Autumn 2000 19

Na t i ve - En g l i s h - Sp e a k i n gTeachers in Cu l t u res Ot h e rThan Their OwnLeslie Barratt and Edit H. Kontra

EACH YEAR, THOUSANDS of nativespeakers of English (NSs) find positionsteaching English in foreign countries. Often,once these teachers arrive in their host coun-tries, they are overwhelmed by panic, askingthemselves “What happens next? How can Iserve my students’ needs and earn my col-leagues’ respect?” Concurrently, schools anduniversities worldwide are preparing to hostthese English speakers, and are wonderingwhether these teachers will “be more than anative speaker” (Snow, 1996) and benefittheir programs and students.

Several authors have decried the mismatchbetween Western ways of teaching and non-Western contexts (e.g., Alptekin & Alptekin,1990; Bahloul, 1994; Bax, 1997; Cortazzi &Jin, 1996; Kramsch, 1993; LoCastro, 1996;and Valdes, 1990). Schleppegrell(1994/1995) argued for “a middle ground onwhich the aspirations and goals of foreignEFL teachers can be turned into assets for thehost country educational system” (p. 4). Our goal is to support the search for this middle ground.

This article reports on two studies thatdirectly surveyed the clients of NS teachers—their students and their EFL host colleagues.Our aim was to get a consumer’s view ofwhat works and what does not for a visitingteacher in a strange land, and to provide guid-ance for NS teachers who plan to work over-seas, helping them to prepare and shape theirexperience. Our results are also useful toteacher educators who prepare NSs in TEFL,prompting them to rethink their preparationprograms. Finally, our results can assist host-country administrators and instructors, bothin their hiring of NS teachers and in the waythey incorporate them into their programs.

ProceduresThe first of the two studies was conducted

by Kontra in Hungary in 1993, with 116 stu-dents and 58 teachers (see Barratt, Donnelly, &Kontra, 1994; Kontra, 1998). The positive reac-tion to that study prompted Barratt to repeat thesurvey in China in 1996, with 100 students and54 teachers. The similarity between the resultsof these two surveys indicates that helping NSteachers fit into host cultures is a challenge thatis not unique to any one country.

In both surveys, students and teachers werefirst asked to specify the number of NS teach-ers they had interacted with, and then to indi-cate the type(s) of settings in which they hadinteracted (e.g., elementary or secondaryschool, language school, university). ManyHungarian and Chinese respondents hadworked with or were taught by large numbersof NS teachers. In fact, the average number ofNS contacts per respondent is remarkablysimilar in both countries: 4.3 for Hungarianstudents (HS), 10.7 for Hungarian teachers(HT), 2.85 for Chinese students (CS), and 9.1for Chinese teachers (CT).

In both surveys, participants were askedto freewrite (in English) about their positiveand/or negative experiences with NS teach-ers. Most of the survey participants wroteapproximately half a page in 6–8 minutes.

To identify the most commonly recurringthemes, responses were separated into indi-vidual sentences (793 in the Hungarian sur-vey, averaging 4.56 sentences per person;688 in the Chinese survey, averaging 4.47sentences per person). Some respondentsused nonsentential units (e.g., P o s i t i v e —give help), but for reporting purposes, werefer to clearly separate comments as sen-

tences. A pair of research assistants (a dif-ferent team for each survey) then analyzedthe sentences for content, collaborativelyassigning like-sentences to the same cate-gory. Next, each category was classified aseither positive or negative, commentsassigned to it were counted, and the cate-gory was summarized. Vague commentswere labeled n o n s p e c i f i c ( e . g . , Mostly Ihave had positive impressions and experi-e n c e s was labeled nonspecific positive). Inessays of this type there are many introduc-tory, transitional, personal, or factual state-ments, so anomalous and irrelevantsentences were set aside (e.g., The materialto be studied in Hungary is divided into top-ics, even within fields, for each subject.) .

The following discussion is based on therank order of categories that emerged. Wehave chosen illustrative comments andcoded them according to their source (e.g.,HS20 indicates Hungarian student number20), quoting responses in their original,unedited form. Because the text wasunedited freewriting, fragments and lan-guage errors are not necessarily indicativeof the respondent’s language proficiency.

Positive CategoriesThe table on page 20 presents a rank-

ordered summary of the positive categoriesof responses. Note that a content analysis ofthis kind indicates the relative strength ofdifferent themes, so what is significant is therank ordering of each theme, as it indicateshow frequently that theme was mentioned.These data cannot be used to evaluate thecontributions of NS teachers holistically, asthat was not the objective of the survey.

