Second Language Learning and Language Teaching

A model of a proficient L2 user in action. The students witness someone who is
using the second language effectively (one reason for using the L2 in the class-
room); they can see that it is possible to operate in a language that is not one’s
own. The native speaker teacher, on the other hand, is a model of something
alien which the students can never be in the second language – a user of a first
language.
●
A model of a person who has successfully learnt a second language. The non-native
teacher has acquired another language in the same way as the student, show-
ing that it can be done. They have shared the student’s own experience at some
time in their lives. The native speaker teacher has followed a completely differ-
ent route and has not had the students’ experiences and problems at first hand.
●
More appropriate training and background. The native speaker is an outsider and
does not necessarily share the culture of the classroom and the values of the
educational system in the same way. Many expat EFL teachers are not fully
trained, and indeed would not have the qualifications to teach in UK second-
ary schools.
●
Possible lesser fluency, and so on, in the second language. Of course, the preceding
summary of non-native assets assumes that the non-native speaker teacher can
speak fluently and communicate within the classroom, which may be far from
true in many classrooms around the world. This is not due to their non-native
status, but to inadequate training or ineffective selection for their jobs; they are
inefficient L2 users, not poor native speakers.
We can see then that the choice between native and non-native teachers is
not a simple matter, but is confounded with language knowledge, teacher
training and many other factors. Indeed, if the sole asset of the native speaker
is their command of the native language spoken in their home country, this
has a short shelf life; after six months or so, English teachers in Spain are start-
ing to use English influenced by the Spanish teaching situation (Porte, 2003).
A compromise is to combine the good points of both native and non-native
teachers. Most famously this is through the assistant language teachers on the
Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme, in which native speaker teachers
with comparatively little experience are teamed with experienced Japanese teach-
ers in the classroom. Typically, the JET assistant is used both as a source of authen-
tic native language and cultural information, and as a foreigner to whom Japanese
culture can be explained. The Japanese teacher takes responsibility for the overall
direction and control of the class through their experience and local knowledge.
More information can be found at the website for MEXT, the Japanese Ministry of
Education (www.mext.go.jp/english/).
Alternatively, the presentation of native speaker speech can be through the
materials and media. Tapes can use native speaker actors; television programmes,
films or tapes can present authentic speech, and so on. The teacher does not have
The L2 user and the native speaker
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to be the sole source of input in the classroom. Indeed, successful non-native
teachers may produce students who speak the language better than they do in
native speaker terms, provided that the sole model has not been the teacher’s own
speech. But of course, the appropriate goal may not be native speaker language in
the first place.
International languages: English as Lingua Franca (ELF) 189