Influence of Teacher-Contact Time and Other Variables on ESL Students’ | Attitudes Towards Native- and | Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers

Influence of Teacher-Contact Time and Other Variables on ESL Students’Attitudes Towards Native- and Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers LUCIE MOUSSU University of Alberta Alberta, Edmont

Influence of Teacher-Contact Time and Other Variables on ESL Students’

Attitudes Towards Native- and

Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers

LUCIE MOUSSU

University of Alberta

Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

Although several studies have been conducted that investigated theattitudes of English as a second language (ESL) students towards theirnonnative-English-speaking (NNES) ESL teachers, few scholars haveexplored the influence of teacher-contact time and other relevantvariables on students’ responses This article reports on a study conducted

in 22 intensive English programs throughout the United States, whichcompared students’ attitudes towards both their native- and nonnative-English-speaking (NES and NNES) ESL teachers at the beginning and atthe end of a given semester This study also investigated whether variablessuch as students’ first languages, English proficiency level, and expectedgrades influence their answers Results show that students’ attitudestowards both NES and NNES ESL teachers were sometimes unexpectedlypositive but could also be predictably negative in some instances.Additionally, some variables such as the students’ first languagesignificantly influenced their attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESLteachers Finally, students’ attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESLteachers changed over time These results suggest that the linguisticbackground of ESL teachers is only one among numerous variablesinfluencing students’ attitudes towards their teachers Consequently,English proficiency and teaching skills should no longer be defined by theambiguous notion of native versus nonnative speaker but, instead, shouldtake into consideration the multilayered context in which the teaching istaking place

doi: 10.5054/tq.2010.235997

I t is not uncommon to find English-teaching job ads that state, ‘‘nativeEnglish speakers only may apply’’ (Chronicle of Higher Education,2006) Indeed, the status of native speakers of English is prestigious, andmany English language schools proudly advertise that they only hirenative-English-speaking (NES) teachers Mahboob’s (2003) study of 122

intensive English programs (IEPs) in the United States shows that only7.9% of the English as a second language (ESL) instructors in thesurveyed IEPs were nonnative-English-speaking (NNES) teachers.Mahboob also found that 59.8% of the program administrators whoresponded to his survey used the native speaker criterion as their majordecisive factor in hiring ESL teachers One reason for this decision wasthat several administrators believed only NES ESL teachers could beproficient in English and, therefore, qualified teachers.

In contrast, as many as 40% of the teacher trainees in U.S TESOLprograms are NNES teachers (Liu, 1999; Llurda, 2005), who often paylarge sums of money to be trained as ESL/English as a foreign language(EFL) teachers in the United States.1As Mahboob’s study showed, thesestudent teachers will not easily find employment (either in the UnitedStates or in other countries) after graduation because of the perceptionthat ‘‘the ideal English teacher is a native speaker [of English]’’(Phillipson, 1992, p 185)

Several studies show, however, that ESL students’ attitudes towardsNES and NNES ESL teachers do not always coincide with those of IEPadministrators At the same time, linguistic boundaries and definitions

of the term native speaker have become blurred in today’s increasinglymultilingual society and globalized world (Canagarajah, 2005; Davies,2003) The results of the present study, as well as the study by Kelch andSantana-Williamson (2002; in which 56 ESL students correctly identifiedtape-recorded native and nonnative speakers of English only 45% of thetime), also suggested that ESL/EFL students may not always be able toidentify who is a native speaker of English and who is not

The Nonnative Speaker of English

The number of nonnative speakers of English worldwide is now greaterthan that of native speakers (Graddol, 2006) Likewise, the number ofNNES ESL and EFL teachers has been larger than that of NES ESL andEFL teachers for several years (Canagarajah, 2005; Crystal, 2003;Prodromou, 2003) Still, the first articles regarding the differencesbetween NES and NNES teachers were not published until the 1980s(Coppieters, 1987; Kresovich, 1988; Pride, 1981) Edge (1988), forexample, advocated the importance of giving EFL students ‘‘real’’ models(i.e., NNES ESL teachers) who have learned to speak English well, asopposed to foreign models (i.e., NES ESL teachers) who, he felt, did not

1 The costs of a TESOL Master of Arts or Certificate vary across universities, but international students usually pay more than in-state students and are limited in the number of hours they can work while studying.

share students’ cultural and emotional experiences (an idea latersupported by Cook, 2005, and McKay, 2003).

