NNEST
Encyclopedia
NNEST or non-native English-speaking teachers is an acronym that refers to the growing body of English language teachers who speak English as a foreign or second language. The term was coined to highlight the dichotomy between native English-speaking teachers (NEST
) and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNEST).
Issues related to NNESTs attract the attention of language teachers, language specialists, teacher educators, and graduate students from all over the world. TESOL (Teachers of English to the Speakers of Other Languages) organization has a NNEST Interest Section http://nnest.asu.edu. Two local TESOL
affiliates in North America
, WATESOL (Washington Area TESOL) and CATESOL
(California TESOL) have NNEST entities.
is defined as “the first language a human being learns to speak is his native language; he is a native speaker of this language” by Leonard Bloomfield
. Later on, theoretical linguistics
realm placed native speaker
construct into an idealized position and assumed that native speaker
is the only reliable source of linguistic data by formulating the construct that of an “ideal speaker-listener, in a completely homogenous speech community”, as defined by Noam Chomsky
. Since then, the construct has been critically discussed in the field of English language teaching. Some of the researchers argued that second language acquisition
research under the dominance of idealized native speaker model creates a “monolingual bias in second language acquisition
(SLA) theory”, and “elevates an idealized native speaker above a stereotypical ‘nonnative’ while viewing the latter as a defective communicator, limited by an underdeveloped communicative competence”. On the other hand, it was further argued that the native speaker
“exists only as a figment of linguist’s imagination” and concluded that it is “more like a myth than a reality”.
-non-native speaker dichotomy was blended with the growing body of literature discussing the unfair treatment and marginalization of non-native English-speaking teachers in the ELT
profession. Robert Phillipson
(1992) formulated "native speaker fallacy", which suggests that the ideal teacher of English is a native speaking teacher. Being a non-native speaking teacher was considered to be a distinct quality by George Braine (1999) who argued that “the very fact that non-native speakers of a language have undergone the process of learning a language makes them better qualified to teach the language than those who are born to it”.
The inappropriateness of discriminatory practices against NNESTs in English language teaching profession was highlighted by George Braine (1999) as follows:
Peter Medgyes (1994) characterized native English-speaking teachers as informal, flexible, and confident and characterize NNEST as follows :
A number of edited volumes were published on issues related to NNESTs.
based on the dichotomy.
Below are some of the alternatives to replace the term “NNEST”:
Discriminatory practices against NNESTs in English language teaching generated a series of institutionalized anti-discriminatory practices such as “Statement on Nonnative Speakers of English and Hiring Practices” and “Position Statement against Discrimination of Nonnative Speakers of English in the Field of TESOL”. In addition, it was decided in ASEAN 2005 Conference to establish “Centers for English Language Training” in South-East Asian countries to support local solutions to local needs by means of local tools.
, Enric Llurda, Ahmar Mahboob
, Aya Matsuda, Paul Kei Matsuda, Peter Medgyes, Suhantie Motha, Lucie Moussu.
NEST
NEST is an abbreviation for one of the following:*The Nuclear Emergency Support Team, a team "prepared to respond immediately to any type of radiological accident or incident anywhere in the world"....
) and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNEST).
Issues related to NNESTs attract the attention of language teachers, language specialists, teacher educators, and graduate students from all over the world. TESOL (Teachers of English to the Speakers of Other Languages) organization has a NNEST Interest Section http://nnest.asu.edu. Two local TESOL
TESOL
TESOL may refer to:* The acronym "Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages", used in English as a Foreign or Second Language * TESOL Inc., a professional organization based in the United States for people working in this field...
affiliates in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
, WATESOL (Washington Area TESOL) and CATESOL
CATESOL
CATESOL is the independent California and Nevada affiliate of TESOL International Association, a global nonprofit devoted to advancing excellence in English language teaching.- Mission statement :...
(California TESOL) have NNEST entities.
Native Speaker vs. Non-Native Speaker Dichotomy
Historically speaking, native speakerNative Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
is defined as “the first language a human being learns to speak is his native language; he is a native speaker of this language” by Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield
Leonard Bloomfield was an American linguist who led the development of structural linguistics in the United States during the 1930s and the 1940s. His influential textbook Language, published in 1933, presented a comprehensive description of American structural linguistics...
. Later on, theoretical linguistics
Theoretical linguistics
Theoretical linguistics is the branch of linguistics that is most concerned with developing models of linguistic knowledge. The fields that are generally considered the core of theoretical linguistics are syntax, phonology, morphology, and semantics...
realm placed native speaker
Native Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
construct into an idealized position and assumed that native speaker
Native Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
is the only reliable source of linguistic data by formulating the construct that of an “ideal speaker-listener, in a completely homogenous speech community”, as defined by Noam Chomsky
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky is an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, and activist. He is an Institute Professor and Professor in the Department of Linguistics & Philosophy at MIT, where he has worked for over 50 years. Chomsky has been described as the "father of modern linguistics" and...
. Since then, the construct has been critically discussed in the field of English language teaching. Some of the researchers argued that second language acquisition
Second language acquisition
Second-language acquisition or second-language learning is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the name of the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process...
research under the dominance of idealized native speaker model creates a “monolingual bias in second language acquisition
Second language acquisition
Second-language acquisition or second-language learning is the process by which people learn a second language. Second-language acquisition is also the name of the scientific discipline devoted to studying that process...
(SLA) theory”, and “elevates an idealized native speaker above a stereotypical ‘nonnative’ while viewing the latter as a defective communicator, limited by an underdeveloped communicative competence”. On the other hand, it was further argued that the native speaker
Native Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
“exists only as a figment of linguist’s imagination” and concluded that it is “more like a myth than a reality”.