20 TESOL Journal

What Is Valued?Not surprisingly, students and teachers in

foreign countries value what native speakersbring with them naturally—authenticity. Asthe following responses indicate, authenticpronunciation, wide-ranging knowledge ofvocabulary, and critical information aboutusage make NS teachers a valuable resource.

We could learn subtle differences ofusage that a non-native teacher mustlearn him/herself first. (HS109)

Their idiomatic use of language wasvery helpful to students who werelearning to speak the language. ( C T 1 1 )

Additionally, since the teacher spokeEnglish, students reported that they, too,had to use more English.

Because they do not speak Hungarian,it is in itself a great motivation to thinkand speak in English. (HS33)

Talking with a foreigner needs a greatcourage and it forces you to express inEnglish and certainly you’ll be in theright mood to speak English. (CS58)

Respondents also viewed NS teachers asauthentic, walking, breathing resources aboutother cultures.

[They represent] their country’s cul-ture from the way they speak down tothe way they use their fork. (HT15)

You can communicate with a nativespeaker. He can tell you more aboutEnglish spoken countries, their cul-ture, their tradition, their peoples,thought, etc. (CS37)

Participants also valued positive personal-ity traits. Many noted the NS teachers’ enthu-siasm, and others their friendly demeanor,warm-heartedness, and sociability.

Most of them are friendly, extremelyhelpful, energetic and enthusiastic,and have always been willing to coop-erate in any “joint effort.” (HT46)

Most of my foreign teachers are verykind. (CS39)

Part of what underlies these observationsmay be a response to a more personal styleof relating to students:

Getting back your very first paper in aclass and reading a comment like “I’mlooking forward to getting to know

you” is a tremendous experience,which would almost surely neveroccur with a Hungarian ... teacher.(HS12)

We felt we were more like friends withthem than we felt about the Chineseteacher. (CS60)

The sample responses above focus on themost frequent categories in the surveys.However, some points are group-specific.For example, in teaching, all groups valuedNS teachers’ fresh approach to EFL instruc-tion, but respondents emphasized differentqualities. Whereas Hungarian teachersappreciated the new methodological insightsthat some NS teachers provided, Hungarianand Chinese students were more likely tocomment on the NS teachers’ relaxed atti-tudes toward grades and error correction.Furthermore, Chinese students emphasizedthat NS teachers were lively, played games,and got the students involved.

Finally, NS teachers were valued by stu-dents for being well-prepared and by hostcolleagues for other teaching qualities, suchas being able to teach a range of topics, help-ing in departmental work, and making them-selves available as language resources.

Negative CategoriesThe table on page 21 presents the rank

ordering of the negative categories ofresponses.

What Is Not Valued?Although respondents could not be

expected to know the details of their teach-ers’ training, NS teachers were most fre-quently criticized for lack of TEFLpreparation. Although they did not go as faras Phillipson (1992), who labeled theunqualified NS as a “potential menace” (p. 14) because of linguistic ignorance, ourrespondents had a particularly negative reac-

tion to people who were not teachers by pro-fession. Respondents cited being taught byan architect, a police officer, an archeologist,an economist, and a stage director. OneHungarian student put it bluntly:

Sometimes they are unimaginative andcome to Eastern Europe only becausethey can’t find a proper job in theirown country. (HS38)

In Hungary and China, lack of profes-sional preparation is noted by both teachersand students, as are the consequences. Asstudents commented:

They spoke their language withoutmistakes, but they couldn’t explainthings, answer our questions. (HS105)

Not all the native-speaking person canbe a good teacher. (CS97)

Respondents also criticized trained teach-ers with poor teaching styles. Commentsmentioned contradictory grammar explana-tions from the same teacher, no systematicway to deal with student error, a narrownessof educational background, unplannedclasses, lack of organization, and pitchingthe class at too low a level. One commentsummed up the criticism concisely:

Being a native is not enough. (HT3)

Another critical theme was the NS teach-ers’ lack of insight into typical languageproblems of students. For instance, oneChinese student commented:

The problem is that it seems somenative-speaking teachers do not knowthe characters of Chinese students, sosometimes, they can’t find efficientway to teach us. (CS81)

