Time to decide what a native speaker is.
Posted: Fri Nov 10, 2006 6:51 pm
Still Googling!
This incredibly long intro is a useful round-up. I've taken out all the sources and shortened it a bit. Here's the link.
http://kitkat.wvu.edu:8080/files/2685/F ... thesis.pdf
" Kramsch defines the native speaker as someone who is accepted as such by the group that created the native speaker/nonnative speaker distinction, regardless of birthplace. ... from a sociolinguistic point of view, the distinction between native speaker-nonnative speaker is “…one of confidence and identity” The author states that a proper definition of the term NS does not exist.
Medgyes describes native speakers as “…potentially more accomplished users of English than nonnative speakers”. Medgyes speaks of the difficulty in defining who a native speaker is. He asks where a nine-year-old child, having moved to the United States at age five, of foreign parents, would fit – NS or NNS?
Widdowson asks: “who are these native speakers [of English]?” . He suggests one answer might be the English. After all, the language originated in England.
The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics defines the native speaker as “a person considered as a speaker of his or her NATIVE LANGUAGE” .......
Beyond definition of the term itself, authors have explored several issues relatedto NSs and NNSs and the teaching of languages. Some of these issues include credibility, marginalization, competence, stereotype, race, identity, difficulty,strength, and weakness. Unlike their native teacher counterparts, NNSs seem to face more challenges in the ESL classroom by virtue of being identified as a nonnative speaker of English. Amin shows that having an accent associated with First World nations such as Britain, the United States, and Canada renders speakers a higher status. Similarly, Thuy states that: “The accent with which a foreign born person speaks English can create a favorable or unfavorable impression on a number of Anglo-Americans”. According to Thuy, the accent of the NNS is often taken into consideration by many institutions in the hiring process.
The topic of degree of nativeness was explored in a study conducted by Liu. Some of the participants in his study had difficulty in labeling themselves, or accepting the label NNS. Some of his subjects had been studying English since the ages of six, nine, and ten. Accordingly, Kachru and Nelson advise professionals in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) not to hold too tightly to the dichotomy of native speaker versus nonnative speaker. They base this warning largely on their awareness of the diversity of users and uses of English today.
Braine discusses professional credibility and marginalization of these professionals in the hiring process in North America. Similarly, in Milambiling’s survey , one TESOL student said some English as a second language learners may be dissatisfied when having a NNS teacher because they spent a lot of money coming here [United States] for “the real thing”.
..... some language students create a stereotype of what they believe the authentic ESL teacher should look like. Amin found that some students demonstrated preference for white teachers, assuming only those teachers could be native speakers of English. In a study conducted in the United States, Shaw had similar findings.
Teaching in an unfamiliar setting is another difficulty some NNSs encounter. In their study, Polio and Wilson-Duffy noted that international TESOL graduate students are often faced with the challenge of teaching in an unfamiliar context – one in which they were neither brought up nor educated........
Rampton suggests that the concept of expertise be used in place of native speakership.
Kachru and Nelson write about problematic issues related to being regarded as nonnative speaker. The authors maintain that attitudinal problems are embedded in the meaning of the nonnative speaker label or English as a second language speaker. They state that “it is almost unavoidable that anyone would take ‘second’ as less worthy, in the sense, for example, that coming in second in a race is not as good as coming in first”.
...... advantages of being a NNS have been mentioned in the literature. Reves and Medgyes found that a big strength NNSs have is being able to not only predict their students’ difficulties, but also to estimate their potential. The authors add that this sensitivity increases in the EFL context, where NNSs share the linguistic, cultural and educational background with their students. ....
The results in McNeil’s study show that teachers who share their students’ first language (L1) “…are at a distinct advantage when identifying their learners’ vocabulary needs” (p. 530).
Medgyes argues that only NNSs can serve as models of what a successful learner should be. He claims that some of the NNSs’ strengths are due to their learning of English as a second language. Widdowson seems to hold a similar opinion. “They [NNSs] have been through the process of coming to terms with English as another language”. He says that the NNS is the one who has had more experience as an English language learner.
