Native or Non-native speakers. Who are the better English teachers?

Hausarbeit , 2008 , 17 Seiten , Note: 1

Didaktik für das Fach Englisch - Sonstiges

In today’s globalised world language knowledge becomes more and more important for good and skilled communication. Especially the knowledge of one language – the world language English – is necessary to be competitive and able to communicate worldwide. The status of English as a world language is obviously due to its large amount of native speakers all over the world, but also its simplicity in grammar, structure and vocabulary makes it to one of the most important languages in the world.

There are approximately 380 million native speakers of English and more than 700 non-native speakers of English all over the world, which results in large parts of today’s communication taking place in English. Thus good English language knowledge is a precondition for many jobs and educations. This places great importance on today’s English language education. It has to be of high quality and learners have to acquire the language as good and as fast as possible. But who can perform the job of an English teacher best?

There has been lots of discussion in the past years about whether native or non-native speakers are better at language teaching. Due to globalisation also the amount of English teachers available is rising steadily. Today’s English teachers come from a broad range of different countries and thus have differing cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Those backgrounds have again influence on the teachers’ teaching styles and methods and their general understanding of the teaching context and their students. Moreover, today’s English teachers have different levels of knowledge of the target language and culture.

In this paper, I will thus have a look at the following question: Native speakers of English or non-native speakers of English – who are the better English teachers? Native speakers, on the one hand know their language perfectly, faultlessly and naturally. Non-natives on the other hand are more familiar with the students’ language learning process and have a better understanding of the learners’ needs. Thus, who is the ideal language teacher for the challenging task of teaching the world language English?

Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)

• Introduction
• Native or Non-Native?
  • Defining Native and Non-Native
  • Advantages and Problems of Native Speaker Teachers
    • Advantages of Native Speaker Teachers
    • Problems of Native Speaker Teachers
  • Advantages and Problems of Non-Native Speaker Teachers
    • Advantages of Non-Native Speaker Teachers
    • Problems of Non-Native Speaker Teachers
• My Study
  • The Questionnaires
  • The Participants
  • The Study
  • Analysis
• Conclusion
• Future Perspective

Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)

This paper examines the question of whether native or non-native speakers are more effective English language teachers. It explores the advantages and disadvantages of both types of teachers, drawing upon existing research and a personal study conducted by the author. The paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of the topic and contribute to the ongoing discussion on the best approach to teaching English as a global language.

• Advantages and disadvantages of native speaker teachers
• Advantages and disadvantages of non-native speaker teachers
• The role of cultural background and communication rules in language teaching
• The impact of the learning process on language acquisition
• The importance of understanding the students' needs and challenges

Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)

The introductory chapter establishes the context for the paper by highlighting the increasing importance of English as a global language and the growing debate surrounding the effectiveness of native versus non-native speakers as teachers. It then outlines the paper's structure and key arguments.

Chapter 2 delves into the definitions of native and non-native speakers, exploring the nuances of language acquisition and the distinctions between L1 and L2 learners. It then analyzes the advantages and disadvantages of both native and non-native speaker teachers, drawing on existing research and highlighting key arguments.

Chapter 3 presents the author's own study on the topic, describing the questionnaires used, the participant pool, the methodology employed, and the analysis of the results.

Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)

The main keywords and focus topics of this paper include native speaker, non-native speaker, English language teaching, L1 acquisition, L2 acquisition, cultural background, communication strategies, teaching methods, student needs, language proficiency, and language learning process. The paper explores the effectiveness of native and non-native speaker teachers in the context of English as a global language, examining their strengths, weaknesses, and the impact of their cultural and linguistic backgrounds on the learning process.

• Note: 1
• Autor: Svenja Christen (Autor:in)
• Erscheinungsjahr: 2008
• Seiten: 17
• Katalognummer: V140542
• ISBN (eBook): 9783640517893
• ISBN (Buch): 9783640517602
• Sprache: Englisch
• Schlagworte: English teachers, native vs non-native, language teacher