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Recruitment is a form of gatekeeping to the teaching profession, and nonnative-English-speaking teachers' (NNESTs') employability, in particular, has been a major concern for many researchers. In fact, bias favouring native speakers (NSs) without teaching qualifications over nonnative speakers (NNSs) with professional registration has been an acceptable recruitment practice in various contexts. The issue of hiring based on speakerhood in the TESOL profession

In the field of TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages), the emergence of studies and scholarly publications questioning the dichotomy between Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (NNESTs) has been gradually gaining momentum over the last 25 years. Tensions resulting from this dichotomy have contributed to the "NNEST movement" which seeks to problematise the contested categories of "NS" and "NNS" and to advocate for non-discriminatory practices in the TESOL profession. With the purpose of advancing the movement's research agenda and responding to the call for research into post-recruitment, context-specific situated experiences, this qualitative case study explores how the NEST/NNEST division plays out in the Preparatory Year Programs (PYP) in two KSA (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia) universities. A central part of this study is an investigation of the lived experiences of three groups of English teachers working side by side in these programs: NESTs, Saudi NNESTs and NNESTs from overseas, the latter in particular representing a largely under-researched group in the literature. Although this research does align with previous work within the NNEST movement, it goes beyond it in that English teachers, both NESTs and NNESTs, are negatively influenced by the discourses of native-speakerism, and they are not necessarily the ones to blame for this impact; they cannot be perceived as opponents and, most importantly, they cannot be restricted to the NEST/NNEST identities. This study draws on data from three sources: 25 online advertisements, 18 demographic profiles and face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 18 practicing teachers (six from each group). The analysis, interpretation and in-depth discussion of these data are articulated around three themes, each presented in a core chapter. First, Becoming focuses on recruitment strategies in the PYPs; second, Being centres on the participants' positioning within English teaching in the Saudi PYPs and the third and final chapter focuses on Reflecting and present teacher-participants' views on speakerhood. With respect to how job recruitment takes place in these programs, analysis of the data reveals discourses of inequity underpin many descriptions of job requirements in the Saudi PYP context. Ninety-two percent of the job advertisements analysed used speakerhood status or nationality as essential requirements, which indicates "unjustified" professional hierarchies. The most required qualification in these PYP job advertisements was CELTA (Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults). According to the analysis of the participants' opinions, CELTA appeared to replace the NS status requirement; that is to say, employers seemed to use this qualification rather than speakerhood in their hiring practices. However, CELTA does not escape criticism as an English teaching qualification and it will be argued that it acts as a colonialist tool in the ELT Publications during candidature "No publications" Publications in...

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In the field of Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL), studies and scholarly publications questioning the NEST/NNEST (Native-English-Speaker Teacher/ Non-native-English-Speaker Teacher) dichotomy have steadily increased over the last 25 years. This dichotomy has resulted in discriminatory practices against NNESTs, underpinning the contested assumption that native speaker status should be the gold standard in TESOL. This study explores how this problematic perception plays out in the specific context of the Preparatory Year Programs (PYP) in two Saudi universities. This study, based on the analysis of 18 teacher interviews, examines the lived experiences of university English teachers, both native and non-native, locally and internationally recruited, working in the same programs. This paper discusses two themes: the participants’ qualifications and their beliefs about the main reason why they were recruited. The data indicate that only a few teachers believe that being a NS is the main factor in being hired whereas the majority believe that qualifications are the most important requirements for job recruitment. As the most required and obtained certificate for English Language Teaching (ELT) in the PYP, The Cambridge Certificate in English Language Teaching to Adults (CELTA) does appear to replace the NS status requirement based on the participants’ opinions. However, CELTA does not escape criticism as an English teaching qualification. The study argues that buying into the CELTA requirement perpetuates colonialism in ELT.