Rank Ordering of Categories of Positive Comments about NS Teachers

Hungary Total responses/HT/HS China Total responses/CT/CSNative-language authenticity 110/21/89 Teachers made students involved 55/14/41Students learned about culture 33/8/25 Students learned about culture 51/16/35Enthusiasm 29/10/19 Positive personality 41/19/22New methodological insights 26/16/10 Native-language authenticity 40/8/32Positive personality 24/15/9 Good teachers 34/13/21Positive language and culture 22/6/16 Teachers were humorous 12/3/9General teaching benefits 22/16/6 Teachers gave students confidence 8/3/5Good teachers 7/4/3 Teachers were careful about work 6/2/4Positive writing assistance 3/1/2 Teachers were liberal-minded 3/2/1Nonspecific positive 106/46/60 Nonspecific positive 71/17/54Total positive responses 382 Total positive responses 321

Total number surveyed: Hungarian teachers (HT) = 58; Hungarian students (HS) = 116;Chinese teachers (CT) = 54; Chinese students (CS) = 100

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These comments create a sense that NSteachers were less sharp in presenting gram-mar and less vigilant in correcting errors thanwere their host colleagues. Several respon-dents said that NS teachers did not have asense of the typical errors of EFL learners intheir country. Moreover, the NS teachers hada disadvantage compared to their host col-leagues, who could quickly explain grammarby comparison to the students’ first language(L1) or by using terms from their L1. Thesefindings coincide with those of Medgyes(1994), who argues that teachers who sharestudents’ L1 have a linguistic and culturalawareness that helps them develop an “antici-patory device” with which they can “predictwhat is likely to go wrong before the studentopens his mouth” (p. 62).

Hiring poor teachers not only cancause resentment among qualified hostteachers and serious students, but alsocan lead to poor learning on the partof the students.

A further concern was lack of familiaritywith the host educational system. Respondentsc o m m e n t e d that some NS teachers failed tomatch their instruction with the school’sexpectations or with the students’ needs bynot following the school syllabus, for example. Consequently, students did notstudy topics, such as translation, that werecovered on departmental tests. One studentcommented:

Some can’t understand that they’vecome to work in an already existingsystem, which they don’t necessarilyhave to change/alter/modify. ( H S 9 3 )

Respondents also discussed the NS teach-ers’ attitudes toward the host culture. Manyfound that NS teachers lacked basic knowl-edge of the host culture, ignored basic cul-tural differences, or actively displayed aprejudice against the host culture, mostlyexhibiting a sense of superiority.

I think people planning to come toteach here should be aware of thecountry’s political, economic, andsocial situation, and should not jumpinto damning conclusions when theyfind out that things are rather differ-e n t . ( H S 4 1 )

We often felt that he treated us likechildren as if we were inferior ini n t e l l i g e n c e. (CT7)

On these attitudes, our respondents echoBahloul (1994), who, when discussing Peace

Corps volunteers in Tunisia and Morocco,labeled their commitment to act as agents ofchange as “their biggest mistake” for notrealizing that “if the system is to be altered itmust be changed from within” (p. 5).

The above discussion has focused on com-mon themes in the Hungarian and Chinesesurveys, but several issues were country-spe-cific. For example, in the Chinese survey,many respondents commented that NS teach-ers dominated the discussion, not giving stu-dents an opportunity to practice speaking. AChinese teacher tied the problem to the NSteachers’ methodology.

Some native-speaking teachers teachoral classes without using a textbooksometimes without using any materialat all. Maybe they think their naturalspeech is better than any other text-book. As a result, they just talk aboutwhatever comes to their minds. As aresult the oral class turns out to be alecture. Students do not have manychances to speak. ( C T 2 5 )

Although respondents in the Hungariansurvey highly valued the NS teachers fortheir English language abilities, they werecritical of the variety of English the teachersused. For instance, several respondents pre-ferred British English over U.S. English (e.g.,one student described hearing “American”English as “embarrassing”). Others felt thatinstructors should be able to teach regionalvariations in vocabulary, pronunciation, andsyntactic forms. Respondents were also criti-cal of different English accents. For instance,the Hungarian students found strong dialects(e.g., Scottish English) difficult to understand.

Other negative comments made byHungarian respondents concerned NS teach-ers’ negative personality and professional

egotism (e.g., haughtiness or being tooinvolved in their own project or careeradvancement), the impermanence of theirstays, and their problems disciplining ormotivating students.

Teacher educators should be selectivein recommending students who arequalified and serious about teachingEFL overseas, rather than those whoare simply looking for a means of sup-porting themselves while they live andtravel abroad, or weaker students whoare having difficulty finding a job.

