Job Discussion Forums

Sashadroogie · Posted: Sun May 10, 2009 7:59 pm Post subject: Would you hire him?

Picture this, if you please. A teacher, claiming to be a native English teacher hailing from Britain, displays absolutely no knowledge of even basic sentence structure. Collocations - a joke. Random prepositions. Non sequiturs galore. Written English that imposes a severe strain on the reader and makes KET students seem well-polished by comparison. Unsupported big opinions on the TEFL industry and its qualifications.

Would you, fellow professionals, send your child to be educated by such a teacher? Would you really?

Think that is harsh? You didn't like that? I didn't think you would. But it doesn�t change the fact none of you would pay for the services of such a teacher. Does it?

rusmeister · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 867 Location: Russia

The non-sequiturs and big opinions would not disprove the native speaker claim, or even a claim to be educated. Millions of native speakers have/commit both.

On everything else... I think the answer is obvious and the question somewhat rhetorical.

Sashadroogie · Posted: Tue May 12, 2009 11:04 am Post subject:

Non-sequitur errors are commited by millions of native speakers, it is true. But by people working in a language-related area? Especially people who teach writing skills? I think that's quite odd.

Nothing wrong with big opinions either so long as they are not unsupported. At least that is how I was educated.

Yes, the answer is obvious: no one in their right mind would hire such a person. No matter how many times they scribble on the forum proclaiming their expertise, their inability to write would severely undermine their credibility, native speaker status nothwithstanding.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

Native speaker or non-native...anyone teaching language needs to demonstrate a strong command of a standard range of the target language.

There's a thread on the Italy forum that gives a useful example of a native speaker writer whose usage is so consistently and globally out of standard range that he/she comes in for some significant hassle on the board.

A few local errors that don't impact meaning or register - well, we all do it now and then. But global errors, clouding meaning and/or making the tone and style of the written or oral discourse inappropriate and incoherent...nope Very Happy

We were recently reminded on the Italy board that some savvy employers lurk on Dave's as well. Good idea!

Sashadroogie · Posted: Wed May 13, 2009 10:09 pm Post subject:

Good to see I am not the only one who thinks proper written English is worth hanging on to, even on a forum. Thanks Spiral for that information about the thread on the Italian board. I think I found the one you were referring to - the one started by the would-be Irish colleen with a penchant for text-speak, wasn't it?

As much as I also detest the way she wrote, at least she wasn't long-winded or as hard to understand as some individuals on this board. Clear as a bell by comparison!

txmsk · Joined: 10 Apr 2009 Posts: 58 Location: The World

Report the teacher if you can. Some truly believe that you don't need to know or understand grammar, or even teach it, in order to acquire English.

Sure, grammar shouldn't be explicitly taught without a meaningful context, but lack of knowledge or experience in teaching it is just unacceptable.

However, you have to remember... look where we are.

spiral78 · Joined: 05 Apr 2004 Posts: 11534 Location: On a Short Leash

I taught in Moscow for a while...I think grammatical understanding can provide a very useful framework for students - though I think it's best analyzed when an explicit need for some grammatical item comes up.

Yeah, Sashadroogie - you found the one I mean. Clear as mud to me, but at least brief, I agree. Though quite stubborn as regards the supposed value of slang, etc.