Back in 2011, I was turned down for a job as an English teacher because I was a non-native speaker. Not because of my qualifications or experience, which according to the recruiter were even beyond what they’d expect from a candidate. My story is unfortunately similar to those of numerous other ‘non-native speakers’, but also those ‘native speakers’ who because of their skin colour, name or accent do not fit the perceived image of a ‘native speaker’ of many recruiters and students.
And this discrimination in recruitment is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are ‘native’ and ‘non-native speakers’ who have had to pretend they were from London to please the school director and clients. There are ‘native speakers’ who are told they can only teach speaking or pronunciation. There are ‘non-native speakers’ who are told they can only teach low levels.
That's why the aim of TEFL Equity is to promote equal employment opportunities for 'native' and non-native speaker teachers in ELT.
I have a Certificate in TESOL. I got my BA and MBA degrees in the USA. My IELTS score is 8.5. My other tongue is not English, but the English language is my second language, which I have used as the L1 almost in my entire career life. Am I qualified to teach English, say, England or somewhere in South America or even Japan? By the way, I can communicate in Japanese having passed JLPT N2 level, but a long time ago though?
This seems like solid advice for qualified teachers of English who are not native speakers I don’t really see how a preference for native speakers is a prejudice or unjustified, however, simply because language learning is for the most part not a deliberate memorization of rules and vocabulary but rather an intuition acquired through many hours of listening and reading and therefore highly dependent on quality of input. There is no shortage of non-native speakers capable of teaching English grammar better than most native speakers, but this is only a small albeit helpful component when used in moderation. Even a native’s mistakes reveal something about the authentic way the language is used in their country, and it’s hard enough to learn good pronunciation even when exclusively listening to native input. It really is an unfair advantage especially if your native language is not in high demand, but it’s not really anyone’s fault. It’s not something you can dismiss as “prejudice.”
Hello, great video! Thank you. Here's my situation. I was born in Italy. That's where I grew up until, at the age of 27, I moved to the UK. Having lived in the UK for 22 years, I now have dual citizenship, meaning that I have both an Italian and a British passport. I would like to teach English in China and would obviously apply for my Z Visa as a British citizen. However, my Bachelor's (with a major in English Language and Literature) is from an Italian university. The Italian degree certificate has been translated into English by a certified translator and also validated by UK ENIC as equivalent to a UK Bachelor's Degree. Woukd the fact that my degree is not from a UK university and that the degree certificate thereof is written in Italian be an issue for the Chinese authorities when they review my Z Visa application? Thank you very much, G.G.
At 50 seconds you pronounce 'run' as 'ran'. This is just one obvious error within a few seconds of you talking. This is just one reason why some students would prefer a native speaker as they are far less likely to make very basic slip ups.
It's clear from your intonation that you are not a native speaker. While you may be qualified, if I were learning Polish, I would come to you for your cultural insight and pronunciation. I think for students to prefer a native teacher is completely legitimate. Assuming that the TEFL industry is purely based on academic credentials is naive. Customer preferences and to a huge extent, international politics determine who is entitled to a visa, not just with English, but with any language teaching globally. You can't condense quite a complex issue down to pure qualifications. No one is 'owed' or entitled to work anywhere. With any job there are a variety of market factors that determine eligibility. I am a qualified musician, and play 7 instruments does that entitle me to be a rock star? I am technically able! No, (although I do work in music and curriculum design). Being technically able to do something means you have to compete with all other candidates according to market and social demands. I play the trumpet at a very high level. If competing with other musicians of the same level for an orchestra position, it is absolutely legitimate for the music director to select his preferred auditioned based on their tone. The same applies to accent. It is completely legitimate when the sound created is integral to the role being filled.
Dear I hope you are fine. I am Ghulam Mustafa from Pakistan. I have done with M.phil English Linguistics. I have been teaching English in Pakistan for ten years. Now current situation in pakistan is worsening day by day I want to move outside the country for job . What you suggest me.? May I get the job there ?
I agree with him but that's no easy to get the ESL job in China. I have been teaching in China for 10 years. When i resign or finish the contract most of the college/University or any institute they only look NES only NES
Thank you for the video, author. Quite often governmental and employers` expectations are failed to match the reality. Let`s get logical: who on earth, among native speakers from, say, the US where only health insurance costs over 500 dollars, would go to the other side of the world to work for 1000-2000 bucks at maximum net ? No one except maybe "a few" enthusiasts who just want to live there for a while and lie on the beach somewhere in Pattaya. I`m not taking some elite schools willing to pay much more into consideration, just average ones.
I have no idea why you stopped posting content and why your website is down, but I think it's a huge shame. Your videos are extremely informative and important. I hope everything is well with you, and that you come back at some point.
