appetoni
- 2007-09-19
My head is spinning! Did this post just repeat several times like a broken record? I couldn't quite follow.
Li Ming
- 2007-09-19
Most people just want to see at your best, and achieve the greatest heights you can.
Muy Caliente "I AM A NON-NATIVE SPEAKING TEACHER"
- 2007-09-14
Know- It- All (haha)
You can blab all you want. Why do you have to hate non- native teachers soooooooo much? I really don't know what gets your goat? Is it because you think you are an excellent EFL teacher? Let me give you a reality check... Your students think you are a good teacher because your a white-y... Thats justs o pathetic. There are only two white teachers I respect and I am very very certain you are not even as half as nice and as EDUCATED as them.
After all, what makes a good English teacher? From my own experience and observation and from students' feedback, I gather that students' perceptions of a good English teacher are often affected by two factors: (a) the quality of help students get from the teacher and (b) their relationship with the teacher.
These factors boil down to (a) the teacher's expertise, which includes knowledge and training as well as teaching techniques, and (b) the teacher's personality, which directly influences the teacher-student relationship.
Given these two factors, why should a NNS teacher be in a less advantageous position than a NS teacher is? Do NS teachers necessarily possess better expertise than NNS teachers do? Or do NS teachers have more pleasant personalities or personalities that are more suited to teaching? For instance, a mythical belief holds that NSs are by nature more humorous and therefore are better able to establish good relationships with students.
In the process of reflecting, I could not convince myself that I was necessarily less eligible to teach ESL than my NS counterparts were. On the other hand, my Iranian student's sentence started me thinking about what advantages NNS teachers possess over NS teachers as far as teaching ESL is concerned. Because NNS teachers themselves have learned English as a second language (L2) or foreign language, they understand the needs and experience of ESL students better. As L2 or foreign language learners themselves, they have probably spent a great deal of time and effort trying to master the language. How they learned grammar, how they attempted to expand their vocabulary, and how they overcame the problems they faced during learning are all precious experiences that they can share with students. Their determination to succeed, and the fact that they did succeed, provide an excellent example for ESL students. In fact, NNS teachers themselves are good role models for ESL students. The presence of NNS teachers brings home the message that mastering English as an L2 is an achievable goal. More important, their presence can help dismantle the false dichotomy between NSs and NNSs. Once an ESL student asked me, "How can I write like a NS? After all, what is NS competence?" It is a fuzzy and unreal concept. Unfortunately, an ESL field dominated by NS teachers will only perpetuate the false ideal of NS competence that is so deeply rooted in ESL students.
As a NNS teacher, however, I do not mean to elevate NNS teachers and denigrate my NS colleagues. I firmly believe that what makes us good English teachers has nothing to do with our nationality or our accent. Rather, it is the drive, the motivation, and the zeal within us to help our students and make a difference in our teaching that make us bette
After all, what makes a good English teacher? From my own experience and observation and from students' feedback, I gather that students' perceptions of a good English teacher are often affected by two factors: (a) the quality of help students get from the teacher and (b) their relationship with the teacher.
These factors boil down to (a) the teacher's expertise, which includes knowledge and training as well as teaching techniques, and (b) the teacher's personality, which directly influences the teacher-student relationship.
Given these two factors, why should a NNS teacher be in a less advantageous position than a NS teacher is? Do NS teachers necessarily possess better expertise than NNS teachers do? Or do NS teachers have more pleasant personalities or personalities that are more suited to teaching? For instance, a mythical belief holds that NSs are by nature more humorous and therefore are better able to establish good relationships with students.
In the process of reflecting, I could not convince myself that I was necessarily less eligible to teach ESL than my NS counterparts were. NNS teachers themselves have learned English as a second language (L2) or foreign language, they understand the needs and experience of ESL students better. As L2 or foreign language learners themselves, they have probably spent a great deal of time and effort trying to master the language. How they learned grammar, how they attempted to expand their vocabulary, and how they overcame the problems they faced during learning are all precious experiences that they can share with students. Their determination to succeed, and the fact that they did succeed, provide an excellent example for ESL students. In fact, NNS teachers themselves are good role models for ESL students. The presence of NNS teachers brings home the message that mastering English as an L2 is an achievable goal. More important, their presence can help dismantle the false dichotomy between NSs and NNSs. Once an ESL student asked me, "How can I write like a NS? After all, what is NS competence?" It is a fuzzy and unreal concept. Unfortunately, an ESL field dominated by NS teachers will only perpetuate the false ideal of NS competence that is so deeply rooted in ESL students.
As a NNS teacher, however, I do not mean to elevate NNS teachers and denigrate my NS colleagues. I firmly believe that what makes us good English teachers has nothing to do with our nationality or our accent. Rather, it is the drive, the motivation, and the zeal within us to help our students and make a difference in our teaching that make us better.
I have been through a lot and earned my degree from schools you can't even afford, Jackson. So there is nobody who could make me think that my NNS status makes me not as good a teacher.
jackson
- 2007-09-13
Sorry dude, totally uncool of me. What I meant to say was, "If I were doing a component etc." Jeez, guess you got me all discombobulated and stuff.......
Muy Caliente Muchoooooo
- 2007-09-13
Hey wanna be,
What are you so mad about? That another non-white landed a teaching job in asia? And the best part is I MIGHT BE EARNING MORE THAN YOU DO! Haha. You don't own the world so let's not base it according to your own crooked "norms". Another funny thing, most white people can't spell write. Whatcha gonna do aboudit? (spelling, spelling)
Oh boy! I ain't white and I get paid to teach... How you doin'?