In the early 1990s, Medgyes (1992, 1994) thoroughly discussednonnative speakers of English as ESL and EFL teachers, arguing thatboth native and nonnative speakers of English could be successful ESL/EFL teachers According to Medgyes, NNES ESL teachers (1) offer agood learner model to their students; (2) can teach language strategiesvery effectively; (3) are able to provide more information about thelanguage to their students than native speakers of English; (4)understand their students’ challenges and needs; (5) are able toanticipate and predict language difficulties; and (6) can (in EFLsettings) use the students’ native language to their advantage

In his description of English teaching in Sweden, Modiano (2005)emphasized the importance of the NNES ESL teachers in EFL contexts

He explained that, in a world where globalization is spreading rapidly,students should learn an international variety of English (i.e., English as

a lingua franca) Thanks to NNES ESL teachers, Modiano explained,

‘‘students learn more about how English operates in a diverse number ofnation states so that they can gain a better understanding of the widerange of English language usage’’ (p 40) Indeed, learners of Englishface a world where the economy, educational reforms, politics, culture,and societies are shaped by their knowledge (or lack thereof) of themultiple varieties of ‘‘Englishes.’’ Words, expressions, accents, socio-linguistic rules, and even grammatical rules are increasingly transformedand adjusted to fit different contexts, a diversity that NNES ESL teachersnaturally bring to the classroom (Seidlhofer, 1999)

Teacher Self-Perceptions

Several scholars investigated how NNES ESL and EFL teachersperceived their own strengths, weaknesses, and educational andprofessional experiences Both Greis (1984) and Medgyes (1994)expressed their concern for teachers who, in spite of their educationand experience, still feel much anxiety in front of students or colleagues.Reves and Medgyes (1994) studied NNES ESL teachers’ self-esteem andconcluded that the perpetual fear of their students’ judgments made theteachers overly self-conscious about their mistakes Although it seemsacceptable for NES ESL teachers to make occasional mistakes or not toknow everything about the English language (Amin, 2004), NNES ESLteachers’ teaching abilities and competencies are often questioned whenthey make the same mistakes or appear hesitant (Canagarajah, 1999,2005)

Samimy and Brutt-Giffler (1999) asked 17 NNES TESOL graduatestudents how they perceived themselves as future NNES teachers Therespondents noted that it was difficult for them to feel qualified andappreciated in an ESL context, where their competencies were oftenquestioned, and that they felt more valued and respected when teaching

in their own countries Similarly, the NNES ESL teachers in Maum’s(2003) study (conducted in the K–12 context) expressed considerablefrustration about their isolation and ‘‘marginalization in the profession’’(p 162), whereas the participating NES ESL teachers were not aware ofany discrimination taking place against NNES ESL teachers

Amin (2004) interviewed eight women speaking different varieties ofEnglish (e.g., Indian English), who had taught or were teaching adultESL in Canada, in order to investigate the construct of ‘‘nativism’’(p 63) These women believed that only Caucasian teachers could benative speakers of English, and only native speakers of North AmericanEnglish could know ‘‘real’’ and ‘‘proper’’ English Alternatively, Liu’s(1999) participating international faculty members revealed that,occasionally, they had difficulty defining themselves as native ornonnative speakers of English and that their own definitions did notalways match those of their colleagues and students

Student Attitudes

Although ESL and EFL students have been learning from andworking with NNES ESL teachers for a number of years, only a fewstudies have directly investigated students’ opinions and attitudesregarding their teachers I conducted one of the earliest studies ofESL students’ attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers (Moussu, 2002).Ninety-seven ESL students taught by NNES teachers answered ques-tionnaires at the beginning and end of a semester Results showed thatteachers’ and students’ first language (and, by extension, culture andeducational traditions in their own countries) made a significantdifference in how teachers were perceived For example, Koreanstudents held significantly more negative attitudes towards NNES ESLteachers than did Spanish students Length of exposure to their teachersproved to be a key variable too, and students’ attitudes towards theirNNES ESL teachers were significantly more positive at the end of thesemester

Also in 2002, Cheung investigated the attitudes of 420 Hong Konguniversity students Her participants recognized NES EFL teachers’language proficiency, fluency, and cultural knowledge, while acknowl-edging NNES EFL teachers’ ability to empathize with students, under-stand their shared cultural background, and establish more rigorous

standards Participants also agreed that professional skills (such asknowledge of the subject, preparation, and ability to motivate students)were more essential than language skills.

