Hi,

I do agree with you wholeheartedly.It is  absolutely true that non-native speakers can teach better English than the native speakers. The reason being that  as they have struggled themselves to learn that language they know exactly where do children lack and where do they make mistakes often. They are also aware of many more techniques of learning to speak which is not the case with the native speakers. But the only area where they may face the problem is pronunciation. But , that can be easily overcome by listening more and more to the native speakers once they learn to speak fluently.   

Best wishes for all those who are in the process of learning English.

Hello,

I am a non-native teacher and I'm quite interested in this topic myself. I used to think that non-native teachers are better (for the obvious reasons R. Ravi mentioned above - I also agree with him on what he said about pronunciation, although I think that it is something that can only be improved but it will never be a native pronunciation).

However, the best teacher I've ever had was British (he held a Ph.D.) and I think that an educated native teacher, with all the right qualifications is better than an equally educated non-native one, simply because he/she has the language knowledge advantage. Why are (almost) all the books on teaching English written by excellent native teachers, such as Jeremy Harmer, if non-natives are better?

Nevertheless, I admit that a non-native teacher (even without having a degree) is better than a native teacher without formal training. So, in my opinion, the widespread belief than non-native teachers are better is based on quantity, not quality, as there are more pretty-good non-native teachers than excellent native ones. Any Brit or American (profile: young, wants to travel) that gets the one-month TEFL certificate can be a teacher (obviously this is not enough) whereas the good native teachers are not usually found in a normal classroom, they write books or are university teachers.

I can tell you from my personal experience that the best way of learning a language is living in a country where that language is spoken (i.e. complete immersion). I might add that even better is to have a native boyfriend/girlfriend or regular contact with locals. During my first year in Spain I didn't learn almost any Spanish because I didn't use it in my job and I used to hang out with English natives. However, after meeting a Spanish guy and hanging out with him and his friends for over a year now, my level is upper-intermediate...

Good luck with your dissertation! 

Hello,

I'm a non-native speaker English teacher from Spain.

From my point of view,  to become a suitable teacher of a foreign language, both native or non-native teachers should have gone through the process of learning at least one language.  It would be even better if native speakers could speak the language of their students (sometimes students don't speak they same language!!!). About non-native speakers, they should be aware of their weaknesses and if they have resources as cd's, dvd's and the internet they should use them often enough in order to make sure their sutdents are exposed to real situations in which native speakers are involved. If they don't have access to IT's they can always use a dictionary, read phonetics before eache lesson and make sure they pronounce the target words of each teaching unit properly.

Personally I think that what makes a good teacher is not their mother tongue but their interest, responsiblility and willingness to help students.   Along with energy and will to learn without stop.  How can we make students study if we don't study ourselves?

Eva

"Non-native speakers are better qualified language teachers than are native speakers"

- however non-native speakers make mistakes a native speaker would spot immediately - for example in an entrance exam for a university in Prague I recently saw mistakes on the exam paper itself. Missing or incorrectly placed articles are very apparent to any native speaker.

- non-native speakers can spead incorrect pronunciation in a way which would be impossible for a native speaker. This is especially the case where the teacher has had no experience of living in an English speaking country.

"Any native English speaker is a suitable English speaker, even where he does not hold any formal teaching qualification"

Any native English speaker can naturally highlight problems with grammar and pronunciation. But if they are not a qualified (or natural) teacher, they may not know how to do this effectively. 

"For teaching languages it is essential that the teacher has studied a foreign language himself"

What are your objectives as a learner? Do you need to perfect your accent and increase fluency via conversation with a native speaker? If yes, their knowledge of a foreign language is irrelevant.

"Living in the country of the target language is the best way of learning a language"

Yes, but impossible for many people. Luckily we now have unlimited access to an online immersive experience for every learner via the Internet.

I hope this helps!

"Non-native speakers are better qualified language teachers than are native speakers"

In general it might seem to be true because most non-native speakers have degrees in language teaching and many years of experience, whereas many native speakers either have little language teaching qualifications or little experience.  But, that isn't something inherent in being a native or non-native speaker.  The experience and qualifications are what makes the difference there.

In China, I find that both native and non-native speakers aren't serious about teaching as a career.  Chinese English teachers are happy doing what they've always done, even when they say they know it's not very effective.  Expat teachers are usually in the job temporarily and don't see the need to learn to be better.  Teachers who do try to develop themselves are the really good ones from each group.

"Any native English speaker is a suitable English teacher, even where he does not hold any formal teaching qualification"

The vast majority of English teachers I have worked with who do not hold formal language teaching qualifications are very poor teachers.  Even the majority of experienced teachers who have no formal language teaching qualifications often teach ineffectively or less effectively than they could.  Teachers with proper TESOL qualificaitons are consistently more effective teachers.

"For teaching languages it is essential that the teacher has studied a foreign language himself"

Not essential, but it can really help.  It raises awarenes of a variety of things - how languages work and how they are different; different types of learning; emotions/attitude towards classes, teachers, activities, etc.  So it is very beneficial (Beginner level isn't much help, though - they need to be at Pre-Intermediate level or higher to really understand).

"Living in the country of the target language is the best way of learning a language"

The best way to learn is to combine a good learning environment with good study.  I've lived in China for 7 years but have never studied the language.  I am quite fluent with what I know and have good speaking and listening skills, but I have a very limited vocabulary and use a lot of inaccurate language that sometimes causes communication problems.  I've seen Chinese learners of English who have studied in school for 10 years but have never really used or been exposed to the language, and they can translate thousands of words (but often not phrases, expressions, or sentences) and can explain a large number of grammar rules (but can't use the grammar accurately).  So you really do need both.

You can get good exposure and use the language in your own country but it takes a lot of effort and time.  Whereas you can find good classes in a country of the target language very, very easily.  So living in the country of the target language is probably the better of the two, all things taken into consideration.