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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English

Language Teaching
Aaron David Screaton, M.Ed., LTCL

1. Introduction
This article has a twofold purpose; Firstly, it will call into question the primacy of native
speaker (NS) in English language teaching (ELT), by questioning the three main areas where
folklingustic beliefs about NS teachers continues to prevail;

- The belief that learners should seek to replicate NS models of language.

- The belief that NS teachers are the best guarantors of learner’s intelligibility when
communicating in English.
- The belief that young learners will acquire a native like competency in the language
simply by learning with an NS teacher.

Secondly, it will look at the abilities of non-native speaker (NNS) teachers who are largely
discredited in contrast to NS teachers, and discuss three strong standpoints explaining why
proficient NNS teachers have the potential to be superior ELT teachers;

- The ability to utilise the first language (L1) in the second language (L2) classroom to
structure, support and expediate learning and acquisition (this applies specifically to
local NNS teachers for whom their L1 is also the L1 of their learners).
- The capacity to empathise with the learner and share their own personal experiences of
learning the L2.
- A knowledge of the properties of the L2.

Additionally, some of the criticisms faced by NNS teachers with regards to their profiency and
teaching competency will be discussed. Ultimately this article will seek to reason that proficient
NNS teachers who have been properly trained are equipped to make pedagogical choices and
provide support for language learners, which are beyond the abilities of the average
monolingual NS teacher.

2. Questioning the Beliefs About NS Teachers in ELT

2.1 The Native Speaker as Target and Model of the Language

A NS teacher approached me recently with this question; “I need help convincing my

colleague, that Chinese English teachers are of the same value as we are when it comes to
teaching”. This question isn’t alarming because it raises yet again the longstanding wrangle of
NS vs NNS teacher effectiveness in the language classroom. Rather, the question itself is more
upsetting because it suggests that some NS teachers are openly discounting the abilities of their
NNS colleagues.

So, where does this false sense of self belief on behalf of some NS teachers stem from? It has
come about as of a result of the prevalent folklingustic belief in society as a whole, that learners
of a foreign or second language are better able to acquire a language when learning it from a
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

native speaker (Cook, 2008). The rationale behind this is based on the claim that native

speakers provide the best model of language (Ibid). Consequently, learners are expected to
strive and struggle in an effort to approximate their language competency with that of a native
speaker.

However, what if the legitimacy and feasibility of this goal for second language learners was
thrown into question? Additionally, what if it could be argued that not only are NNS teachers
of equal value to NS teachers in the classroom, but that in many respects they possess inherent
capabilities as bilinguals that bequeath them with tools and insights that give them an advantage
over NS teachers?

“It is a truth universally acknowledged that a student, intent on

acquiring English as a foreign or second language, must be in
want of a native speaking English teacher.”

I believe that this reworking of Jane Austin’s opening in Pride and Prejudice from over 200
years ago, fittingly provides the same literary irony in relation to people’s views about how
best second languages are learned today. It is the prevailing folklingustic wisdom amongst
parents, learners and teachers (usually NS ones) that learning English from a NS is necessary
for learners in acquiring the language. Nevertheless, we now know that not only is this not true,
but that it is more likely that learners will have greater success with their NNS teachers.

Firstly, we need to question the assumption that we should base our language teaching on the
native speaker model. If you ask yourself the question honestly, how many learners actually
achieve high levels of native-like profiency? The answer when pondered scrupulously is very
few. So then why do we allow our learners to set their hearts on a goal, that in reality is a very
unrealistic and unachievable one? Secondly, we need to think about what kind of users of the
language are learners going to be communicating with on a regular basis? Previously it was
thought that learners would be conversing mainly with native speakers, but world economics
have changed, and the geopolitical environment has shifted. In reality L2 learners are more
likely to be speaking with other L2 users (Parker and Graham, 2011). So, the argument that
native speakers are needed for their cultural insights as well as their native competency are
outmoded. L2 learners would be better off striving to emulate other proficient L2 speakers and
basing their language goals on an L2 user model.

