Teacher Contact Time

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Influence of Teacher-Contact Time andOther Variables on ESL Students

Attitudes Towards Native- andNonnative-English-Speaking Teachers

LUCIE MOUSSUUniversity 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 relevant

variables on students responses. This article reports on a study conductedin 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. Mahboobs (2003) study of 122

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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 who

responded 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.1 As Mahboobs study showed, thesestudent teachers will not easily find employment (either in the United

States 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 definitionsof the term native speaker have become blurred in todays increasinglymultilingual society and globalized world (Canagarajah, 2005; Davies,2003). The results of the present study, as well as the study by Kelch and

Santana-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, butinternational students usually pay more than in-state students and are limited in thenumber of hours they can work while studying.

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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 that

both 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 strategies

very 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 asa 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 the

multiple 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 and

professional 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 when

they make the same mistakes or appear hesitant (Canagarajah, 1999,2005).

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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 often

questioned, and that they felt more valued and respected when teachingin their own countries. Similarly, the NNES ESL teachers in Maums(2003) study (conducted in the K12 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, Lius(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 teacherslanguage 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



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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 only

native 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 encounter

job 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 ResearchQuestions

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, it

was 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 Fabrigars(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 attitudes

towards) linguistic superiority or inferiority, aesthetic preferences anddifferences (accents, etc.), and social conventions and connotations(Alford & Strother, 1990; Edwards, 1982).

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Albarracin, Johnson, and Zanna (2005) explained that behaviors canbe 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 recall

negative 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.), the

students interpretation of those choices, and the translation of theirattitudes towards NNES ESL teachers into a response fitting the surveysresponse 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 studentsattitudes 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



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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 questionnaires

are 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 participants

with 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 adapted

from previous studies. The constructs and 75 statements were then sentto 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 (see

Appendix A). The first section, about students ESL teachers, consistedof 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, Cronbachs alphas revealed some lowcoefficients of reliability and a lingering imbalance in the construction of thequestionnaire. For the construct meeting students expectations, Cronbachs alpha was 0.909; simplification of concepts 0.841; teachers as good role model 0.758; physical appearance0.258;grammar knowledge 0.768; pronunciation 0.294.

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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 levelsof proficiency. Although 50 IEPs were initially identified and contacted,problems of attrition due essentially to difficulties in obtainingpermissions from each IEPs IRB (Committee on the use of Human

Research 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 English

version 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. The

approximate 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 question-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 Nonnativecategory; if students didnt know iftheir teacher was a NES or a NNES ESL teacher, their responses fell intothe Not Sure category.3

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 of

variance 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 thiscategory, responses from students in the Not Sure group are not discussed here.



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class subject, etc.). To account for the multiple comparison proceduresperformed on the data, Fishers LSD (least significant differencemethod) was applied. Finally, a t-test (paired samples) compared theinitial and final responses for analysis of the influence of teacher-contact

time 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. There

was also no attempt to do a stratified selection of participants. After

eliminating 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).5 When 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 or

NNES 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: IEP

administrators 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 thereforebe cautious. Finally, although the large number of participants helpedresults to be relatively significant statistically, the results are not

representative of all ESL students attitudes.

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

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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 nonnative

group were significantly lower than ratings given by students in thenative group included Q13 (My English teacher is a good example of the ideal

English 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 were

sometimes 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 as

from a NATIVE English teacher), and Q26 (I dont 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 teachers

than students taught by NES ESL teachers (Table 2).Several conclusions can be drawn from these initial results. First, the

ESL 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

Group n M SD SE

95% Confidence interval

Lower bound Upper bound

Native 556 4.25 0.77 0.033 4.19 4.32Nonnative 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; df5 1; p 5 0.537 (N5 656).



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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 tointernational 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 countriesof 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 ESL

students 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

TABLE 2

Responses to I can learn English just as well from a NONNATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVEEnglish teacher (Q25) at the Beginning of the Semester

Group n M SD SE

95% Confidence interval

Lower bound Upper boundNative 637 3.17 1.15 0.046 3.08 3.26Nonnative 117 3.65 1.22 0.113 3.43 3.87

Note. F 5 16.76; df5 1; p 5 0.000 (N 5 785).

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.

