What is native speakerism, and why does it remain a problem in English language teaching?
Gav and Em explore the belief that people considered “native speakers” are automatically better English teachers, regardless of their qualifications, experience or teaching ability. What does “native English speaker” actually mean? Can somebody’s birthplace, passport, name or accent tell us whether they can teach effectively?
They are joined by Meri, also known as The Non-Native Speaker. A multilingual teacher with CELTA and DELTA qualifications, a Master’s degree and years of classroom experience, Meri explains how her nationality and foreign-sounding name have affected her career opportunities.
Gav and Em also reflect honestly on occasions when being from the UK may have helped them secure teaching work. Together, they examine unequal recruitment practices, proficiency testing and the assumption that someone born in an English-speaking country can teach without professional training.
How should teachers respond when a learner says, “I only want a native English teacher”? Can anybody really learn to “sound native”? Discover practical ways to uncover what learners actually want, including greater fluency, clearer pronunciation, connected speech, idiomatic language or experience with a particular accent.
The discussion explores how teachers and schools can challenge native speakerism by:
• focusing on qualifications, proficiency and teaching competence
• exposing learners to different accents and varieties of English
• prioritising intelligibility and effective communication
• removing “native speaker” labels from professional profiles
• examining recruitment, testing and pay policies
• encouraging open conversations with students and colleagues
The episode ends with Learn-A-Word, as Em investigates the meaning and use of the suffix “-ism”.
Meri’s links:
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/the_non_native_speaker/
YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/@thenonnativespeaker767
Website:
https://thenonnativespeaker.com/
Charlotte Teaches English:
https://www.instagram.com/charlotte_teaches_english/
Resources:
TESOL – Tackling Native Speakerism:
https://www.tesol.org/blog/posts/tackling-native-speakerism-what-can-you-do-to-address-discriminatory-ideologies/
The Myth of the Native Speaker:
https://www.teaching-revolution.com/blog/the-myth-of-the-native-speaker
NPR – Non-Native Speakers and English:
https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2021/04/25/989765565/tower-of-babble-non-native-speakers-navigate-the-world-of-good-and-bad-english
English-speaking world:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-speaking_world
The suffix “-ism”:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ism
Native Speaker – Definition and Examples:
https://www.thoughtco.com/native-speaker-linguistics-1691421
Support the podcast:
https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpod
Teaching ideas and resources:
https://howtoenglishpod.com
Chapters
00:00 Introducing native speakerism
00:29 What is a native English speaker?
01:32 Why definitions of “native” cause problems
03:12 Discrimination in recruitment and pay
04:15 Introducing Meri
04:58 Meri’s background and qualifications
06:30 How nationality and names affect employment
07:26 Why birthplace does not make somebody a teacher
09:00 Unequal language testing requirements
11:41 Gav and Em’s experiences of recruitment bias
13:01 Why qualified teachers and diverse teams matter
15:03 Responding to “I only want a native teacher”
17:38 Understanding different English speakers
18:50 Must learners live in an English-speaking country?
19:49 Do English speakers use these phrases?
20:52 Can teachers help learners sound native?
22:29 Practical ways to challenge native speakerism
24:55 Reviewing recruitment and pay policies
25:40 Charlotte’s experience of unequal teacher pay
26:25 Learn-A-Word: the suffix “-ism”