The benefits to learners if they were to shift their focus in such a way would be twofold; Firstly,
L2 learners wouldn’t be burdened by the virtually unachievable goal of striving to become
native like, settling instead for a level of profiency that served their specific needs (e.g. English
for travel and leisure, would require a far lower level of profiency than say English for business
negotiation and enterprise). Secondly, learners wouldn’t be burdened with the task of having
to learn ‘proper English’. Quite often in my time as a teacher I have heard the nonsensical view
by some teachers about the importance of learners being able to master certain grammatical
syntax, such as subject verb agreements (even though without the precise command of these
forms, correct meaning is still easily conveyed), only to hear the rationale for such an insistence
as “but that’s just the way it’s supposed to be, that’s proper English”.
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

3.2 The Native Speaker as Guarantor of Learner Intelligibility

It is occasionally argued that the NS teacher is the best guarantor of a learner’s intelligibility.
Intelligibility at first might seem like a straight forward concept, being easily established by
asking the question, “Is the learner satisfactorily able to communicate and be understood by
other interlocuters?” But as Parker and Graham (2002, pp8) have suggested, we need to
consider the question of intelligibility to whom? As I have mentioned above, it is with
increasing probability that L2 learners will be using their English skills to converse with other
L2 users. So, does it stand to reason that L2 learners should still be working on making
themselves intelligible to NS speakers specifically? And, which NS should they focus on
exactly? English, North American, Scottish, Irish, Australasian?

How Accurate Does A Learner Have to Be,

Type of Listener Needed For Another Listener to Understand Them in
a Relaxed and Clear Way?

Gross Inaccuracy
Experienced Teachers of ESOL
Approximate Accuracy

Native Speakers of English

Near Mastery

Other Learners of ESOL

Mastery

Fig 1. Tolerance of Listeners and Accuracy Required to Be Intelligible (Adapted from Parker and Graham,
2002)

In the table above, Parker and Graham (2002, pp 9) share the idea of listener tolerance. They
claim the NS teacher has the developed ability to decode poorly realised pronunciation,
whether it be unconsciously or consciously, and are able reformulate the learner’s inaccurate
sounds or deviant features (Parker and Graham, 2002). It is also a skill that the average NS
possesses to some extent (Ibid). The crux of this argument then, is that NS teachers will at
times compensate for the L2 learners grossly inaccurate pronunciation. Conversely, NNS
teachers and other L2 learners will require the learner to produce near mastery/mastery levels
of pronunciation in order for them to be understood. In summary, the best guarantors of
learner’s intelligibility are not NS teachers or even NS, rather it is their NNS teachers and
peers who are less tolerant of their mistakes, and who demand higher levels of intelligibility
to be able to decode their message.
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

3.3 The Native Speaker’s Role in Young Learners Language Development

There is a prevalent belief that the earlier a person commences language learning with a NS
teacher, the more likely they are to acquire a native like profiency, chiefly a native accent
(Murphy, 2014). This assumption stems from the idea that young children are able to invoke
the mechanisms of implicit learning, which it is argued can lead to a native like developed
knowledge of the L2 (Ibid). Although this is partly true, age itself is not the only
condition/factor in determining this. As Murphy (2014) points out, it’s not that simple;

‘Establishing that there are age-of-acquisition effects in the L2

learning does not mean that we just have to teach or expose the
child to the L2 when they are young to guarantee successful L2
outcomes.’ (Murphy 2014, pp 17).

Indeed, simply being exposed to the language at a young age will not lead to the development
of native like levels of competency, rather it is also the amount and quality of input that learners
are exposed to on a regular basis as well. As Muñoz (2006) explains, young learners do seem
to favour and be favoured by implicit learning; however, it occurs slowly and requires ‘massive
amounts’ of exposure to L2 input.

English as a Foreign language English as a Second language

(EFL) (ESL)
Low level of input: typically, 1–3 High(er) level input: more than just
hours a week timetabled lesson a timetabled lesson

No/restricted opportunities outside Regular opportunities to use the

class to use the target language target language outside class

Focus is on language as a formal Focus is on content and language

system and as a subject integrated across the curriculum

Fig 2. Contrasting foreign and second language contexts (Adapted from Anne-Marie Pinter, 2002)

A problem then arises for learners in the EFL context as they generally only experience around
1 to 3 classes per week and have no exposure to the language outside of the classroom (See
Fig.2 above). As a result, they are exposed to insufficient amounts of L2 input averting the
invocation of mechanisms involved in implicit learning (Cameron, 2001; Pinter, 2011; Murphy
2014). Conversely, in ESL contexts learners are quite often learning multiple subjects through
the medium of English as well as being exposed to copious amounts of the L2 outside of the
classroom (Pinter, 2011). It would therefore be in the ESL context alone that the mechanisms
for implicit learning and the potential to acquire native-pronunciation are triggered (Muñoz,
2006). If we accept this reasoning, then the rationale for insisting on NS EFL teachers becomes
unsubstantiated, as their prized and unique ability (the native model of the language) is
ineffectual.
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

4. The Advantages of the Bilingual Non-Native Teacher in ELT

4.1 Utilising the L1 in the L2 Classroom

Avoidance of using the L1 has become universally accepted by almost all teachers in the L2
classroom, and this is implicit in most coursebooks and materials for EFL/ESL teaching
(Cooke, 2008). However, the reasons for this argument usually revolve around two points;
firstly, that children using their first language don’t have a previous language to fall back on

Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

yet acquire English with ease. Secondly, that the teacher should maximise the opportunity for
the learners to engage with the L2, thus an insistence on an L2 only environment is required.