I'm not a native speaker but I'm from a country who's official and educational language is English. I've spoken English since I uttered my first word as a toddler. My college education was obtained from a Native English Speaking Country. I lived most of my life in a Native English Speaking Country. To crown it all, I speak English better than most native speakers that I came across. Total number of years living in a Ntive English Speaking country is 27.5 years to be exact That being said, I want anyone in the English Education System who's making this distinction between native and non native speakers, to respond and proof to me, why they think I'm not qualified to teach English, just because of where I was born.
Hey! I have signed a contract with a school in Xian and I am from Pakistan. I have done bachelor, master and MPhill in English from Pakistan. TEFL from USA 12 plus years of experience. Now that all documents are submitted foe foreigner work permit notificatiom, some of my friends online are telling me that you might get rejected being a non native. Please solve this piece of puzzle.
I have given it a thought to start up as an online tutor in my native language Norwegian and in English. This "native hype" is a bit annoying... Why do you want to sound native as a student, unless you plan on being dropped behind enemy lines and blend in with the locals that is. And in our international world maybe native isn't the answere. I mean in sime parts of Oslo you would stick out like a sore thumb speaking native Norwegian. You would blend in better with an Indian or Pakistani accent. Or maybe Filipino accents. They seem to be everywhere. If you have the goal of sounding native you need to make sure that your teachers and tutors over the years all have the same dialect. Maybe it's better speaking a clear and easily understandable English instead? Then you don't end up like this group of Irishmen I met in a restaurant in Bulgaria a few years back. Non of the Bulgarian staff could understand them and they couldn't understand the broad Bukgarian accent... I ended up as a translator that night, translating from English to English...
That's totally not true, I have been teaching legaly here in China for more than 4 years. Never faced a problem regarding my work permit. You can't just claim something that you have no clue of. Non natives CAN work legally in China as English language teachers.
@@achrafbakirou4763Thank you for clarifying that. I have a BA degree in Education with a major in TEFL and a teaching license from Sweden. I sent my credentials to recruiters but they tell me there is no update yet and its July. What can I do to get offers?
I've been teaching English in China for more than 5 years and it's only getting worse and more aggressive towards non-native speakers. I have a degree in ESL, related work experience, I hold a teaching visa which can be legally transferred to any type of educational institution, yet 90% of jobs are out of reach for me. You can certainly get a job at a kindergarten or at a poorly managed racist training centre but forget about colleges, universities, middle and high schools. They would rather hire a person with an American passport without any qualifications to teach instead of me and this is not an exaggeration. This is China. Also they would lie to their students or their parents that you are from Canada or Australia. And if you're for example a Pakistani, they would lie telling you're from South America because Chinese people are prejudiced against muslims and no one would ever let their child to be taught by a muslim person in China. Also the word "America" does it magic since most of Chinese people are not very good at geography and have no idea that there are two Americas. And this is like 10% of the negative stuff you'll experience in China as a non-native teacher and it would get even worse if you're not a caucasian looking person. I need just one more year in China before I get my Canadian PR and I'm struggling to find a job even at a low grade college or university because all I hear is: sorry, but they prefer native speakers. DO NOT GO to teach in China, this will drive your self-esteem under the rug and make you prejudiced against Chinese people in response to their discrimination and open racism.
If you want to experience native speakerism, just go to China and face all sorts of discrimination officially supported and backed by the government itself. You'll be discriminated against not just for your passport but for your skin color and culture as well.
Right. As long as have a good command of the English Language and you're willing to learn and understand how to teach, then anybody should be able to teach, regardless of country of origin
Thanks a lot for this great video. It feels as though this video was made just for me. I just stumbled on your channel an hour ago, and it's like an answer to my prayer. For weeks now I had been making researches about schools that hire non native English speaker in South Korea and Taiwan, but one of the prerequisites is that one must be a native speaker to teach there. It's been really discouraging. I am Nigerian and I obtained my Masters degree TCSOL from China, so I know China definitely does not hire non native Speakers of English to teach English. I am currently working on enrolling for TESOL/TEFL.
I am a Pakistani English Language teacher and been searching for a job opportunity at British Council frantically for past 6 months. I came to know, through an insider, that they do not hire teachers from Pakistan. Same goes for IELTS examiners.
Sir. I made a presentation video for an online English teaching website. Where I mentioned that "that there was a time when I myself was not good at english. My english was broken but I was passionate about it, I dedicated myself, invested my time and energy and here I'm now talking like a native english speaker". And then there is this other part of my video. Where I say "English is a language it's not a science and I know the biggest that we commit as non native english speakers while learning english, but with the right guidance and practice you will achive your desired results" does it sound convincing? Or shall I edit some parts??
why do they only talk about countries like the US, the UK, Canada, New Zealand, Ireland, Australia, and South Africa? i am from Trinidad which is a native English-speaking country.
Isn't it interesting how they label South Africa as native speaker, when in reality South Africa is a non native speaker, because like Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Ghana, Botswana, Liberia and Gambia, South Africa is a country with its own language but uses English as both its educational and official languages. The people making this distinction between native and non native speakers are doing it based not being well informed