ImplicationsWhat, then, are the implications of these

results? We have split this discussion intothe implications for four different, yet inter-connected, groups of individuals: adminis-trators, teaching colleagues, teachereducators, and NS teachers planning to worko v e r s e a s .

Implications for EFLAdministrators andColleagues

• Hire carefullyDo not hire unqualified NSs to teach just

because they are NSs. Hiring poor teachersnot only can cause resentment among quali-fied host teachers and serious students, butalso can lead to poor learning on the part ofthe students.

• Have orientations for new NS teachersAdministrators, teachers, and students can

be involved in the orientation, which should

Rank Ordering of Categories of Negative Comments About NS Teachers

Hungary Total responses/HT/HS China Total responses/CT/CSAren’t real teachers 51/25/26 Inexperienced or bad teacher 32/17/15Don’t understand native- 49/15/34 Not familiar with culture/language 24/12/12

language problems Students’ needs weren’t met 20/11/9Are teachers but have no ability 49/19/30 Teacher talks too much/students 19/7/12Not familiar with educational 41/19/22 can’t talk/practice

system Teacher unprepared/irresponsible 18/5/13Ignorance/prejudice of culture 36/20/16 Negative personality 15/10/5Dialectal problems 15/2/13 Didn’t teach/correct grammar 10/4/6Professional egotism 12/6/6 Teacher too lenient 6/3/3Provide practice, not 10/3/7 Teacher was ineffective 6/0/6

instruction Nonspecific negative 50/19/31Too short a stay 8/8/0 Total negative responses 200Discipline problems 7/5/2Nonspecific negative 64/22/42Total negative responses 342

Total number surveyed: Hungarian teachers (HT) = 58; Hungarian students (HS) = 116;Chinese teachers (CT) = 54; Chinese students (CS) = 100

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include (a) a description of the curriculumand where the NS teacher’s courses fit in, (b)the types and times of English examinationsthat students take, (c) the role of the text-books in the curriculum (e.g., Is it necessaryto cover them completely? Are exams basedon textbook content?), and (d) the types ofmethodology students are used to.Obviously, a direct way for NS teachers tosee how classes are taught is for colleaguesto invite them to observe classes.

• Make language lessons available to NS teachersThe more NS teachers learn about the host

language, the better they will be able to teach(i.e., to predict students’ difficulties), tomove about independently in the country,and to fit into the culture.

What to teach is a balance betweenwhat the teachers, students, andadministrators at the host school thinkthe students need.

Implications for TeacherEducators

• Do not recommend unqualified students to be NS EFL teachersTeacher educators should be selective in

recommending students who are qualifiedand serious about teaching EFL overseas,rather than those who are simply looking fora means of supporting themselves while theylive and travel abroad, or weaker studentswho are having difficulty finding a job.

• Teach about the varieties of English (especially British and U.S.)TEFL preparation must incorporate world

Englishes. Although many authors addresslexical variety (e.g., Ilson, 1985; Moore,1989), grammatical variety also exists (seeAlgeo, 1988, for syntactic variation).

• Teach about cultural diversity and acceptanceOur data suggest that TEFL preparation

should prepare teachers not only in how tosee their own culture from within, but also inhow to see it with the eyes of someone fromanother culture. NS teachers should alsostudy differences in students’ approaches tolearning, including learning styles and cul-tures of learning (cf., Cortazzi & Jin, 1996),and adjust their teaching styles accordingly.

• Teach about EFLTEFL preparation should include the dif-

ferences between ESL and EFL in aims,

materials, methodology, and diversity of stu-dents. For example, in EFL, English is oftenstudied as a useful lingua franca, and stu-dents do not necessarily have acculturationas a goal.

Implications for NSTeachers

Sometimes, NS teachers are perceivednegatively by colleagues in the host setting.For example, one teacher respondent madethis criticism.

The type of person I think I can dowithout (to bring in the negative side)is the fly-in expert, especially if his/heronly qualification is that she/he is anative speaker, with fairly blinkeredideas about what is right and what iswrong in EFL, and with a disregardfor the accumulated expertise of ...colleagues.

To avoid creating this kind of negativeimpression, NS EFL teachers can preparethemselves in several ways.

NS teachers should be open to andaccepting of the general and academicculture of their hosts; they cannotassume that their methodology is bet-ter than that of their host colleagues,that their training is more advanced,and that they are more privilegedbecause they are NSs.

