 43% of students said that they could learn vocabulary better from a NS. Similarly, only 43% said that they would prefer a NS for learning grammar. On pronunciation and culture, NSs scored higher, 67% and 64% respectively.
Proficiency level - Advanced level students were apt to rate NSs more highly than intermediate and novice level students. This is probably due to the fact that advanced level learners are more invested in becoming more “native like” therefore, they would find their experience with a NS more valuable. Previous or current instructor - Students were more likely to rate a NS more favorably on knowledge and teaching ability if they had or currently have classes taught by a NS. Gender - This variable was not a significant factor in rating instructors.
Conclusions - Overall, all students felt that both NSs and NNSs have strengths and weakness and that neither one is better than the other. NSs are generally seen as better sources for vocabulary, pronunciation and culture, besides being a better judge of “correctness” of any given segment of the target language. NNSs were perceived as being better teachers of grammar since they were taught explicit grammar rules and could impart learning strategies, as they were once students themselves. The authors of the American University research article, Tammy Jandrey Hertel and Gretchen Sunderman, conclude that, “the results of this study reinforce those of other research, showing that students appreciate NNS instructors’ ability to understand and teach grammar and to empathize with their language learning difficulties.” In all, this research shows that a preference should not be given to NS when hiring language instructors, and hopefully urges administrators to focus more on teaching ability when recruiting.
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