Implicit attitudes towards native and non-native speaker teachers

Todd, Richard Watson; Pojanapunya, Punjaporn

doi:10.1016/j.system.2008.08.002

Cited by 66 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…In other words, students are asked to compare their teachers based on a set of linguistic attributes such as accent, pronunciation, and grammar knowledge with NEST and NNEST labels. Todd and Pojanapunya (2009) argue that there might be differences between students' explicitly stated preferences for NESTs or NNESTs and their implicit attitudes toward these teachers. In this realm of research, even though teachers' linguistic abilities are important, we must also focus on the professional and personal qualities of teachers rather than the observable linguistic differences between them.…”

Section: Esl Students' Perceptions Of Nests/nnests In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Are They Really “Two Different Species”? Implicitly Elicited Student Perceptions About NESTs and NNESTs

Aslan

Thompson

2016

TESOL Journal

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The native/nonnative-English-speaking teacher (NEST/NNEST) dichotomy has received much attention in the English language teaching profession. Although research shows that NESTs and NNESTs have different perceived strengths regarding English proficiency, personal characteristics, teaching behavior, and approaches to teaching English, more research is needed to discover learners' situated perceptions about teachers of English as a second language (ESL) in the classroom. A population of ESL students (N = 76) studying in a university-level English language program completed a semantic differential assessment scale that consisted of adjective pairs (e.g., approachable vs. unapproachable). Without being prompted by the NEST and NNEST labels, the students who were taught by either an NEST or an NNEST implicitly described their teachers' attitudes toward students, teaching style and practice in the classroom, and personality. Independent t-tests conducted on the scores for adjective pairs revealed that the NEST/NNEST status did not cause significant differences in students' perceptions, suggesting that NESTs and NNESTs are perceived as equals in the eyes of the students. The study has implications for language teachers and program administrators and promotes teacher empowerment and collaboration.

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Section: Esl Students' Perceptions Of Nests/nnests In the United Statesmentioning

confidence: 95%

Are They Really “Two Different Species”? Implicitly Elicited Student Perceptions About NESTs and NNESTs

Aslan

Thompson

2016

TESOL Journal

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“…However, perceptions of English language nativity within Japan often rely upon a narrow band of non‐linguistic factors such as aspects concerning physical appearance. As Watson‐Todd and Punjaporn (2009: 23) recognize, “there is a broad social and commercial preference for native speaker teachers which may also involve racial issues.” Focusing on the English conversation school industry, McVeigh (2002: 167) claims that “the advertising tactics of many commercial English schools rely on superficialities to attract customers (images of ‘foreign’ blue‐eyed and blonde women smiling, well dressed, and handsome men),” thus promoting the belief that English language interaction requires an interlocutor who fits a set of pre‐defined racially based criteria. This lingua‐racial profiling, despite being very apparent is somewhat illusive in that most educational institutions are unable or unwilling to define the parameters of the native‐speaker label despite making it a central criterion for employment.…”

Section: Language Contact and Native‐speaker Dependencementioning

confidence: 99%

Intercultural processes in accented English

Rivers

2011

World Englishes

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This study assessed the attitudinal responses of 48 Japanese university students towards 10 accented English speech samples across nine evaluative criteria. Of the 10 samples, one was a JapaneseEnglish speech sample (the intracultural familiar), seven were non-native-English samples originating from a variety of Asian countries (intercultural others), and two were native-English samples originating from America and England (preferred intercultural others). Framed within socio-psychological intergroup theories of identity, and current debates concerning English as a Foreign Language (EFL), the results indicate that although the students favoured the native-English speech samples, they were generally unsuccessfully in identifying where the speaker of each speech sample originated. This paper contends that the native English speech samples were afforded a kind of quasi-ingroup status among the Japanese students, while the non-native Asian speech samples were positioned firmly within a distant outgroup category. The results are discussed in relation to the development of positive intercultural relationships, the domestic presence of the foreigner and the implications for the future of ELT within Japan.

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“…Numerous empirical studies have highlighted the unequal standing of qualified NESTs and NNESTs in the labour market in particular regions of the world (Jeon and Lee 2006;Watson-Todd and Pojanapunya 2009;Kubota 1998) and the importance of accent during the teaching careers of NNESTs (Callahan 2006;Clark and Paran 2007;Hertel and Sunderman 2009;Sierra 2002, 2005;Mahboob et al 2004). In the context of Gulf countries such as Oman, both during the recruitment process and once hired, having or cultivating a native-sounding accent (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Recognising English accents in the community: Omani students' accent preferences and perceptions of nativeness

Buckingham

2014

Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development

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Cataloged from PDF version of article.Previous research has revealed that although EFL students may claim to prefer British/US accents they often have difficulty identifying them, especially when such accents may differ from 'standard' accents presented in ELT materials. In the Gulf, English is widely used as a lingua franca or as a second language by the large expatriate workforce. Particular accents in English characteristic for L1 speakers of Arabic or South Asian languages are commonly heard in the education and service sectors. This study investigates whether Omani university students are able to distinguish between native English speaker (NES) and non-native English speaker NNES EFL teachers' accents commonly heard in their educational context and their evaluations of these accents as pedagogical models. Specifically, the study seeks to ascertain whether a relationship exists between students' assumptions regarding the NES status of an EFL teacher and their evaluations of the teacher's accent as a suitable model for pronunciation. Results show that, in most cases, a moderate to strong correlation exists between these two variables, particularly among students who claim that having a NES teacher is desirable for the purpose of improving pronunciation

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Implicit attitudes towards native and non-native speaker teachers

Cited by 66 publications

References 25 publications

Are They Really “Two Different Species”? Implicitly Elicited Student Perceptions About NESTs and NNESTs

Are They Really “Two Different Species”? Implicitly Elicited Student Perceptions About NESTs and NNESTs

Intercultural processes in accented English

Recognising English accents in the community: Omani students' accent preferences and perceptions of nativeness

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