• Learn about the educational contextWhat to teach is a balance between what

the teachers, students, and administrators atthe host school think the students need.Therefore, NS EFL teachers need to assessstudents’ goals for studying English and tobecome familiar with the host curriculum.They should learn which variety of English istaught in the host country and what the rela-tive status of their own variety of English is.

• Prepare lessons diligentlyStudents and teachers know whether a

teacher is prepared for class. NS EFL teach-ers should approach even a temporary jobwith the same professionalism as they woulda permanent job with regular performanceevaluations.

• Learn about and respect the host language and cultureAs teachers, NSs can insult the students

by reacting negatively to differences, or

they can endear themselves to students byrespecting their cultural traditions. NSteachers should therefore endeavor to studythe language of their host culture (Dubin &Wong, 1990). NS teachers can also gaininsight into errors students make in Englishby networking with bilingual teachers.Furthermore, even rudimentary efforts will earn NS teachers respect and help themnavigate day-to-day life in their host culture.

• Be humbleNS teachers should be open to and accept-

ing of the general and academic culture oftheir hosts; they cannot assume that theirmethodology is better than that of their hostcolleagues, that their training is moreadvanced, and that they are more privilegedbecause they are NSs. Teachers in othercountries often have had rigorous prepara-tion as teachers and work hard to keepabreast of current methodology.

ConclusionHungary and China are two very distant

countries in very dissimilar parts of theworld. Each culture is quite unlike the other,and each is different from the cultures ofEnglish-speaking countries. Notwithstandingthese differences, our survey results indicatethat English teachers in these (and other)countries need thorough advance prepara-tion, not only in general TESOL methodol-ogy, but also in TEFL methodology as it ispracticed in the host country, culture, andlanguage. Finally, the responsibility forpreparing NS teachers must be shared jointlyby NS teachers themselves, those who edu-cate them, and those who hire and work withthem. We hope that the implications of ourstudy will serve as a useful guide to NSteachers and to those who interact with themin many cultures.

Finally, the responsibility for prepar-ing NS teachers must be shared jointlyby NS teachers themselves, those whoeducate them, and those who hire andwork with them.

ReferencesAlgeo, J. (1988). British and American

grammatical differences. InternationalJournal of Lexicography, 1(1), 1–31.

Alptekin, C., & Alptekin, M. (1990). Thequestion of culture: EFL teaching in non-English speaking cultures. In R. Rossner & R.Bolitho (Eds.), Currents of change ( p p .21–27). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

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Bahloul, M. (1994). The need for a cross-cultural approach to teaching EFL. TESOLJournal, 3(4), 4–6.

Barratt, L., Donnelly, R., & Kontra E.(1994). American teachers overseas: What isvalued and what is not. Paper presented atthe 28th Annual TESOL Convention,Baltimore, MD.

Bax, S. (1997). Roles for a teacher educa-tor in context sensitive teacher education.ELT Journal, 51(3), 232–241.

Cortazzi, M., & Jin, L. (1996). Cultures oflearning: Language classrooms in China. InH. Coleman (Ed.), Society and the languageclassroom (pp. 169–205). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Dubin, F., & Wong, R. (1990). An ethno-graphic approach to inservice preparation:The Hungary file. In J. C. Richards & D.Nunan (Eds.), Second language teacher edu-cation (pp. 282–292). Cambridge:Cambridge University Press.

Ilson, R. (1985). Usage problems inBritish and American English. In S.Greenbaum (Ed.), The English languagetoday (pp. 166–182). Oxford: Pergamon.

Kontra, E. H. (1998). The need for a cul-ture sensitive approach to teacher educationin English as a foreign language.Unpublished doctoral dissertation,

University of Glamorgan/PrifysgolMorgannwg, Wales.

Kramsch, C. (1993). Context and culturein language teaching. Oxford: OxfordUniversity Press.

LoCastro, V. (1996). English languageeducation in Japan. In H. Coleman (Ed.),Society and the language classroom (pp.40–58). Cambridge: Cambridge UniversityPress.

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AuthorsLeslie Barratt is professor of linguistics at

Indiana State University in Terre Haute,Indiana, in the United States, where sheteaches TESL/TEFL methodology, linguisticdiversity, and language acquisition. She hastaught as a Fulbright Scholar in Hungaryand China.

Edit H. Kontra has been an EFL teacherfor more than 20 years. Currently, she isassociate professor of applied linguistics atEötvös Loránd University, in Budapest,Hungary, where she teaches TEFL method-ology, individual differences, and languagetesting.

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