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teachers than a student just starting to learn the language and,consequently, a higher likelihood of exposure to NNES ESL teachers.However, this hypothesis cannot be confirmed, because no previousstudy has directly investigated the influence of ESL students levels of

English proficiency on their attitudes.Students first languages, on the other hand, seemed to have asignificant influence on their attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESLteachers, as was the case in previous studies (e.g., Moussu, 2002; Tang,1997), although it proved difficult to compare groups of such unevensizes. Overall, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese students held a lesspositive attitude towards NNES ESL teachers, but also towards NES ESLteachers, than students speaking other languages. In contrast, responsesgiven by Portuguese, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish students

often seemed to indicate positive attitudes towards both NES and NNESESL teachers. These general trends can be observed in Table 3 below.Interestingly, it is difficult to separate first language and culture and toknow if this acceptance of, or prejudice against NNES ESL teachers mayhave been influenced by a traditional view of language teachers indifferent countries.

Class subject also seemed to have a significant influence on studentsanswers, which corroborates Lius (1999) findings. For example,students in the native group tended to prefer their grammar class to

other classes. Interestingly, the assumption that students would preferNNES grammar teachers and NES teachers as listeningspeakingteachers was not confirmed by these results. Indeed, previous studies(see Cheung, 2002; Mahboob, 2003) had shown a clear preference bystudents for NES listeningspeaking teachers and a preference for NNES

TABLE 3

Responses to My English teacher knows the English grammar very well (Q16) by First Language

Studentsfirst lan-guage

Native Nonnative

n M SD SE

95% CI

n M SD SE

95% CI

LB UB LB UB

Arabic 38 4.37 0.942 0.153 4.06 4.68 6 4.83 0.408 0.167 4.50 5.16Chinese 84 4.17 0.916 0.100 3.97 4.37 15 3.87 1.187 0.307 3.27 4.47French 16 4.44 0.629 0.157 4.10 4.77 2 4.50 . . . .

Japanese 88 4.03 0.890 0.095 3.85 4.22 22 4.09 0.868 0.185 3.71 4.48Korean 200 4.25 0.818 0.058 4.13 4.36 31 4.19 0.946 0.170 3.85 4.54Portuguese 10 4.60 0.699 0.221 4.17 5.03 2 5.00 0.000 0.000 5.00 5.00Spanish 111 4.53 0.711 0.068 4.40 4.67 28 4.21 0.833 0.157 3.89 4.54Thai 20 4.50 0.607 0.136 4.22 4.78 1 4.00 . . . .

Turkish 13 4.46 0.660 0.183 4.06 4.86 1 5.00 . . . .Other 53 4.61 0.595 0.096 4.41 4.80 8 4.25 1.165 3.44

Note. CI 5 confidence interval; LB 5 lower bound; UB 5 upper bound. Native: F 5 3.225; df59; p 5 0.000 (N 5 633). Nonnative: F 5 0.833; df5 9; p 5 0.587 (N 5 116).



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grammar teachers. Responses to Q10, for example (My English teacher isable to simplify difficult material so I can understand it), illustrated thisunforeseen preference pattern (Table 4).

Students expected grades was a variable that strongly influenced

students attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers, althoughit is difficult to know if students expected a high grade because theyliked their teacher, or if they liked their teacher because they believedthey would receive a high grade. Whatever the case may be, the higherthe expected grade, the more positive the attitudes of the studentstowards their teachers in both groups. Importantly, responses given bystudents in the nonnative group who were expecting an A were similarto, or even more positive than, responses given by students in the nativegroup also expecting an A, as can be observed in Table 5.

Teachers first language was another variable that strongly affectedstudents responses, which corroborates my findings (Moussu, 2002).7

Surprisingly, it was found that not all teachers labeled as NES ESLteachers spoke English as their first language. Similarly, it appeared thatsome of the teachers labeled as NNES ESL teachers spoke Englishnatively (Table 6). The reasons for these categorizations are unclear, butmight have to do with the teachers appearance or accent (as discussedby Amin, 1997), as well as the way the teachers presented themselves totheir students at the beginning of the semester (see Liu, 1999, for more

about different perceptions of nonnativeness). These findings raise thequestion of defining the native speaker.

