Tuesday 5 April 2022

what is a native speaker teacher of english?

Last month, a teacher of English at a private language school won a court case:

“Germany’s highest labour court decided in 2017 that the term native speaker constitutes discrimination as it indirectly relates to somebody’s ethnic origin,” her lawyer, Patrick Mustu, told the Gazette. “For our case, the question left was whether a language school could justify it because of the nature of the job. “

A winning argument | E L Gazette

There are a lot of issues around 'who makes the best English language teacher'.

Unfortunately, there are issues around race:

Native English speakers who are of Asian descent or candidates with Asian looks will NOT be consideredNative English speakers (Caucasians ONLY) from the UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada need apply
Who is a native speaker of English?- eChinacities Answers | answers.echinacities.com

This paper argues that the English Language Teaching (ELT) industryoften does not treat all speakers of English as equal in its hiring practices.Rather, it gives preferential treatment to White native speakers of English.
Racism in the English language teaching industry | Ahmar Mahboob - Academia.edu

Jay Doubleyou: what is a 'native speaker' of english?

Jay Doubleyou: what is a 'native speaker' of english? the issue of race...

There are more Nigerians who speak English than British:
Can a Nigerian be classified as a Native English speaker? - Yahoo! Answers
Nigerian English - definition and examples of Nigerian English

And 'Indian English' is becoming a rival to American English:
Indian English - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Indians beat English at their language - Times Of India
India's New 'English Only' Generation - NYTimes.com

Jay Doubleyou: what's a 'native speaker' of english? part two

But who's language is it anyway?

The bottom line is that we need to start thinking past who owns English, and what a desirable accent sounds like, and recognise that language proficiency is much more than accent. Likewise, teaching proficiency is much more than the language background of a teacher. The best teacher is the one that understands teaching and learning, speaks the language of the school with mastery (disregarding accent) and loves their job.

The myth of the 'native-speaker' teacher

Jay Doubleyou: who owns english?

Finally, do 'native speakers' speak the best English?

Jay Doubleyou: do the english speak english the best?

Jay Doubleyou: why do scandinavians speak such good english?

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