The first point is not supported by second language acquisition (SLA) research (Cooke, 2008).
Although L2 acquisition is similar to L1 acquisition, in truth it deviates in some significant
ways (Spada & Lightbown, 2001; Cameron, 2001; Anne- Marie Pinter, 2011). Secondly,
banishing the L1 from the classroom altogether is taking it to the extreme. Although most
teachers would agree that maximising learners use of the L2 is important (this is because in
contexts like Asia, outside the classroom, learners have limited opportunities to engage with
the L2), this should not preclude the use of the L1 altogether (Cameron, 2001; Pinter, 2011).

Now it’s important to point out, that advocating the use of the L1 does not mean that we are
advocating in anyway a return to the dreaded days of the direct-translation-method. Rather we
are advocating its use by NNS local teachers to provide better explanations, provide critical
feedback and clarify any misunderstandings that might arise during a lesson. This is something
learners sorely miss out on with their monolingual NS teachers. Lastly, NNS local teachers can
utilise the L1 to organise tasks and activities that would usually be too complex to set up using
the L2 alone. Tasks and activities that are more complex in nature have been proven to result
in more complex language use, which in turn leads to higher levels of language acquisition
(Ellis & Shintani, 2015).

4.2 NNS Teacher Empathy as an L2 User

It wouldn’t be a far stretch to say that most NS speaker teachers are monolingual. Since the
proliferation of English throughout the world as an international language, native speaking
English countries have been less and less engaged in learning foreign languages. As Cooke
puts it;

‘The native speaker teacher does not belong to the group that the
students are trying to join – L2 users. They have not gone through
the same stages as their students and often do not know what it
means to learn a second language themselves’ (Cooke 2008, pp
187)

As a result, most NS teachers lack the capacity to sympathise with their learners when it comes
to the experience of having had to learn a second language. However, NNS teachers have gone
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

through the process of having had to learn English as a second or foreign language, and
therefore understand the difficulties learners will face along the way. This is especially the case
with NNS local teachers, as not only can they empathise with the learners about their language
learning experience, but they can also anticipate and diagnose specific L1/L2 related conflicts
as a result of being able to draw on both languages as resources.

4.3 A Knowledge of the Properties of English

It is a generalisation, yet it’s a generalisation that rings true. NS teachers are usually unaware
of how a language works, as Cooke succinctly puts it;

“Native speakers are not necessarily aware of the properties of

their own language and are highly unlikely to be able to talk
about its grammar coherently” (Cooke 2008, pp 187).

I recall a conversation I once overheard between an NS colleague and a learner after class. If
you have ever worked as an EFL/ESL teacher, I am sure you would have heard a similar
exchange;

Learner – “Teacher, if I can say do karate, do yoga and do

sports. Could I say do football?”.

NS Teacher – “Hmm, well we would say play football”.

Learner – “So Teacher, why do you say it in that way and not
the other way?”.

NS Teacher – “Hmm, well, I’m not really sure actually, I just

know that that’s the way we should say it”.

Before I go any further, at the time I heard this conversation I had only been teaching for around
12 months. I was also none of the wiser about how to resolve the learner’s concerns. However,
years later I now see how the explanation was not very helpful; firstly, the teacher didn’t
reassure the learner that although that particular collocation is not the usual register for these
combined lexes, they would still be understood by the other interlocuter. Secondly, they didn’t
provide the learner with the language knowledge that they needed to deal with the problem in
the future, which is that do, go and play collocate with verbs differently and giving them an
explanation about the specific rules of use. In contrast, NNS teachers (both those speaking the
learners L1 and those who cannot) are usually able to analyse English, breaking it down into
its component parts and explaining why things are used in particular ways. It’s not enough to
tell a learner ‘that’s just the way we say it’, they need to be provided with the tools to deal with
the problem in the future. By providing the learner with a meta-knowledge of the language, we
enable them to anticipate and figure out similar language related issues when they encounter
them again.
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

5. The Question of Bilingual NNS Teacher Competence

Notwithstanding the reasoning laid out above, there are couple of potential issues that need to
be discussed. Firstly, it is not uncommon for some NNS teachers to fall back on the use of the
L1, not as a result of strategic scaffolding, but because they are compensating for a perceived
lack of proficiency in their L2. This frequently leads to L1 dominated classrooms where the L2
is seldom utilised by the teacher and/or learners. Secondly, even though I have depicted an
image of the average local NNS teacher as wholly competent in EFL/ESL pedagogy, it must
be acknowledged that teacher education quality does differ from context to context at both a
local and national level. I will address both points.