The analysis of the first language variables effects on studentsattitudes showed that not all NES and NNES ESL teachers elicited

7 Teachers speaking different varieties of Spanish were grouped into the Spanish category.Teachers speaking a North American variety of English were clustered into the Americancategory, and teachers speaking other varieties of English (England, New Zealand,

Australia, and Ireland) were clustered into the British category.

TABLE 4

Responses to My English teacher is able to simplify difficult material so I can understand it (Q10) byClass Subject

Class sub-ject

Native Nonnative

n M SD SE

95% CI

n M SD SE

95% CI

LB UB LB UB

Grammar 121 4.21 0.729 0.066 4.08 4.34 32 4.22 0.906 0.160 3.89 4.55L/S 87 3.95 0.914 0.098 3.76 4.15 9 4.33 0.500 0.167 4.00 4.66R/W 310 3.94 1.009 0.057 3.82 4.05 49 3.76 1.195 0.171 3.43 4.09Other 15 3.80 0.775 0.200 3.41 4.19 8 3.50 1.013 0.358 2.80 4.20

Note. L/S 5 listeningspeaking; R/W5 readingwriting; Native: F5 2.780; df5 3; p5 0.041 (N5 633). Nonnative: F 5 2.405; df5 3; p 5 0.072 (N 5 98).

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similar reactions. On the one hand, teachers of certain origins (e.g.,those from Russia, Spanish-speaking countries, and the United States)seemed to be consistently appreciated by their students. On the otherhand, teachers of other origins (e.g., those from China, and, interest-ingly, countries where other varieties of English are spoken) appeared toreceive more negative responses. These results reveal the uselessness ofclassifying NNES ESL teachers as one homogeneous group andassigning strict attributes to all members of this group (Moussu &Llurda, 2008).

As Samimy and Brutt-Giffler (1999) and Reves and Medgyes (1994)previously noted, and as this study confirmed, students attitudestowards their teachers did not necessarily show a relationship withnonnativeness. For example, students taught by NES ESL teachers whoexpected lower grades did not respond positively about their teachers

TABLE 5

Responses to My English teacher explains grammar rules very clearly (Q19) by Expected Grades

Studentsexpected

grade

Native Nonnative

n M SD SE

95% CI

n M SD SE

95% CI

LB UB LB UB

A 227 4.08 0.866 0.057 3.98 4.19 49 4.41 0.866 0.124 3.89 4.39B 235 3.94 1.024 0.067 3.82 4.07 40 3.98 0.974 0.154 3.66 4.29C 79 3.52 1.174 0.132 3.26 3.78 14 3.79 1.122 0.300 3.20 4.38D 10 3.40 0.577 0.182 3.04 3.76 6 3.00 0.632 0.258 2.49 3.51F 3 2.67 0.928 0.536 1.62 3.72 . . . . . .

Note. Native: F 5 8.350; df5 4; p 5 0.000 (N 5 604). Nonnative: F 5 0.2.907; df5 4; p 5 0.038(N 5 109).

TABLE 6

Responses to I understand my English teachers pronunciation easily (Q22) by Teachers FirstLanguages

Teachersfirst lan-guage

Native Nonnative

n M SD SE

95% CI

n M SD SE

95% CI

UB LB LB UB

American 550 4.29 0.857 0.037 4.22 4.36 4 4.75 0.500 0.250 4.26 5.24Armenian . . . . . . 10 4.10 0.738 0.233 3.64 4.56British 52 3.88 1.078 0.150 3.58 4.18 3 4.33 0.577 0.333 3.68 4.98Portuguese 2 4.50 . . . . 15 3.73 1.223 0.316 3.11 4.35Chinese . . . . . . 19 3.32 1.057 0.242 2.84 3.80Other 4 4.50 0.577 0.289 3.93 5.07 25 3.64 1.114 0.223 3.18 4.10

Russian 1 4.00 . . . . 19 4.53 0.697 0.160 4.19 4.86Spanish 2 4.00 . . . . 15 3.80 1.265 0.327 3.16 4.44

Note. Native: F 5 2.163; df5 5; p5 0.057 (N 5 611). Nonnative: F 5 2.688; df5 7; p 5 0.014 (N5 110).



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in spite of their nativeness. Similarly, students taught by NNES ESLteachers who came from certain regions of the world showed positiveattitudes towards their teachers in spite of their nonnativeness. Asdiscussed in the next section, duration of exposure to their teachers

also influenced students attitudes towards NES and NNES ESLteachers.

