The Students’ Attitudes towards the NESTs versus NNESTs and their Impacts on the Students’ Motivations to Learn English Language at KAU

Motivation is one of the crucial aspects of second language acquisition. Students’ motivation can be influenced by their teachers. The present study aims to investigate the impact of the two types of teachers on EFL learners’ motivations to learn English. These are NESTs (Native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (native English-speaking teachers). Hence, it examines learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards the two types of teachers. This study employed a mixed method by distributing a questionnaire contains quantitative and qualitative tools. It consists of twenty items of Likert scales and two open-ended questions. The present study subjects are 31 female students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The results of the study demonstrate that learners have a positive attitude toward NESTs and NNESTs. Despite that, the tendency to learn with NNESTs is higher than NESTs. The findings also show that both types of teachers motivate students to learn English. Moreover, it suggests that the methodology and teachers’ personalities are more important than the teachers’ nativeness.

Self-efficacy beliefs among non-specialist teachers in primary English education

Although the teaching of English to primary school children has been rapidly growing in many English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) countries around the world, a shortage of specialist teachers remains a persistent challenge. Consequently, non-specialists, such as homeroom teachers initially trained as generalists, are more often required to teach English. The present study, focusing on 304 non-specialist teachers serving in Japan’s public primary schools, was designed to explore their perceived self-efficacy for teaching English, and to examine the impact of teacher characteristics (i.e., their perceived English proficiency, English-teaching experience, and appraisals of collaboration with native English-speaking teachers) on their level of self-efficacy. A multiple regression analysis revealed that the collaboration variable was more influential than the proficiency variable and that there was no significant relationship between teachers’ self-efficacy and teaching experience. Moreover, integration of these results and teachers’ comments in the open-ended question suggested that they functioned most effectively in student engagement by playing roles unique to non-specialist teachers and that they perceived team teaching to be more beneficial in classroom management than solo teaching. Implications for in-service training are discussed to support non-specialist teachers in primary English education.

Student Insights Related to the Use of Simultaneous Speech Translation for Video Lectures in a University English Course

For native English-speaking teachers, the ability to overcome communication issues caused by not having the same first language as their pupils is a challenge, especially with low-level students. The increased use of video lectures due to COVD-19 has made this even more difficult. This study was conducted to investigate whether the use of Artificial Intelligence-powered interlingual Simultaneous Speech Translation subtitled video lectures could be a practical solution to overcome this challenge. To that end, 14 participants from a first-semester prerequisite General English course took part in this study. A semi-structured interview was combined with surveys and descriptive statistics, and data was analyzed through qualitative means of thematic, descriptive, and inductive procedures that relied on simultaneous analysis and category construction. Key findings were as follows: First, respondents found the subtitled videos to be highly satisfactory and fairly accurate. Second, respondents reported greater content understanding as the main advance and less emphasis on improving listening ability as the primary disadvantage. Third, the use of English instead of Korean subtitles or subtitling only certain sections of the video in Korean were the main suggestions for the future. Specific responses from the student interviews and future implications are discussed.

Japanese English Learners’ Perceptions of Filipino Teachers’ Online English Lessons: Implications for Global Englishes Research

Situated in the domain of Global Englishes research, this study explores a question of how far the issue of the English model for Japanese learners is complicated by the hierarchical coexistence of regular English courses taught by Anglophone English teachers and extracurricular online English lessons taught by non-Anglophone instructors. A questionnaire survey was administered to 100 Japanese English learners aged 18–34 who have taken such lessons. This study provides both hopeful and challenging suggestions for Global Englishes research and practice, that is, Japanese English learners’ favourable perceptions of Filipino teachers’ affordable and flexible lessons that, they believe, would not interfere with their subsequent or concurrent study of ‘real’ English taught by native Anglophone teachers. This study indicates future directions of research and practice regarding the legitimate positioning of in-class or online English classes taught by Association of Southeast Asian Nations and other non-native English-speaking teachers in East Asian English classrooms that remain bound by native English norms.

