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The Native English Teachers (NETs) Scheme has been in place for over 20 years in secondary schools in Hong Kong and yet how students perceive these teachers is under-researched. This article reports a study which analyses student perceptions of the advantage and disadvantages of learning English from NETs and their non-native counterparts, local English teachers (LETs). Data were collected through semi-structured group interviews with 30 secondary students studying in three different schools in Hong Kong. Content data analysis was conducted, and main themes that emerged from interview transcripts were categorised. Results show that the perceived advantages of LETs include their proficiency in students' L1, their knowledge of students' learning difficulties, the ease students experience in understanding their teaching, and in communication. The perceived advantages of NETs are their good English proficiency and ability to facilitate student learning. The disadvantages of one category of teachers appear to be the reverse of the advantages of another. Data also show that some students experience anxiety when encountering NETs and tend to prefer certain teaching styles. This study has significant implications for classroom teaching practice and teacher professional development.A lthough there is a lack of substantial evidence to support the position that native-English-speaking teachers (NESTs) are better teachers, they enjoy a privileged and dominant position in English language teaching (ELT; ). The native speaker fallacy (Phillipson, 1992)-the belief that native speakers are ideal teachers-has resulted in nonnative-English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) being considered second-class citizens in the field of TESOL (Ellis, 2002;Rajagopalan, 2005). Incidents of students having concerns about being taught by a nonnative speaker are also evident

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