Do you want only a 'native speaker' of English to teach you the language?
Well, it might not be the best way to learn:
Robert Phillipson (1992) formulated "native speaker fallacy", which suggests that the ideal teacher of English is a native speaking teacher.[9] NNEST - Wikipedia
Native-speakerism is a pervasive ideology within ELT, characterized by the belief that ‘native-speaker’ teachers represent a ‘Western culture’ from which spring the ideals both of the English language and of English language teaching methodology (Holliday 2005). Native-speakerism | ELT Journal | Oxford Academic
Though the term NATIVE SPEAKER/SIGNER is frequently used in language research, it is inconsistently conceptualized. The Problematic Concept of Native Speaker in Psycholinguistics: Replacing Vague and Harmful Terminology With Inclusive and Accurate Measures - PMC
This is from an excellent piece by Meri Maroutian in the latest E L Gazette:
Native speakerism: hiding behind privilege
The Italian Ministry of Education claims that English as a mother tongue can only be claimed by a person who has completed secondary education in an English-speaking country, and this is a requirement that many public and private schools adopt when hiring an English teacher to join their institution...
The issue of native speakerism perpetuated by governments is often swept under the rug and not just in Italy. The South Korean Language Assistant scheme acknowledges native speakers only; while in Spain, holders of a Spanish passport are not eligible. As stated on the British Council website, “UK undergraduates required to take a year abroad as part of their studies are prioritised for posts”..
To give yet another blatant example, the British Council itself has an English Assistants programme, all set up and ready, where all you would need to do is self-assess your English productive and receptive skills to a C2 on the CEFR. The ad for this programme is clearly directed towards 18-year-old undergraduates with UK passports who are willing to travel overseas to gain life experience and discover their career paths...
This programme has been running for over a century and is the epitome of the privileged status that some, definitely not all, native speakers still hide behind when they advertise themselves as skilled professionals of the language they have been speaking since childhood and therefore consider themselves better at than anyone, including those who have achieved a degree in English literature, language or linguistics..
Because not all native speakers are equal – in East Asia, job adverts for language teachers often state ‘Caucasians only’, directing our attention to how race is perceived in ELT. Language schools consider white teachers ‘more native’ than, say, a black candidate from the US, and this is the same reason why teacher candidates are often asked impertinent questions such as, “Where are you really from?”, or “Where are you originally from?”, as though we were still looking at nationalities through the lens of colour...
... if we want to change the industry of education and people’s mindset towards the importance of the role of an English teacher, as opposed to someone coming from an Inner Circle country as defined by Braj Kachru (1985), ie, the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Kachru’s concentric circles represent the distribution of English across the globe. The Inner Circle represents those countries where English is the primary language, while the Outer Circle and Expanding Circle depict those countries with British colonial ties and those where English is taught as a foreign language in education, respectively.
We must understand that the Inner Circle countries are not the sole providers of the correctness of the English language and we must stop them from advertising themselves as the sole providers of English services. To quote Widdowson, “How English develops in the world is no business whatever of native speakers in the United States, United Kingdom or anywhere else. It is not a possession which they lease out to others, while still retaining the freehold. Other people actually own it”...
Even though I am as glad as the next person to see minor shifts and inclusivity in student textbooks, I still do not see how a talk on how English is now a global language or a reading text on English as a lingua franca can mend what has been perpetuated for so long and is still preventing us from actual growth on a human level.
Native speakerism: hiding behind privilege | E L Gazette
Meri Maroutian - Parma, Emilia Romagna, Italia | Profilo professionale | LinkedIn
No comments:
Post a Comment