The Influence of Time

Overall, students attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachersappeared to have changed by the end of the semester. The changestowards NNES ESL teachers, however, seemed to be more positive thanthe changes towards NES ESL teachers. In some instances, however,

these changes were minimal. For example, although 79% of the studentstaught by NES ESL teachers and 74.4% of the students taught by NNESESL teachers responded Yes to Q3 (Would you encourage a friend to take aclass with this English teacher?) at the beginning of the semester, thechanges were minimal, and 76.4% of the students taught by NES ESLteachers and 75% of the students taught by NNES ESL teachersresponded Yes at the end of the semester. Similarly, 6.6% (studentstaught by NES ESL teachers) and 6.8% (students taught by NNES ESLteachers) answered No at the beginning of the semester; at the end of

the semester, the numbers showed little change, with 7.8% (studentstaught by NES ESL teachers) and 6.3% (students taught by NNES ESLteachers) answering No.8

The trend that the attitude of students taught by NNES ESL teacherschanged a little more strongly and positively than that of students taughtby NES ESL teachers can be observed in many instances. However, thesmall number of participants in the nonnative group9 often did notallow the differences to emerge as statistically significant, as can be seenin Table 7, although the difference could be significant given a larger

sample size.Responses to the two last statements on the Likert-scale section of the

questionnaire, however, reflected particularly well the significantinfluence of teacher-contact time on students attitudes towards NNESESL teachers. Responses to Q25 (I can learn English just as well from aNON-NATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVE English teacher), forexample, show that, at the beginning of the semester, 14.76% of the

8 Interestingly, a post-hoc analysis of these results seemed to suggest an overall shift of

attitude during the semester and that the students (in both groups) who said Yes(or No) atthe beginning of the semester were not necessarily the same as the students who said Yes(or No) at the end of the semester.

9 To calculate the t-test, only the responses of students who answered both the initial and thefinal questionnaires were used.

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students taught by NES ESL teachers strongly agreed. By the end of thesemester, that number had risen to 17.86% (an increase of 3.1%). At thesame time, 29.06% of the students taught by NNES ESL teachers strongly

agreed with the same statement at the beginning of the semester,whereas 42.02% strongly agreed by the end of the semester (an increaseof 12.96%, and 24.16% more than students taught by NES ESLteachers). Table 8 shows these changes.

The strengthening of students positive attitudes towards their NNESESL teachers shows that the potential hesitation they might have feltabout those teachers qualifications at the beginning of the semesteralmost disappeared with a full semester of exposure to a NNES ESLteacher in the classroom environment.

These results suggest a number of interesting trends. First, studentsattitudes towards both their NES and NNES ESL teachers seem to beinfluenced not so much by the nativeness or nonnativeness of theirteachers but possibly by individual teacher and student variables such aspersonality, individual experience and background, and pedagogicalskills (although these variables were not specifically studied here). Forexample, students first language and expected grades influenced insimilar ways their attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers,

which suggest that the nativenonnative dichotomy is sometimes

ineffective in predicting students opinions of their teachers. On theother hand, students attitudes towards teachers of different class

TABLE 7

Responses to I understand my English teachers pronunciation easily (Q22) at the Beginning andEnd of the Semester

Semester

Native Nonnative

n M SD SE n M SD SE

Initial 371 4.22 0.916 0.048 78 3.87 1.109 0.126Final 371 4.44 0.817 0.042 78 4.07 1.034 0.117

Note. Native: t 5 24.290; df5 370; p 5 0.000. Nonnative: t 5 21.730; df5 77; p 5 0.088.

TABLE 8

Responses to I can learn English just as well from a NONNATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVEEnglish teacher(Q25) at the Beginning and the End of the Semester

Semester

Native Nonnative

n M SD SE n M SD SE

Initial 373 3.17 1.183 0.061 79 3.56 1.268 0.143Final 373 3.33 1.207 0.063 79 4.00 1.068 0.120

Note. Native: t 5 22.398; df5 372; p 5 0.017. Nonnative: t 5 22.883; df5 78; p 5 0.005.