The Students’ Attitudes towards the NESTs versus NNESTs and their Impacts on the Students’ Motivations to Learn English Language at KAU

Motivation is one of the crucial aspects of second language acquisition. Students’ motivation can be influenced by their teachers. The present study aims to investigate the impact of the two types of teachers on EFL learners’ motivations to learn English. These are NESTs (Native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (native English-speaking teachers). Hence, it examines learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards the two types of teachers. This study employed a mixed method by distributing a questionnaire contains quantitative and qualitative tools. It consists of twenty items of Likert scales and two open-ended questions. The present study subjects are 31 female students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The results of the study demonstrate that learners have a positive attitude toward NESTs and NNESTs. Despite that, the tendency to learn with NNESTs is higher than NESTs. The findings also show that both types of teachers motivate students to learn English. Moreover, it suggests that the methodology and teachers’ personalities are more important than the teachers’ nativeness.

A Qualitative Study Examining Macao’s Parents’ Attitude towards Native and Non-native English-speaking Teachers for Private Online Synchronous One-on-one English Lessons

In terms of English learning, whether native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) surpass non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) or vice versa has been a heated topic. These two types of teachers have their own respective benefits and drawbacks with respect to English teaching. Most of the current related studies are on the traditional educational classroom setting in both secondary school and higher education. However, the study of the virtual learning platform as a method of teaching English is rare. This research displays valuable significance in identifying whether parents in Macao have a preference towards NESTs and NNESTs before they purchase the online synchronous one-on-one English lessons for their children. This qualitative study, after two participants were interviewed, concludes that they both prefer NESTs due to their authentic accent and pronunciation and believe it is more suitable in such a speaking-andlistening oriented online lesson. Price is not the prioritized factor to consider. They are generally satisfied with the teaching style of the online NESTs but it is also important to take note of the teaching approach conducted in the online lessons towards children, to ensure that it holds their interest appropriately.

Language Teacher Identity and English Education Policy in Japan: Competing Discourses Surrounding “Non-native” English-speaking Teachers

This paper examines English teacher identity of Japanese “non-native” English-speaking teachers through a multi-layered analysis of discourses and identity. Informed by poststructuralist views of identity, it explores dominant discourses surrounding “non-native” English-speaking teachers by analyzing their portrayal in national English education policy in Japan. This analysis is combined with qualitative data analysis of interview accounts of five Japanese high school “non-native” English-speaking teachers, which allows for examination of the interrelation between dominant discourses and their teacher identities. The data analysis demonstrates how the policy documents portray “non-native” English-speaking teachers, framing them within two competing discourses: the discourse of teaching professionals vis-à-vis students and the discourse of “nonnative” teachers vis-à-vis imagined “native” speakers of English. This discursive portrayal corresponds to the “non-native” English-speaking teacher identity illuminated by narrative accounts from the participant teachers, manifesting the paradoxical and conflicting nature of teacher identity. The discussion concludes with implications and recommendations for English education policy design and teacher education with a heightened sensitivity to identity.

Self-Perceptions of Non-Native Students in an Undergraduate TESOL Program

While debate continues as to the efficacy of Native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs), little research has been conducted to analyze how these teachers impact communicative competence in an EFL context. Research on NNESTs’ self-perceptions has been done in many different contexts (for examples, America, Europe, East Asia), but rarely in Thailand. This paper reports on a mixed data collection study which examines the self-perceptions of undergraduate TESOL students in a Thai university. Data were collected through an online questionnaire responded to by 39 undergraduate TESOL students studying in a B.Ed. English program. Seven of these students were selected for semi-structured individual interviews. Findings show that the undergraduate TESOL students were aware of differences between NESTs and NNESTs and perceived both NESTs and NNESTs to have unique linguistic, cultural, and teaching strengths and weaknesses. The finding also shows that the undergraduate TESOL students had positive perceptions towards their non-native status and perceived themselves to be qualified and successful English teachers after graduation. This paper has implications for language teaching expertise and suggestions for developing TESOL degree curriculum and teacher preparation.