personal communication

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Hypothetical of Native-Like and Non-Native;
Communicative English Speaker in Perspective of
Foreign Language
(Personal Communication)
1 Augustus 2020
Thobias Sarbunan
DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.26379.52002
[email protected]
I. It is a Battle that has raged across Social Media Groups of
Languages Teachers and Teachers’ Forums for Years
With over (1) billion learners, English is the most learned
language in the world and generally speaking, native speakers
have the pick of the English teaching jobs.
II. Wanted: NATIVE English Teacher
i. Any NNEST (Non-Native English Speaking Teachers) who
have looked for a job will have become well acquainted
(and doubtless frustrated) by this phrase;
ii. One thing is for certain: both NESTs (Native English
Speaking Teachers) and NNEST (Non-Native English
Speaking Teachers) can make great teachers;
iii. However, particularly in a country like Spain, which has a
huge number of TEFL positions compared to the rest of
Europe, this type of ideal, a native teacher who ticks all of
the boxes is something of a rarity.
III. It wasn’t for Me
i. The majority (but not all) of NESTs in Spain are
inexperienced, under-qualified and - to put it bluntly - not
there to teach;
ii. It’s almost too easy for someone with the natural title of
‘Native’ and a university degree to walk into a job in a
country like Spain where the demand for their language is
high and jobs are plentiful.
IV. Not Native? No Problem
i. At the same time, there are advantages to your teacher
being unable to speak your language, the main one being
that your only way to communicate with them is to speak
their language (the language you’re learning) but you can
hit a dead end whereby neither of you has any idea what
the other means and the point of the conversation or
exercise is lost. Whereas a teacher from your country
could explain it in seconds – without necessarily having
to switch back to the language that you naturally share;

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ii. This is perfectly natural and justified but don’t be so
quick to allow nationality to influence your decision
when choosing a teacher – there are much more
important factors to consider!
Iman, I. (2018). Native or Non-Native: Who Makes a Better English
Teacher? [Web log].
https://www.europelanguagejobs.com/blog/native-or-non-native.php.