Around the same time, but back in the United States, Mahboob(2003) asked 32 ESL students to write about their NES and NNESteachers His results showed that NNES ESL teachers were commendedfor their experience as ESL learners, knowledge of grammar, strictermethodology, hard work, and ability to answer questions, but criticizedfor poorer oral skills and lack of cultural knowledge NES ESL teachers,meanwhile, were praised for their oral skills and cultural knowledge, butcriticized for their poor knowledge of grammar, lack of experience asESL learners, and sometimes mediocre teaching methodology

It thus appears that the native speaker construct, the belief that onlynative speakers can be ideal teachers of English, is unsupported Despitepopular belief, NNES ESL/EFL teachers can be successful teachers.However, new NNES TESOL students graduate each year and encounterjob advertisements that clearly discriminate against NNES ESL teachers.Consequently, the current study critically and explicitly examines ESLstudents’ attitudes in order to substantiate or invalidate the basicassumptions underlying discrimination against NNES ESL teachers

Theoretical and Conceptual Framework, and Research

Questions

Before instruments could be devised, a theoretical framework wasadopted as a foundation for the analyses that would be performed andthe instruments that would be used (Nunan, 1992) Because this studyinvestigated students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers, itwas crucial to gain an in-depth understanding of ‘‘attitudes’’ beforeattempting to measure them

Eagly and Chaiken (1993) defined attitude as ‘‘a psychologicaltendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with somedegree of favor or disfavor’’ (p 1) According to Wegener and Fabrigar’s(2003) definition of attitude, the students in my study would thus assignmemories and emotions to the concept of NES and NNES ESL teachers(affect), have specific beliefs about the characteristics of NES and NNESESL teachers (cognition), and subsequently act in certain ways towardsNES and NNES ESL teachers (behavior) In addition, all speakers andlearners of a language make evaluations about (i.e., hold attitudestowards) linguistic superiority or inferiority, aesthetic preferences anddifferences (accents, etc.), and social conventions and connotations(Alford & Strother, 1990; Edwards, 1982)

Albarracin, Johnson, and Zanna (2005) explained that behaviors can

be overt or covert, and interact with knowledge, memories, and affect tocreate attitudes that may not always be stable and constant over time Forexample, students hearing the words nonnative teachers might recallnegative comments they have recently heard from friends (theautomatic activation phase) Their immediate evaluation of NNES ESLteachers will thus be negative However, they might then recall a much-loved high school English teacher who was a NNES ESL teacher (thedeliberation phase), and their evaluation of NNES ESL teachers wouldthen become more positive The response they would write on a surveyabout NNES ESL teachers would be a final evaluation based on all thememories and emotions they recalled (the response phase), as well asthe choices available on the survey (agree, disagree, not sure, etc.), thestudents’ interpretation of those choices, and the ‘‘translation’’ of theirattitudes towards NNES ESL teachers into a response fitting the survey’sresponse format (Krosnick, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2005)

The intent of this project is thus to (a) identify which emotions,memories, and characteristics are assigned to the concept of NES andNNES ESL teachers (i.e., students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESLteachers); (b) analyze how students accumulate new memories, createnew beliefs, and change their attitudes over time (i.e., the influence oftime on students’ attitudes); and (c) study the underlying beliefs,knowledge, memories, and resulting behaviors of students whichgenerated the responses given on the attitude questionnaires (i.e.,variables that may influence students’ perceptions of NES and NNESESL teachers)

Based on the above literature and theoretical frameworks, thisresearch project was guided by three research questions:

1 What are the attitudes at the beginning of the semester of ESL studentstowards NES and NNES ESL teachers?

2 What teacher and student variables (first language, etc.) influence ESLstudents’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers?

3 Does length of exposure to their ESL teachers influence students’attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers?

METHODS

Instruments

The problem investigated in this study is multifaceted and takes intoconsideration several variables identified in the literature review Amultivariate design was chosen to take into consideration such a largespectrum of naturally occurring and sometimes nonmanipulable

variables, to explore the relationships between these relevant variables,and to study the interrelationship of many variables at the same time(Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991).

Richards and Lockhart (1994) explained that survey questionnairesare useful to gather ‘‘information about affective dimensions of teachingand learning, such as beliefs, attitudes, motivations, and preferences’’(p 10) Krosnick et al (2005) and Brown (2001) observed that usingLikert scales can lead to a high reliability and validity of themeasurement of attitudes, as long as careful attention is given to thetheoretical issues used to create the items and the rating scale.Additionally, using a questionnaire with specific multiple-choice ques-tions and statements to rate on a Likert scale provides the participantswith a single frame of reference when choosing their answers (Schuman

& Presser, 1996) Questionnaires are ideal for another reason as well:When working with students with varied levels of English proficiency andlinguistic backgrounds, questionnaires can be easily translated so thatthe great majority of the students can understand the questions andrespond accordingly