In relation to the first point, it could be argued that a large proportion of NNS teachers simply
suffer from a lack of self-confidence in relation to their own oral production. Butler (2004)
surveyed NNS English primary teachers throughout a number of Asian countries and asked
them to self-report on any perceived gaps in competency. It is interesting that rather than
focusing on issues relating to classroom pedagogy, teachers self-reported oral fluency and
pronunciation as their greatest concerns (Butler, 2004). Is it really any surprise that NNS
teachers are so self-conscious about their oral skills, when curriculums and coursebooks
worldwide insist on the NS user as a language model?

In line with what has been stated above (see Section 2.1), it could be argued that shifting focus
to the ‘L2 user as model’ would also in turn lead to NNS teachers developing greater
confidence in their own oral abilities. Alleviated of the unrealistic expectation to match NS
competency, it is possible that teachers would slowly start to feel more confident, and as a
natural consequence be willing to utilise the L2 more often in their classroom. Following
through with this hypothesis, the next step would simply be a matter of instructing NNS
teachers on the appropriate uses of the L1 in the L2 classroom (see Section 4.1).

Lastly, even if we accept that from context to context teacher education varies in its quality as
does teaching standards, that still doesn’t detract from the fact that NNS local teachers who are
proficiently bilingual, possess the three characteristic abilities listed above (see Section 4).
These abilities alone endow them with the potential to reach learners in ways that monolingual
teachers cannot, and even with poor teaching skills considered, being bilingual still places them
on a pedestal. The overall solution to poor teacher education is simply be to improve in-service
teacher programs, and thus teaching quality in NNS teaching contexts. This initiative seems
far easier than the alternative, which would be to unrealistically expect monolingual teachers
to become proficient in their learners L1 so as to be on par with their bilingual colleagues in
the service they can provide learners.
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Questioning the Primacy of The Native Speaker in English Language Teaching

6. Conclusion

This article has attempted to put forward an alternative understanding of the average NS teacher
in ELT, by dismissing long-held assumptions by institutions, parents and learners with regards
to their capabilities. Firstly, the goal of becoming ‘native-like’ is an unrealistic one, with very
few learners ever achieving it. Secondly, most young learners don’t spend enough time with
NS teachers in the classroom or have access to enough comprehensible input outside of the
classroom to trigger the implicit learning mechanisms that could under some circumstances
lead to native like language development, this is especially in the case of EFL contexts. Finally,
NS are no longer the people that L2 users are going to be interacting with on regular basis,
rather in this ever growing and expanding globalised world, it is far more likely that they will
be interacting with other L2 users. NS will compensate for L2 users’ mistakes, whereas other
L2 users will not, therefore it makes sense that learners need to make sure they are intelligible
not to NS, but to other L2 users.

In contrast, the article has attempted to sketch a picture of NNS teachers as those with the
greatest potential to support, scaffold and build their learners language ability in the majority
of contexts. They possess the innate capacity to empathise with learners as they travel on their
journey, wading through difficulties and stretching to reach language milestones. This is
because they have walked that road before and so they know all too well how to navigate its
course. It has also been pointed out, that those who have learned English as a foreign or second
language, usually acquire a unique knowledge of the grammatical properties of the language
in a way that NS have not. This meta-awareness of the language in grammatical terms, allows
NNS teachers to zone in on learners’ problems and provide them with specific learning
encounters and/or explicit explanations to resolve any misunderstandings or concerns.

Lastly, and probably the most powerful tool in an NNS teacher’s arsenal (if the teacher speaks
the L1 of their learners) is the ability to use the L1 to support the growth and expansion of the
L2. It is a shame that institutions, parents and sometimes even learners themselves mistakenly
believe that avoiding L1 use altogether, is an essential ingredient in creating the optimal L2
classroom. A large number of researcher’s disagree with such a proposition, rather proposing
that teachers and learners be judicious in L1 use as opposed to promoting outright avoidance.
(Cameron, 2001; Cooke 2008; Bozorgian & Fallahpour, 2015; Ellis & Shintani, 2015).
The research itself suggests that rather than stifle L2 learning a balance between the use of the
L1 and the L2 has the potential to expediate language learning.
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