Employment of English Language Teachers in an EFL Context: Perspectives From School Administrators

This paper presents a study on the employment criteria used by school administrators and their views on the strengths and weaknesses of local teachers and expatriate teachers. This study aimed to provide a perspective on the issue from an English as a foreign language context. Questionnaires collected from administrators of 94 private primary and high schools in Istanbul were analyzed. Although being a native speaker of English ranked seventh out of the eight criteria, the presence of expatriate teachers in a school was considered important. In addition, participants from schools that employed both expatriate and local teachers attributed more importance to the native-speakerness criterion. Finally, administrators found local teachers more knowledgeable in teaching methods, whereas expatriate teachers were perceived as better in language use.

“Most of the Teaching is in Arabic Anyway”, English as a Medium of Instruction in Saudi Arabia, Between De Facto and Official Language Policy

There has been much debate about the issue of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) and the place of English in the context of international education in general and in the Arabian/Persian Gulf region in particular. This study explores the use of EMI in an undergraduate engineering programme in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). Using a qualitative approach to data collection by means of open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, this study explores the views of Arab expatriate teachers of scientific subjects, Saudi engineering students and preparatory year EFL non-Arab expatriate teachers on the use of EMI in their institution. The study sheds light on a certain gap in terms of actual classroom practices, between EMI as an official language policy and Arabic as de facto medium of instruction. Furthermore, the findings of the study suggest that the implementation of EMI may pose several challenges to both teachers and students.

Kompetensi Lintas Budaya Guru-Guru Ekspatriat di Kota Semarang

This study was adescriptive-phenomenological analysis thataimed to describe the profile and cross-cultural competence expatriate teachers in Semarang.The study was conducted in five schools those were intentionally chosen for the reason that those schools employed expatriate teachers since the beginning of the program. The study used a set of questionnaire and an interview guide. Respondents of the study were 23(twenty three) expatriate teachers those were selected through snowball technique during a short study. The study found that expatriate teachers working inthe five selected schools were the professional teachers. This finding was evidenced by theteacher's certificate obtained from their home country that has been endorsed by the education attaché at the Indonesian embassy in their country. In the context ofcross-cultural competence, the study found that cross-cultural competence of expatriate teachers was categorized intothe moderate category.

The Social and Organisational Determinants of School Commitment of Expatriate Teachers

The employment of expatriate teachers is explored here through the perspective of their organisational commitment. Drawing on the results of a public school teacher survey conducted in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi in 2014, this study used a multilevel framework to investigate the effects of teacher characteristics, school environment, and district level human resource management policies and practices on expatriate teachers’ school commitment. The results of the three-level model revealed that while teacher level attributes remained strong predictors of their school commitment, the social and organisational environment of the school greatly contributed to the organisational commitment of expatriate teachers. Interpersonal support within the school community and supportive work climates were crucial for expatriate teachers to build and sustain their commitment. Nationality was found to moderate the relationships between several workplace factors and teacher school commitment.