"Some native English speakers throw cold water on non native speakers' use of academic and formal language". To what extent do you agree?

There is no surprise as any native speaker think that other non native speaker will not match them in his language as it is learnt. But English being most widely used international language, even non native speakers match native speakers as English is taught as first language in most of the reputed schools which provide standard education. In the changed world scenario, English is taught to Englsih students only by non native teachers in UK as English teachers are being imported from other countries.

Some language schools only hire teachers who are native speakers of the language. That’s what customers want, that’s what a good language school provides. But is this discrimination? TEFL (teaching English as a foreign language) seem to think so. In fact, international TEFL did a survey and found that “there is a significant disparity in pay between similarly qualified non-native speaker teachers and their native speaking counterparts”.

TEFL concludes that this is illegal discrimination and needs to change. 

Not many people can agree with TEFL on this one. Why would you want to learn a language from anyone but a native speaker? Does this even make any sense? The best person to teach English would be a native English speaker because English comes naturally to that person. I wouldn’t expect a Russian to teach Chinese, not if I could get a Chinese person to teach it. So why is it called discrimination when we prefer a native English speaker to teach English?

Native English speakers have a better command of idiomatic language and slang that you just can’t teach in a natural way if English is not your native language. They almost always have a wider and more expressive vocabulary. They just feel more comfortable with the language and can hence use it in a dynamic and playful way, more-so than a non-native ever could.

Native speaking teachers often demonstrate very different teaching techniques which are better accepted by the students than if a non-native were to use them. In a way, these techniques might even add a cultural aspect to the lessons.

Students generally feel more comfortable speaking in class when their teacher is a native speaker. The fact that the teacher is a native speaker acts as an unconscious trigger for the students. Students also are motivated by the thought that the accent is genuine and hope to pronounce as well as their teacher

 

 

 

It is possible that one encounters such disturbing trends, but then if academic language is used for academic purpose, like, in academic articles for publication, no one will scoff at that. The same way, formal language should be restricted to only formal use, not everyday informal conversation. Everyday informal conversation loaded with formal expressions and too many idioms and phrases sounds artificial and hackneyed.        

This may depend on the context and the native speaker’s general exposure to non native speakers. Sometimes when a person has been in a homogenous environment, a non native speakers accent or what may be deemed as excessively formal language in casual or conversational English may contribute to the perception that one needs to prove ones knowledgeability of the language. 

Cultural background, demographic make up and political history may contribute to the level of superiority that one feels as a native speaker amidst non native speakers. If the context is competitive, for example, where your speaking of language for academic purposes affect salary attainment, then the aspect of professional threat could bring about the ‘cold water syndrome’  to demoralize and perhaps nurse ones own superiority agenda.

On the other hand, there are many native English speakers who understand that the world works in a global fashion and that one needs to be tolerant and respectful of habits and mannerisms of non-native speakers of English.

 

The bottom-line would be that formal and academic language should be used appropriately with the right audience and in pertinent contexts. 

 

First of all I would like to clarify the term "native". It's used for the people who live at a place for generations or speak a language for generations after generations. The facts regarding native speakers or native people are not limited to English rather it's universally true for all. 

* Native people of a region or a country have some traditions and culture which can be adopted by others (non native) but they don't know the realities behind them. If someone claim to be aware of these traditions it might be so but still the claimer will not know the value of that tradition and its importance.

* Native speakers of a language don't speak it like Academic or formal way. Most of the words they speak are twisted in a style which differs from region to region, It is called accent. Many of non native speakers can develop an ability to adopt this accent but their achievement can rarely reach to the level of perfection. 

* Sometimes the construction of a sentence is wrong grammatically but still these sentences are popular among the native speakers. However, non native avoid them. 

* As for as Academic language is concerned there are a large number of non native speakers of every language who proved their skills better than native speakers of these languages. 

I agree with Mr shahul answers, thanks for the invitation. 

The non - native speakers learn English, already knowing their native language. They acquire their speaking skills from the various sources ( Native English speakers not being on of them ) like internet, books, etc. where one can't question the exactitude of grammar. So they tend to speak the original English without any vernaculars as popular in the native country. Besides, they do not frequently use English in informal conversations which is why they speak it in precisely correct grammar as they had learnt.

Use of academic and formal language depend on your purpose and audience.

The problem with some native speakers of English, is they expect anyone speaking English to sound like them. This is not always possible because of a person's accent. In America there is the northern accent and southern accent. How the words are spoken in English sounds different because of the accent. For example: A southerner would say, Y'all come for dinner. And northerners would say, you all come for dinner. If you ask a southerner which is the correct way to say the sentence they would say their way is correct. The northerners would say theirs is the correct way. It would be the same with British English and American English. The words sound different because of the accent. People need to remember that you are saying the words correctly in English, it's your accent that makes it sound different. My advice to you is when you are speaking English or your native language always look the person you are talking to in the eye. It shows them you have confidence and it helps you gain confidence. I tell my English student the first rule and most important rule is always look people in the eye when speaking. If you look down when speaking it looks like you are talking to your shoes. Be confident when you are speaking. People will respect you more if you look them in the eye and it shows them respect when they are speaking to you. And most people tend to forget that English is not the first language of America, it was the Native American tribes languages. English became the dominant language after the whites settled in America.

I do agree with the statement. A second language can be mastered to some degree; I mean not all those who speak a second language can know all its characteristics and how it works.  

Thanks for the invite I agree with the rest of experts answers

agree with expert answers above