Post
by mrandmrsjohnqsmith » Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:44 am
Oh, yes, I agree, of course, language learning is not merely grammar study. The anecdote came from a class on English structure and its place in ESL/EFL, so naturally it was a grammar-related topic. Not every learner wants or needs prestigious grammar, but some do, especially those on an academic or business track. But my point is, and gowrd look at the size of my font up there! I didn't know it would be that big. Anway, my point is not about grammar, it's about having walked in the shoes of one learning English as a second or foreign language. This is something a "native speaker" can never bring to the table. In such a position, we run the risk, and sometimes fall into the trap, of giving our students an experience akin to studying a fine art under a prodigy who, being naturally gifted, is therefore oblivious to the needs of someone who must actually develop the necessary skills. Surely we can all recall having had a teacher at some point in life who might have been an expert in the discipline or content, but was dismally ineffective at teaching it. Of course, this doesn't have to be the case, but for "native" English speakers, it's worth keeping in mind. We may have experience with learning other languages, and will have certainly faced our own particular challenges as a result of it, but we still can't know what it's like to go from a language that doesn't use, for example, an elaborate tense-aspect system, abundant prepositions in phrasal verbs and idioms like "over tea" and "what's up," plural-singular and countable/uncountable distinctions, or even half the number of vowel sounds used in English, to a language that depends on all those things. Only an L2 English speaker can teach ESL from the perspective of having lived it. Furthermore, for better or for worse, at this particular time in the history of the coming and going of nations and languages, English is a language of power, and immense power, at that. Very few "native" speakers, readers and writers of English have any idea what it's like to be forced to learn a second or foreign language out of necessity.
In the end, a good teacher is a good teacher. S/he knows how to exploit strengths, compensate for weaknesses, work within limitations and seek assistance when necessary.
And a qualified teacher is a qualified teacher. If you have TESOL certification, you can find work, and you will find work that is better than in the places that discriminate against non-L1 speakers. The place where I saw those resumes going into the trash was one of those private English conversation "eikaiwas," but if you have TESOL cert you don't want those jobs, anyway. Not that all eikaiwas are bad, some are quite nice, but you're looking at a different set of open doors with that certificate. You'll find work.
) teachers should be L1 speakers of Italian, because they make English sound so cool!
