What if Non-Native Speaker meant…
I won’t sit here pretending, An opportunity denied was just the ending to the years and years of hardship and turmoil, simply because I was not born on the right soil. For who are they to deny my competence? To turn my linguistic repertoire into divergence, While claiming inclusivity, a key word, was what the […]
NNEST in 2023 available for REPLAY
The Workshop “NNEST in 2023 – a Global Overview” took place yesterday, 21st of January 2023, but will still be accessible for Replay for those who would like to watch it. I must warn you it is a little over 2 hours, but totally worth it! The themes covered were: ➡ Hiring practices in Europe […]
WHAT THE FUTURE LOOKS LIKE FOR NON-NATIVE TEACHERS
Six years have passed since Silvana Richardson’s eye-opening plenary gave an insight into how non-native teachers were struggling to find equal opportunities as native English speakers. Even though many field professionals are highly aware of the discriminatory behaviours of school employers, not much has changed in the job advertisements looking to hire unqualified native speakers over qualified professionals. It is a long battle which can be won only by raising enough awareness towards the preconceived notion of what constitutes being an English teacher.
The impact of Native Speaker ads in ELT
I will say it again, this time more clearly:
New English students don’t really know anything about teacher qualifications, what native speakerism is, the struggles that non native speakers face, or how good their teachers are.
The message for the longest time has been, native speaker teachers are good (meaning non native teachers are bad).
Hence, we find ourselves having to justify WHY we are English teachers at all, being born in so and so place, not speaking like Her Majesty.
The narrative has become counterproductive for students because they find themselves in a room with a native speaker and not a native or non-native TEACHER.