Transforming the Divide: Moving Beyond Native Speakerism in ELT
Keywords:
APSPBI, English language teacher competence, English Language Teaching (ELT), iTELL, Native Speakerism, NESTs, NNESTs, TEFLINAbstract
The field of English Language Teaching (ELT) deals not only with language teaching but also with the notion of identity and ownership of the language. While language holds the essence of the cultural and societal function that ties the community or nations together, the ideology of native speakerism continues to permeate ELT contexts and classrooms (Holliday, 2006). The dichotomy between Native-English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and Nonnative-English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) has been debated for decades as a highly contested topic in the ELT field (Harsanti & Manara, 2021; Holliday, 2005; Kumaravadivelu, 2016). Bias and sometimes prejudicial views on the English language teacher competence between NESTs and NNESTs are often manifested in the field. Preconceptions that view the expertise of teachers through this categorization, e.g., NESTs are considered experts in pronunciation and speaking, while NNESTs are considered proficient in reading, writing, and grammar, remain prevalent (Harsanti & Manara, 2021; Rasyid et al., 2023).
References
Harsanti, H. G. R., & Manara, C. (2021). “I have to teach the ‘English’ English”: Native-speakerism ideology among the English teachers. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i2.26379
Holliday, A. (2005). The Struggle to teach English as an International Language. Oxford University Press.
Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60(4), 385–387. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl030
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2016). The decolonial option in English teaching: Can the subaltern act? TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 66–85. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.202
Rasyid, F., Ibna Seraj, P. M., Ghofur, A., & Asrifan, A. (2023). Students’ Perception toward Teaching Strategies of Native and Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers: A Case Study in Indonesia. Education Research International, 2023, 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1155/2023/7827917
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