Job Discussion Forums

smallbaba · Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 2

I am an EFL teacher with more than 10 years of experience of teaching abroad, with two Bachlor's Degrees and a CELTA, but I am not a native speaker. What are my chances of finding a job in the U.A.E?

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Not great. Most of the better jobs require an MA and prefer native speakers, but if your experience is teaching academic English, you lose nothing by applying.

I worked with some non-native English speakers in the Gulf, but most of them were hired in-country where they were able to show in a face-to-face interview how good their language skills were.

VS

Wigwam · Joined: 27 Dec 2004 Posts: 93 Location: Abu Dhabi

Non-native?
What is your mother tongue?

blues clues · Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 61

Well, would one consider S. Africans, Swedes, Norwegians, Syrians non-native speakers? I would think so....I know of many who've been hired in-country, with out of country benefits....it's laughable really! Oh if I could tell you more.....

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Funny... i've worked with teachers of most of those nationalities whose English was better than many of the supposed native speakers... and being a native speaker is no guarantee of being a competent teacher...

VS

blues clues · Joined: 28 Jul 2004 Posts: 61

True enough VS. However, guess the point I was tryin to make was when non-native speakers are hired because of desperation on the part of institutes or colleges, who are unqualified, along with not being able to teach English grammar properly for example, this is a total rip off to students. There may very well be good non-native teachers, but the ones I've come across were an embarrassment..Enough said, as it's 3a.m. and i'm probably sounding like a non-native speaker myself........... Embarassed

qas419 · Joined: 12 Jun 2006 Posts: 32

The two most reliable and unbiased universities in the UAE which give equal opportunity to all are the American University in Dubai and the American university in Sharjah. They recriute according to candidates' comptencies and qualifications regardless of religion, race and nationality.
The United Arab Emirates Univeristy has recently moved towards this path, however, still they are hesitant to accept non-native speakers. The two worst universities in the UAE which still live in the Middle Ages, though both are technologically advanced, are HCT and Zayed University. If you are a non-native speaker, you must know someone there, otherwise your application will be definitelly rejected from the first screening. A colleague of mine who holds MA in English and TEFL certificate from Poona univesity, India, was not accepted at Zayed because his English is Indian. Abu Dhabi university is good and to some extent, impartial. Sharjah Univerity does not insist on native speaking complex. Good Luck

smallbaba · Joined: 20 Jul 2006 Posts: 2

Thank you so much. You have all been very helpful and now I have a better idea of what to expect there.

Afra · Joined: 02 Feb 2003 Posts: 389

As I mentioned in a previous thread, HCT has a number of non-native speakers teaching EFL. They all have the relevant qualifications; MA TESOL or Applied Linguistics.

NadiaK · Joined: 27 Jul 2006 Posts: 206

Ditto what Afra said. I work with a number of non-native speakers who are English teachers at HCT.

To work for HCT, your problem would not be the fact that you are not a native speaker, but the fact that you do not have a master's degree in the field. HCT have just tightened up on this, and will not even hire adjunct teachers without.

Manny2 · Joined: 16 Mar 2006 Posts: 143

Have to agree that the HCT is unlikely to hire fulltime English teachers without a masters I think the situation re adjuncts remains the same. Come September when students numbers increase due to the common last minute 'wasta' enrollments the supervisors will send out their usual " Do you know anybody available now to teach'. In these cases qualifications are not high on the agenda as long as there is a body in place -

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

One just loves how some things never change. Wouldn't you think that after all these years (14 since I first watched this in person) that they would have figured out that if they just hired some extra teachers from the resumes and interviews that they did, they could actually start the year without this mad scramble? Has there ever been a year that any branch did not need to find 1-3 teachers? (and they could hire up a pool for late minute assignment where needed)

Ahhh... logic...

VS