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Why do you think that some schools insist that the English language teacher be a native speaker? Do you agree? Why or why not? Explain thoroughly.

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Question added by Susan Thaqakha , Freelance Translator , Freelance Translating
Date Posted: 2014/12/08
Kathy Mustafa
by Kathy Mustafa , Personal Assistant to CEO- Managing Sales and Marketing Departments , Saudi Kinda Real Estate

I believe it all has to do with accent. Teaching non English speakers English with a heavy accent can confuse students and they too will carry on the accent.

Aklesso Aguenam
by Aklesso Aguenam , Fencing Master , Ecole Internationale des Maitres d'Armes de Dakar (E.I.M.A)

Most of school insist that english teacher should be a native speaker because they think it is the best way to get students more confident and quick familiarized with the language. On the other hand I desagree because some foreigners speak good english with good accent more than the native because they the phonetics, grammar points etc. Any country has different accent of speaking english but the best way is to teach academic english which can be understood easily by the other english countries. According to me, whatever the teacher's origin, He should be able to teach good english, and previously had life experience in the host country.

Deleted user
by Deleted user

Denis is exactly right on both counts! Native English language speakers can tend to be a little bit "casual" when it comes to the "technicalities" of the language, it's a sure case of "familiarity breeds contempt"!

Deleted user
by Deleted user

Mainly, because they think (and they're correct) that native speakers have a better accent and a deeper knowledge of certain words and phrases/

At the same time, some non-natives do have a better knowledge in Grammar and often keep up with the fresh trends. I am not a native, but I do work well)))

Abdulelah Fallatah
by Abdulelah Fallatah , Tech-Support Specialist & Programmer , Al-Rayan Colleges

I think the reason is students must get used to the accent of the English-speaking country.

 

I spend a lot of time getting used to the American and British accents.

Dr Yasmeen Majeed
by Dr Yasmeen Majeed , Trainer and HOD

I think that non natives with neutral accent, correct knowledge of the language and love for learning new techniques of teaching English are no less than the natives.

Mohamed Magdy Ahmed El Demerdash
by Mohamed Magdy Ahmed El Demerdash , Internal Auditor, Quality Assurance Department , Giza Cable Industries

Usually it's because of the accent

Mohamed Khedr
by Mohamed Khedr , Researcher , Helmholtz Center Munich

I think as any other language English is more than just vocabulary, Grammar and phonetics; it's a culture. And it's seems much easier to let student "soak" in this culture rather than hearing about it from somebody else.

ahmed abdallah
by ahmed abdallah , Language Instructor , King Saud University

  • I think the reason is to make sure that they speak English all the time. Also, students benefit from the accent.
  • However, hiring near-native speakers of English who are highly professional will definitely give even better results. Notice that Non-native teachers are aware of the cultural backgrounds as well as the developments happening to languages in general and the targeted foreign language in particular. Besides, they know better the difficulties a foreign language learner face.

Ali Nazar
by Ali Nazar , Operations Officer , TransForat

They think that as they could provide the informations easier and quicker because the native language in the scientific world and industrial environments is the English one and it's the right way .

Sadaf Baig
by Sadaf Baig , Montessori teacher , school

If the subject is English then one should must have correct accent.

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