M. Caliente
- 2007-09-13
JACKSON "KNOW-IT-ALL",
I am not suppose to waste my time on you but yea, let me just share this one with you (and to my avid readers out there, hi). Instead of trying to be a know-it-all fault finder, why not allot your time reading good stuff like this article I am about to post?
FACT: "Non-native English-speakers" worldwide now outnumber native ones 3 to 1. In Asia alone, Newsweek says, the number of English users has topped 350 million - roughly the combined populations of the United States, the UK and Canada. There are more Chinese children studying English - about 100 million - than there are Britons (that's nearly twice as many).
What's especially interesting about Newsweek's article is that it analyses the different ways in which English as a means of communication is evolving, developing into literally separate languages, yet which are still understandable by those who speak any version of English.
Choice excerpt:
The new English-speakers aren't just passively absorbing the language-they're shaping it. New Englishes are mushrooming the globe over, ranging from "Englog," the Tagalog-infused English spoken in the Philippines, to "Japlish," the cryptic English poetry beloved of Japanese copywriters ("Your health and loveliness is our best wish," reads a candy wrapper. "Give us a chance to realize it"), to "Hinglish," the mix of Hindi and English that now crops up everywhere from fast-food ads to South Asian college campuses. "Hungry kya?" ("Are you hungry?"), queried a recent Indian ad for Domino's pizza.
[...] All languages are works in progress. But English's globalization, unprecedented in the history of languages, will revolutionize it in ways we can only begin to imagine. In the future, suggests [English-language expert David Crystal], there could be a tri-English world, one in which you could speak a local English-based dialect at home, a national variety at work or school, and international Standard English to talk to foreigners.
With native speakers a shrinking minority of the world's Anglophones, there's a growing sense that students should stop trying to emulate Brighton or Boston English, and embrace their own local versions. Researchers are starting to study non-native speakers' "mistakes" - "She look very sad," for example - as structured grammars. In a generation's time, teachers might no longer be correcting students for saying "a book who" or "a person which."
Linguist Jennifer Jenkins, an expert in world Englishes at King's College London, asks why some Asians, who have trouble pronouncing the "th" sound, should spend hours trying to say "thing" instead of "sing" or "ting." International pilots, she points out, already pronounce the word "three" as "tree" in radio dispatches, since "tree" is more widely comprehensible.
[...] English has become the common linguistic denominator. Whether you're a Korean executive on business in Shanghai, a German Eurocrat hammering out laws in Brussels or a Brazilian biochemist at a conference in Sweden, you're probably speaking English. And as the world adopts an international brand of English, it's native speakers who have the most to lose. Cambridge dons who insist on speaking the Queen's English could be met with giggles - or blank stares. British or American business execs who jabber on in their own idiomatic patois, without understanding how English is used by non-natives, might lose out on deals.
[...] Technology also plays a huge role in English's global triumph. Eighty percent of the electronically stored information in the world is in English; 66 percent of the world's scientists read in it, according to the British Council. "It's very important to learn English because [computer] books are only in English," says Umberto Duirte, an Uruguayan IT student learning English in London. New technologies are helping people pick up the language, too: Chinese and Japanese students can get English-usage tips on their mobile phones. English-language teachers point to the rise of Microsoft English, where computer users are drafting letters advised by the Windows spell check and pop-up style guides.
This lengthy article is well worth reading for a keen insight into how much the English language is still evolving and how much you have to lose by not recognizing this reality.
It's also a great reminder to communicators - especially those who work in organizations doing business internationally - that when communicating in English, it's becoming more likely, if not probable, that a significant and increasing proportion of your audience will speak a different English than you do. People who no longer can patronizingly be described as "non-native English speakers" - they are creating their own versions of English.
I hope that does it.
jackson
- 2007-09-13
Actually, that should read, "If I were.........etc."
jackson
- 2007-09-13
Please enlighten me as to what you are referencing regarding the difference between American and British English.
English Globalization - that's cool, but English Bastardization - not so cool.
But hey, don't get too uptight. I'd love to have you come to my classes and do some lecturing and language modeling - not. Well, maybe if I wasn't doing a component on Valley Girl colloquialisms I'd give you a call.
Sincerely,
WASP
Muy Caliente
- 2007-09-12
Yea, I am. Got a problem with that? I have a teaching degree and a Celta. The last time I heard is that your just white and THATS JUST IT. I smell that you can't afford to find a job in your own WHITE LAND that is why you pretend to be a know it all (wherever you are).
Im a fluent English speaker and if you think that was lame it's your "problemo" not mine...I FEEL BAD FOR YOU. I teach English because of my ability and definitely NOT BECAUSE I AM WHITE nor a passport holder of these white countries. Oops did I just said that?
411: There's no such thing as perfect English, Mr. Know-it-all. English is a flexible languange. That's why we have this thing called: English Globalization. Try to fix the difference between American and British English first right before you throw the stones at me.
Or maybe you are from the said school... Hmmm.
jackson
- 2007-09-11
Yeah dude, like for real man. I mean totally lame - almost as lame as your English. You're an English teacher?
Anyone out there knows this school in Guangzhou? Is it for reals that they don't give you a contract copy? It's the lamest thing I've heard in town. Like, how would you able to review their policies and your rights if they WOULD NOT provide a copy of your OWN contract? I can't believe it.
What do you all think?