<p>English as a global language is learned worldwide and a plethora of methods and approaches have been developed and practiced in English classrooms by dedicated teachers and students. Understanding the underlying theories of second and foreign language acquisition and learning will help both teachers and students in learning and teaching a target language. There has not been many research conducted in the area, especially within Indonesian context. This research therefore attempts to fill in gaps in a way that it provides sufficient discussion of the theories and practice in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Indonesia in its conjunction with the second and foreign language acquisition theories. Twenty eight students specializing in teacher training participated in the research and two distinguished data collection methods were utilized; survey and interview. The results show that the students are not consistent with their opinions concerning the theories of second or foreign language acquisition and learning in relation to the mastery of English as a foreign language in Indonesia.</p><p> </p><p>Keywords: language learning, language acquisition, ELT</p>

The field of English language teaching (ELT) has long been a fertile soil for native-speakerism where the native English teachers (NESTs) enjoy the privilege to be crowned as the ideal teachers of the language.  Such belief is ingrained in all aspects of ELT including English language testing such as in International English language Testing System (IELTS), where the presence of non-native English examiners is extremely rare. Departing from this phenomenon, this study, conducted as a narrative case study, embarked to counter such claim by looking into the professional credentials and experiences of three non-native English teachers (NNESTs) who, against all odds, become official IELTS examiners in Indonesia. The data of the study were gathered through interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings show that the participants develop native-like level of fluency as the result of their investment in developing English skills through engaging in English mediated communication, interactions and learning in private English language institutions (PELIs). Moreover, their success is also attributed to their international teaching certificates which opened doors for them to compete with NESTs. Thus, this study seeks to inspire NNESTs to continuously develop their teaching credentials and to boost their confidence as legitimate teachers of English.