Liu reports that some students were not so encouraged by the fact that their NNS teachers had great English proficiency. In fact, they were more intimidated than encouraged. The author claims that because the teachers had mastered the language, the students feared the demands the teachers might have on their students. On the other hand, Polio and Wilson-Duffy found that novice NNS teachers sensed their students’ negative attitudes toward being taught by a NNS. "
This incredibly long intro is a useful round-up. I've taken out all the sources and shortened it a bit. Here's the link.
http://kitkat.wvu.edu:8080/files/2685/F ... thesis.pdf
" Kramsch defines the native speaker as someone who is accepted as such by the group that created the native speaker/nonnative speaker distinction, regardless of birthplace. ... from a sociolinguistic point of view, the distinction between native speaker-nonnative speaker is “…one of confidence and identity” The author states that a proper definition of the term NS does not exist.
Medgyes describes native speakers as “…potentially more accomplished users of English than nonnative speakers”. Medgyes speaks of the difficulty in defining who a native speaker is. He asks where a nine-year-old child, having moved to the United States at age five, of foreign parents, would fit – NS or NNS?
Widdowson asks: “who are these native speakers [of English]?” . He suggests one answer might be the English. After all, the language originated in England.
The Longman Dictionary of Language Teaching & Applied Linguistics defines the native speaker as “a person considered as a speaker of his or her NATIVE LANGUAGE” .......
Beyond definition of the term itself, authors have explored several issues relatedto NSs and NNSs and the teaching of languages. Some of these issues include credibility, marginalization, competence, stereotype, race, identity, difficulty,strength, and weakness. Unlike their native teacher counterparts, NNSs seem to face more challenges in the ESL classroom by virtue of being identified as a nonnative speaker of English. Amin shows that having an accent associated with First World nations such as Britain, the United States, and Canada renders speakers a higher status. Similarly, Thuy states that: “The accent with which a foreign born person speaks English can create a favorable or unfavorable impression on a number of Anglo-Americans”. According to Thuy, the accent of the NNS is often taken into consideration by many institutions in the hiring process.
The topic of degree of nativeness was explored in a study conducted by Liu. Some of the participants in his study had difficulty in labeling themselves, or accepting the label NNS. Some of his subjects had been studying English since the ages of six, nine, and ten. Accordingly, Kachru and Nelson advise professionals in the teaching of English to speakers of other languages (TESOL) not to hold too tightly to the dichotomy of native speaker versus nonnative speaker. They base this warning largely on their awareness of the diversity of users and uses of English today.
Braine discusses professional credibility and marginalization of these professionals in the hiring process in North America. Similarly, in Milambiling’s survey , one TESOL student said some English as a second language learners may be dissatisfied when having a NNS teacher because they spent a lot of money coming here [United States] for “the real thing”.
..... some language students create a stereotype of what they believe the authentic ESL teacher should look like. Amin found that some students demonstrated preference for white teachers, assuming only those teachers could be native speakers of English. In a study conducted in the United States, Shaw had similar findings.
Teaching in an unfamiliar setting is another difficulty some NNSs encounter. In their study, Polio and Wilson-Duffy noted that international TESOL graduate students are often faced with the challenge of teaching in an unfamiliar context – one in which they were neither brought up nor educated........
Rampton suggests that the concept of expertise be used in place of native speakership.
Kachru and Nelson write about problematic issues related to being regarded as nonnative speaker. The authors maintain that attitudinal problems are embedded in the meaning of the nonnative speaker label or English as a second language speaker. They state that “it is almost unavoidable that anyone would take ‘second’ as less worthy, in the sense, for example, that coming in second in a race is not as good as coming in first”.
...... advantages of being a NNS have been mentioned in the literature. Reves and Medgyes found that a big strength NNSs have is being able to not only predict their students’ difficulties, but also to estimate their potential. The authors add that this sensitivity increases in the EFL context, where NNSs share the linguistic, cultural and educational background with their students. ....
The results in McNeil’s study show that teachers who share their students’ first language (L1) “…are at a distinct advantage when identifying their learners’ vocabulary needs” (p. 530).
Medgyes argues that only NNSs can serve as models of what a successful learner should be. He claims that some of the NNSs’ strengths are due to their learning of English as a second language. Widdowson seems to hold a similar opinion. “They [NNSs] have been through the process of coming to terms with English as another language”. He says that the NNS is the one who has had more experience as an English language learner.
Liu reports that some students were not so encouraged by the fact that their NNS teachers had great English proficiency. In fact, they were more intimidated than encouraged. The author claims that because the teachers had mastered the language, the students feared the demands the teachers might have on their students. On the other hand, Polio and Wilson-Duffy found that novice NNS teachers sensed their students’ negative attitudes toward being taught by a NNS. "
