International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews

ISSN 2329-9843

International Journal of Educational Research and Reviews ISSN 2329-9843 Vol. 3 (4), pp. 240-243, June, 2015. © International Scholars Journals

Full Length Research Paper

The ups and downs of being Non-native English teacher

*Bayazit O. Avci, Nabi Ayse Yeşilçay and Gökhan N. Akdoğan

Department of Educational Communication,Technology and Curriculum Studies, Anadolu University, Eskişehir, Turkey.

*Corresponding author Email: [email protected]

Accepted 19 May, 2015

Abstract

Despite the realization that the majority uses of English occur in contexts where English serves as a lingua franca, the “native speaker” authority is still prevalent in the field of English language teaching, especially in EFL contexts. The present case study was conducted with three Turkish teachers of English and investigated their opinions on the native speaker/non-native speaker dichotomy over an eighteen month period. Data collected by means of interviews revealed that there is still a lot of work to be done to empower novice English teachers, encourage them to rethink their roles in teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) and help them overcome the deficit model of their own professional competence.

Key words: Native speaker/non-native speaker teacher dichotomy, EFL context