To create the questionnaire, eight teacher and student constructs(such as pronunciation, grammar knowledge, and physical appearance)were first identified from the literature review (Brown, 2001; Purpura,1998), and several statements for each construct were written or adaptedfrom previous studies The constructs and 75 statements were then sent

to a group of scholars in the fields of applied linguistics, statistics, andpsychology, who considered issues of significance, validity of theconstructs, content validity, clarity of the beliefs and statements, andoverall organization of the questionnaire Finally, two pilots wereconducted, and, informed by measurements of validity and reliability,the number of questions was narrowed down to 39.2

The questionnaire, which was going to be used both at the beginningand at the end of the semester, was divided into two sections (seeAppendix A) The first section, about students’ ESL teachers, consisted

of multiple-choice questions and statements to be rated on a five-pointLikert scale (from 1 [strongly disagree] to 5 [strongly agree]) The secondsection used multiple-choice and short-answer questions to collectstudents’ demographic information The questionnaire was translated(and then back-translated) by professional translators into 12 languages(Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean,Portuguese, Spanish, Taiwanese, Thai, and Turkish) to allow students

2 When calculated by construct on the final results, Cronbach’s alphas revealed some low coefficients of reliability and a lingering imbalance in the construction of the questionnaire For the construct meeting students’ expectations, Cronbach’s alpha was 0 909; simplification of concepts 0.841; teachers as good role model 0.758; physical appearance 0.258; grammar knowledge 0.768; pronunciation 0.294.

of as many levels of English proficiency and linguistic backgrounds toparticipate as possible.

Procedures

For the pilots and full-scale studies, IEPs were chosen that adhered tothe same educational standards and overall organization and wereaccredited by an institution recognized by the U.S Department ofEducation This helped identify programs that were as comparable aspossible in terms of the length of their semester and the division of levels

of proficiency Although 50 IEPs were initially identified and contacted,problems of attrition due essentially to difficulties in obtainingpermissions from each IEP’s IRB (Committee on the use of HumanResearch Subjects) resulted in only 22 IEPs participating in the full-scalestudy

In August 2005, these 22 IEPs received files that contained directionsfor the distribution and collection of the questionnaires, the Englishversion of the questionnaire, the translations, and prestamped returnenvelopes Four weeks later, 862 completed questionnaires had beenreceived from 16 IEPs In November, files were sent again to these 16IEPs for the second phase of data collection By January 2006, 643completed questionnaires had been received from 12 IEPs Theapproximate return rate for the initial questionnaire was 62.75% and46.59% (counting the four IEPs whose students filled out the initial, butnot the final, questionnaire)

For reliability purposes, responses to the initial and final naires were entered by two individuals and then compared Once theerrors were fixed, students’ responses were divided into three groups,depending on their teachers’ nativeness: if students had identified theirteacher as a NES ESL teacher, their responses fell into the Nativecategory; if they had identified their teacher as a NNES ESL teacher,their responses fell into the Nonnative category; if students didn’t know iftheir teacher was a NES or a NNES ESL teacher, their responses fell intothe Not Sure category.3

question-Using SPSS v.16, a range of descriptive and inferential statistics wascalculated for each of these groups, and the data examined to assessnormalcy.4 The significance level was set at 0.05, and an analysis ofvariance then determined to what extent the variations within the meanscould be attributed to different independent variables (first language,

4 For more information on a considerable amount of statistical results not discussed here, please contact the author.

3 Because of space limitation and the small number of respondents that fell into this category, responses from students in the Not Sure group are not discussed here.

class subject, etc.) To account for the multiple comparison proceduresperformed on the data, Fisher’s LSD (least significant differencemethod) was applied Finally, a t-test (paired samples) compared theinitial and final responses for analysis of the influence of teacher-contacttime on students’ attitudes.

Participants

Students and administrators from 22 IEPs in the United Statesparticipated The participating groups of students were intact (Hatch &Lazaraton, 1991), that is, there was no random selection of participantsdone at any time of the project, and there was no control group Therewas also no attempt to do a stratified selection of participants Aftereliminating any students who had partially completed or otherwiseunusable questionnaires, a total of 804 students (46.7% males, 53.3%females) answered the initial questionnaire (at the beginning of thesemester), and 643 students (48.5% males, 51.5% females) answered thefinal questionnaire (at the end of the semester).5When asked about theclass they were taking while responding to the questionnaires, a greatmajority of the students (80.9%) indicated that they were currentlytaught by a NES ESL teacher, 15% were taught by a NNES ESL teacher,and the remaining students were not sure if their teachers were NES orNNES ESL teachers Languages spoken by the students who filled outthe initial questionnaire included Korean (30.4%), Spanish (18.6%),Japanese (14.1%), Chinese (13.4%), Arabic (6%), and several otherlanguages Students also gave additional information about the level andsubject as well as their expected grades in that course