Status of NNESTs in ELT Profession
Problematic nature of the native speakerNative Speaker
Native Speaker is Chang-Rae Lee’s first novel. In Native Speaker, he creates a man named Henry Park who tries to assimilate into American society and become a “native speaker.”-Plot summary:...
-non-native speaker dichotomy was blended with the growing body of literature discussing the unfair treatment and marginalization of non-native English-speaking teachers in the ELT
ELT
- Science and technology :* Emergency Locator Transmitter, a type of distress beacon used in aircraft* Extremely Large Telescope, a type of telescope...
profession. Robert Phillipson
Robert Phillipson
Robert Phillipson is Research Professor at Copenhagen Business School's Department of English. He is perhaps best known for writing Linguistic Imperialism and English-Only Europe?: Challenging Language Policy...
(1992) formulated "native speaker fallacy", which suggests that the ideal teacher of English is a native speaking teacher. Being a non-native speaking teacher was considered to be a distinct quality by George Braine (1999) who argued that “the very fact that non-native speakers of a language have undergone the process of learning a language makes them better qualified to teach the language than those who are born to it”.
The inappropriateness of discriminatory practices against NNESTs in English language teaching profession was highlighted by George Braine (1999) as follows:
"...highly ironic, considering the profession’s strident championing of multiculturalism, diversity, and other sociopolitical causes, often on behalf of ESL students and immigrants. Although ESL students are praised and admired for the multiculturalism and diversity they bring into language classes, non-native English teachers, who can contribute their rich multicultural, multilingual experiences, are often barred from the same classes."
Peter Medgyes (1994) characterized native English-speaking teachers as informal, flexible, and confident and characterize NNEST as follows :
- good role models
- effective provider of learning strategies
- suppliers of information about the English language
- better anticipators of language learning difficulties
- sensitive to language learners’ needs
- facilitators of language learning as a result of shared mother tongue
A number of edited volumes were published on issues related to NNESTs.
Advantages of using the term “NNEST”
There are basically two arguments that support the use of term "non-native English-speaking teachers". First, it is believed that the term is necessary to distinguish between native and non-native English-speaking teachers as well as strengths attributed to these groups. Second, it is also believed that the term is necessary to highlight the discriminationDiscrimination
Discrimination is the prejudicial treatment of an individual based on their membership in a certain group or category. It involves the actual behaviors towards groups such as excluding or restricting members of one group from opportunities that are available to another group. The term began to be...
based on the dichotomy.
Disadvantages of using the term “NNEST”
Opponents of the term argue that “differentiating among teachers based on their status as native or nonnative speakers perpetuates the dominance of the native speaker in the ELT profession and contributes to discrimination in hiring practices” (Maum, 2002).Below are some of the alternatives to replace the term “NNEST”:
- Anglophone Teachers of English
- Bilingual Speaking Teacher (BEST)
- Legitimate Teacher of English
- Transnational English Teacher
- Translinguistic English Teachers
- Multilingual/Multicultural English-speaking Teachers
- Diverse English-speaking Teachers
Discriminatory and Anti-discriminatory Practices
Despite the fact that today, about 80% of English language teachers in the world are non-native English-speaking teachers, English is no longer considered to be an exclusive possession of native speakers, and it “belongs to all people who speak it, whether native and nonnative, whether ESL or EFL, whether standard or non-standard” (Norton 1997), NNESTs encounter discriminatory practices all around the world. There have been several research studies exploring the hiring preferences of administrators which empirically demonstrated the importance of ‘nativeness’ as a job requirement. In addition, online job repositories such as Dave’s ESL Café, Chronicle of Higher Education, or TESOL’s Online Career Center host job advertisements which include ‘nativeness’ as a job requirement.Discriminatory practices against NNESTs in English language teaching generated a series of institutionalized anti-discriminatory practices such as “Statement on Nonnative Speakers of English and Hiring Practices” and “Position Statement against Discrimination of Nonnative Speakers of English in the Field of TESOL”. In addition, it was decided in ASEAN 2005 Conference to establish “Centers for English Language Training” in South-East Asian countries to support local solutions to local needs by means of local tools.
Topics of interest
Issues related to NNEST include but not limited to:- Discriminatory hiring practices against NNESTs
- Discriminatory practices in the workplace against NNESTs
- Perceptions of and attitudes towards NNESTs (by their NEST counterparts, by administrators, by their students)
- NNESTs' self perceptions (in-service NNESTs and pre-service NNESTs)
- Teacher educationTeacher educationTeacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom, school and wider community....
and empowerment of NNESTs - NEST – NNEST Collaboration
- World EnglishesWorld EnglishesWorld Englishes refers to the emergence of localised or indigenised varieties of English, especially varieties that have developed in nations colonised by Great Britain or influenced by the United States...
perspectives in NNEST research - Applications of Critical Race TheoryCritical race theoryCritical Race Theory is an academic discipline focused upon the intersection of race, law and power.Although no set of canonical doctrines or methodologies defines CRT, the movement is loosely unified by two common areas of inquiry...
in NNEST research
Prominent researchers on NNEST issues
Brock Brady, George Braine, Suresh Canagarajah, Lia Kamhi-Stein, Ryuko Kubota, Jun LiuJun Liu
Jun Liu is an award-winning Chinese-American statistician. He received the COPSS Presidents' Award in 2002. He is a professor in the Department of Statistics at Harvard University and has written many research papers and a book about Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithms, including their...
, Enric Llurda, Ahmar Mahboob
Ahmar Mahboob
- Introduction :Ahmar Mahboob was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and received his early training in English literature and linguistics from Karachi University. Ahmar earned his PhD at , Bloomington, in 2003, with a dissertation on Status of nonnative English speakers as ESL teachers in the United States...
, Aya Matsuda, Paul Kei Matsuda, Peter Medgyes, Suhantie Motha, Lucie Moussu.