What Is Native Speakerism and How Can English Teachers Challenge It? With Meri – S04E16

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 colleaguesThe 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/@thenonnativespeaker767Website: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-speakerNPR – 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-englishEnglish-speaking world:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English-speaking_worldThe suffix “-ism”:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-ismNative Speaker – Definition and Examples:https://www.thoughtco.com/native-speaker-linguistics-1691421Support the podcast:https://ko-fi.com/howtoenglishpodTeaching ideas and resources:https://howtoenglishpod.comChapters00:00 Introducing native speakerism00:29 What is a native English speaker?01:32 Why definitions of “native” cause problems03:12 Discrimination in recruitment and pay04:15 Introducing Meri04:58 Meri’s background and qualifications06:30 How nationality and names affect employment07:26 Why birthplace does not make somebody a teacher09:00 Unequal language testing requirements11:41 Gav and Em’s experiences of recruitment bias13:01 Why qualified teachers and diverse teams matter15:03 Responding to “I only want a native teacher”17:38 Understanding different English speakers18:50 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 speakerism24:55 Reviewing recruitment and pay policies25:40 Charlotte’s experience of unequal teacher pay26:25 Learn-A-Word: the suffix “-ism”