Limitations

The voluntary nature of the survey was one of its limitations: IEPadministrators agreed (or not) to participate, then passed (or not) theinformation along to the ESL teachers, who then allowed (or not) theirstudents to participate Students also had the choice of filling out (or notfilling out) their questionnaire

Another limitation of this study lies in the uneven number ofparticipants in each group (beginners vs intermediate, Korean vs.Arabic, etc.) The interpretation of the statistical results must therefore

be cautious Finally, although the large number of participants helpedresults to be relatively significant statistically, the results are notrepresentative of all ESL students’ attitudes

5 The students who answered the final questionnaire had also answered the initial questionnaire.

RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Initial Attitudes Towards NES and NNES ESL Teachers

The first goal of this study was to investigate students’ attitudestowards NES and NNES ESL teachers at the beginning of the semester.Responses showed that, in general, students’ initial attitudes towardsNES ESL teachers, with means ranging from 3.16 to 4.48 on the Likertscale (going from 1 [strongly disagree] to 5 [strongly agree]) appeared to bemore positive than their attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers, withmeans ranging from 2.90 to 4.20 However, students’ attitudes towardsNNES ESL teachers were generally positive too (which corroboratesMoussu, 2002), and often not radically more negative than answers given

by students taught by NES ESL teachers, as could have been expected(Table 1)

Notable exceptions when ratings given by students in the nonnativegroup were significantly lower than ratings given by students in thenative group included Q13 (My English teacher is a good example of the idealEnglish speaker), Q15 (My English teacher looks like a typical American person),Q18 (My English teacher rarely makes grammar mistakes when he/she speaks),and Q21 (The English pronunciation of my English teacher is good)

Alternatively, responses of students in the nonnative group weresometimes more positive than responses of students in the native group,such as with Q19 (My English teacher explains grammar rules very clearly),Q25 (I can learn English just as well from a NONNATIVE English teacher asfrom a NATIVE English teacher), and Q26 (I don’t care where my teacher isfrom, as long as he/she is a good teacher for me)

Responses to Q25 and Q26, as well as to Q24 (Native English speakersmake the best English teachers), also illustrate a recurring and centralfinding: In general, students taught by NNES ESL teachers seemed tohave a significantly more positive attitude towards NNES ESL teachersthan students taught by NES ESL teachers (Table 2)

Several conclusions can be drawn from these initial results First, theESL students in this study did not systematically hold negative attitudes

TABLE 1

Responses to My English teacher is a good English teacher (Q4) at the Beginning of the Semester

95% Confidence interval Lower bound Upper bound Native 556 4.25 0.77 0.033 4.19 4.32 Nonnative 100 4.20 0.73 0.073 4.05 4.35 Note M 5 mean; SD 5 standard deviation; SE 5 standard error; F 5 0.381; df 5 1; p 5 0.537 (N

5 656).

towards NNES ESL teachers, and, in several cases, responses given bystudents in the nonnative group are not significantly different fromresponses given by students in the native group This seems to indicatethat ESL students do not prefer NES ESL teachers over NNES ESLteachers in all cases Second, students taught by NNES ESL teachersseemed less prejudiced against NNES ESL teachers in general thanstudents not taught by NNES ESL teachers This confirms findings byRubin and Smith (1990) and Ma (1993) that previous exposure to

‘‘international’’ teachers increased students’ favorable reception ofNNES teachers

The Influence of Variables

The variables identified from the literature review and whoseinfluence on students’ attitudes was examined in this study includedstudents’ first languages, class subjects (grammar, reading, etc.), levels ofEnglish proficiency, and expected grades, as well as teachers’ countries

of origin.6 All of these variables, except students’ levels of Englishproficiency, seemed to have strongly influenced students’ attitudestowards their teachers

It was hypothesized that the English proficiency level of the ESLstudents would strongly influence their attitudes towards NNES ESLteachers Presumably, students at higher proficiency levels would wantteachers with better (i.e., more authentic) accents and more extensiveknowledge of North American culture However, students at theadvanced levels taught by NNES ESL teachers often seemed to holdslightly more positive attitudes towards their teachers than beginners inthe same group

This finding could be explained by the fact that a student with a highEnglish proficiency level might have had a larger number of English

6 It is acknowledged that numerous variables (such as personality, individual institutions, cultural backgrounds, etc.) could also influence students’ attitudes towards their teachers These will be the object of future studies.