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subjects (e.g., grammar or reading) and of different linguistic originsstrongly indicate that assuming that all NES ESL teachers are alike andall NNES ESL teachers are alike is no longer defensible. Finally, theanalysis of the influence of time and exposure to their teachers on

students attitudes confirms that students negative or positive pre-conceptions towards NES and NNES ESL teachers are less predictablethan previously believed. Furthermore, whatever expectations andpreconceptions students may hold at the beginning of the semester,these initial attitudes are likely to change as a result of time andexposure to their teacher.

CONCLUSION

In 1992, Phillipson presented some of the issues surrounding thenative speaker fallacy, that is, the belief that the ideal teacher is anative speaker (p. 185). A few years later, Canagarajah (1999) alsoexplained how the notion of Native Speaker, as established byChomsky (1986), had become obsolete, as an increasing number ofpeople speak more than one language or more than one variety of alanguage. In 2005, Canagarajah reexamined the distinction betweennative and nonnative speakers. He concluded that this distinction simplydid not apply anymore, not only because the concepts of native and

nonnative have changed, but also because linguistic boundaries are nolonger clear. As Canagarajah and several other scholars explained,English today is no longer owned and dominated by the traditional innercircle (Kachru, 1982) colonial powers, but rather by a multitude ofspeakers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds.

Judging teachers pedagogical and linguistic skills on a construct thatcan no longer be unmistakably defined thus seems unwise and, in lightof students complex responses, misguided. The English proficiency ofEnglish teachers must be seen as a plural system that should no longerbe defined by the ambiguous notion of native versus nonnative speakersbut, instead, could use distinctions such as novice and expert teachers(Canagarajah, 2005, p. xxvii). As a result, a good teacher will no longerbe identified by the obsolete and ill-defined native/nonnative model butratherand onlyas a person who has mastered a combination oflinguistic and pedagogical skills (Astor, 2000).

An analysis of relevant variables (first languages, etc.) inherent instudents responses to this study confirms these principles. Responsesgrouped by teachers first languages, for example, showed that ESLstudents classifications of native and nonnative speakers can seem fuzzyat times, and may not necessarily correspond to either the teachers ownclassification or a linguists classification of their nativeness or

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nonnativeness. However, additional studies are needed to confirm orrefute this fuzziness that Lius (1999) participants also noted about(self)-classifications of (non)nativeness.

The analysis of the influence of different variables on students attitudes

also provided some interesting insights into the complex question of whatmakes a teacher a good teacher. Results demonstrated that the participat-ing students could appreciate both NES and NNES ESL teachers and in a

variety of teaching contexts, but also that some groups of students couldhold negative attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers. Indeed,students attitudes towards NES ESL teachers were not always as positive assome IEP administrators may have believed (Mahboob, 2003).

Students responses also suggested that their attitudes towards NESand NNES ESL teachers were not as significantly different as might have

been expected and did not become significantly more positive ornegative over time. As a consequence, by the end of the semester,attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers had remainedoverall positive and constructive.

In spite of the many limitations of this study, its results may help bothESL/EFL teachers and language program administrators to respond tostudents doubts and prejudices against NNES ESL teachers. Theseresults may also inspire teacher preparation programs and studentteachers to rethink the conventional notions and definitions of the

native speaker and the good teacher.It is hoped that future studies will be conducted to investigate further the

preconceptions and realities of ESL and EFL teaching. A better under-standing of students motivations for learning English, their expectations of

what constitutes agood teacher, and their experiences with NES and NNESESL teachers in different contexts can inform and enrich the learningexperience of ESL/EFL students, the teacher training programs for futureESL/EFL teachers, and the pedagogical and professional experiences ofteacher educators, student teachers, ESL/EFL teachers, and language

program administrators.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This study was generously funded by a dissertation grant from the TESOLInternational Research Foundation. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewersas well as Aya Matsuda and Enric Llurda for their useful suggestions on previous drafts.Thank you also to the many participating students, teachers, and IEP administratorsfor their time, responses, and encouragements. A more thorough account of this

research project can be found in my doctoral dissertation (Moussu, 2006).



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THE AUTHOR

Lucie Moussu is an Assistant Professor in Writing Studies at the University of Alberta,in Edmonton, Canada, and Director of the Centre for Writers. Her research interestsinclude the advantages of NES and NNES ESL teachers, the Canadian bilingual

context, writing center administration, and second language writing.

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APPENDIX A

Student Questionnaire

I. YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER. Please answer the following questions about your teacher inthis class.

