Diniz de Figueiredo, E. (2011). Non-native English-speaking teachers in the United States: issues of identity. Language And Education, 25(5), 419-432

The study explored how NNESTs (non-native English-Speaking teachers) that are involved with K-12 schools within the United States tend to perceive their identities regarding the school environment and the relevant norms, the students and their families, and their co-workers and administrators. More attention was given to the concerns that the teachers had before their arrival and how the initial challenges were overcome as they strived to establish authority while creating a positive self-image. The study’s methodology involved the use of an anonymous survey that contained 19 open-ended questions devised with the objective of completing the investigation at hand. Eighteen of these questions were directly related to three specific issues that had been chosen as the basis of the study (their experiences in the school, teachers concerns before coming to the US and the role of language). The participants included fifteen Brazilian ESL teachers that worked in public middle and elementary schools that were located in Southeast of the United States. At the time of the study, all the teachers were at least 25 years old with at least one year of experience teaching in the United States. In the analysis, the responses were grouped into three categories that aimed at fulfilling the objective of the study: the role of language, concerns prior to arrival and experiences in establishing authority while maintaining a positive self-image. With regards to concerns prior to arrival, the findings showed that the biggest concern was whether the teachers would adjust to the new education system. When it comes to authority and image, self-perceptions of the teachers varied; half stated that they never questioned their authority while the others outlined that there were moments when they felt insecure about these issues. On the issue of the role of language, all the participants felt that the respective bi/multilingual skills were important in building relationships with students and parents and this helped in creating a positive image to colleagues and administrators.

Zhang, F., & Zhan, J. (2014). The knowledge base of non-native English-speaking teachers: perspectives of teachers and administrators. Language And Education, 28(6), 568-582.

The study examines the knowledge base of the non-native English-speaking teachers that are working in Canada while using English as their second language. This was done by way of examining the non-native English-speaking teachers’ experiences as they sought employment and teaching English as a second language in Canada. The study involved twelve participants in total. From this number, six were NNESTs while the other six were administrators involved with three typical categories of adult ESL programs found in Canada. These include college/university academic ESL programs, settlement ESL programs, and private language school programs. For the administrators, there was a balanced gender while the participants had five females and one male. The research used case study as the method of collecting data. The method was suitable in helping to explore the complex and multifaceted nature of the issues that revolved around the study. Data collection was done using semi-structured interviews that were supplemented using document collection. Each participant was interviewed once or twice for a period of 1.5 hours on average. The analysis organized the data into two categories: teaching ESL and seeking employment. The findings of the study were put into six categories that included pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge, continuity with past experiences, contextual knowledge and support knowledge. When it comes to content knowledge, the administrators cited a very high level of English proficiency. On pedagogical knowledge, the findings show that there are certain questions that NNESTs find difficult to answer. The findings also showed that NNESTs are competent in most of areas of pedagogical content knowledge, and this accords them an advantage in the job application. For support knowledge, networking skills were found to be an important part of the NNESTs. The findings also indicate that most NNEST found it difficult to obtain ESL work due to the lack of recognition of foreign experience and credential under the category of continuity with past experiences.

Florence Ma, L. (2012). Advantages and Disadvantages of Native- and Nonnative-English-speaking Teachers: Student Perceptions in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46(2), 280-305.

The study investigates the perceptions that students have regarding the advantages and disadvantages of learning English from Native English Speakers (NETs) and the non-native counterparts; Local English Teachers (LETs). This study was instigated by the fact that NETs Scheme has been operating in secondary schools in Hong Kong for over 20 years yet the perceptions that students had towards these teachers was under-researched. The study involved 30 students as the participants; 15 females and 15 males. The participants were between 13 and 17 years, and all came from three government-aided secondary schools within Hong Kong. Semi-structured focus group interviews were used for the methodology of the study. The method was meant to seek the views of the students regarding their experience learning English with NETs and the disadvantages and advantages compared to LETs. Using semi-structured interviews was employed to ensure that the participants experienced flexibility in exploring unanticipated issues. From the findings, the advantages of LETs emerged as their ability to use the students’ first language, understanding students’ needs/difficulties, easy communication and closer relationships with the teachers. The disadvantages, on the other hand, included inaccurate grammar and pronunciation, teaching styles are textbook bound, and they provided less opportunity to practice English. When it comes to NETs, their advantages included facilitation of learning through the usage of varied skills, good English proficiency, and their teaching styles embodied relaxed classroom atmosphere as opposed to being textbook bound. Disadvantages, on the other hand, included difficulty in communication, anxiety with NETs, Difficulty in developing relationships and difficulty in understanding.

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