1. What country is your English teacher from? ________________________2. Your English teacher is (please put an X in the space corresponding to your answer):

- i. ____ a NATIVE speaker of English- ii. ____ a NON-NATIVE speaker of English

- iii. ____ not sure

3. Would you encourage a friend to take a class with THIS English teacher?(a) ____ yes(b) ____ no(c) _____ not sure

The English version of the student questionnaire is provided here. Translations areavailable upon request.

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This is an example

1 2 3 4 5strongly

DISAGREEDisa-gree

Notsure

Ag-ree

stronglyAGREE

4. My English teacher is a good English

teacher

1 2 3 4 5

5. I would enjoy taking another class with thisEnglish teacher

1 2 3 4 5

6. I am learning a lot of English with thisteacher

1 2 3 4 5

7. My English teacher is the kind of teacher Iexpected to have here

1 2 3 4 5

8. My English teacher is an ideal teacher forme

1 2 3 4 5

9. My English teacher explains difficultconcepts well

1 2 3 4 5

10. My English teacher is able to simplify

difficult material so I can understand it

1 2 3 4 5

11. My English teacher teaches in a mannerthat helps me learn

1 2 3 4 5

12. My English teacher motivates me to domy best to learn English

1 2 3 4 5

13. My English teacher is a good example ofthe ideal English speaker

1 2 3 4 5

14. My English teacher looks like a nativespeaker of English

1 2 3 4 5

15. My English teacher looks like a typicalAmerican person

1 2 3 4 5

16. My English teacher knows the English

grammar very well

1 2 3 4 5

17. My English teacher rarely makes gram-mar mistakes when he/she writes

1 2 3 4 5

18. My English teacher rarely makes gram-mar mistakes when he/she speaks

1 2 3 4 5

19. My English teacher explains grammarrules very clearly

1 2 3 4 5

20. I understand what my English teacher issaying without a problem

1 2 3 4 5

21. The English pronunciation of my Englishteacher is good

1 2 3 4 5

22. I understand my English teachers pro-

nunciation easily

1 2 3 4 5

23. English teachers should all speak with aperfect American accent

1 2 3 4 5

24. NATIVE English speakers make the bestEnglish teachers

1 2 3 4 5

25. I can learn English just as well from aNON-NATIVE English teacher as from aNATIVE English teacher

1 2 3 4 5

26. I dont care where my teacher is from, aslong as he/she is a good teacher for me

1 2 3 4 5



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Please answer the following questions about YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER AND THISCLASS by FILLING IN the numbers that correspond to your feelings, according to thefollowing scale:

1: strongly DISAGREE 2: disagree 3: not sure 4: agree 5: strongly AGREE27. What do you think makes a good English teacher? Please explain below.

II. BACKGROUND INFORMATION. Please answer the following questions about yourself.28. Name of country from where you came: _______________________29. Name of city/town/village where you were born: ________________________30. Birth date (day/month/year): ___________/_________/___________31. First language(s): _________________________________________32. Gender: (a) ____male(b) ____ female33. Name of school/ IEP where you are studying right now: _______34. Subject of this class (grammar, reading, etc.): ____________________35. Level of this English course (please choose one option):(a) ____ beginner(b) ____ intermediate (c) ____ advanced36. Including your current teacher,

how many NATIVE English teachers have you had while learning Englishin the U.S.? _____________how many NON-NATIVE English teachers have you had while learning Englishin the U.S.?__________

37. Do you intend to leave the United States after you finish your studies in this school?(a) ____ yes(b) ____ no(c) ____ not sure38. Your most important reason for learning English is (choose ONLY ONE answer):____ to go to an English-speaking school or IEP____ to get a better job in your country____ to live in the U.S.____ because English is very important in todays society____ because you like the English language and culture very much____ because you are a U.S. citizen or immigrant____ for fun and personal pleasure____ for other reasons (please explain): _____________________________39. The overall grade you expect to receive in this class is:____ very high (A+, A, or A2) (90%100%)____ high (B+, B, or B2) (80%89%)____ average (C+, C, or C2) (70%79%)____ low (D+ D, or D2) (60%69%)____ fail (E or F) (below 60%)

768 TESOL QUARTERLY

Teacher Contact Time

Documents

Transcript of Teacher Contact Time