IEP Students’ Attitudes towards their NNES Student TeachersAvram BlumUniversity of WashingtonTESOL Convention, BostonMarch 26, 2010avramb@uw.edu

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Karen Johnson (2006, p. 247): Those who have explored how L2 teachers negotiate

their identities cite a combination of biographical and contextual factors that keep those identities in a continual state of flux (Duff and Uchida, 1997; Mantero, 2004; Pavlenko, 2003; Varghese, Morgan, Johnston, and Johnson, 2005). In addition, despite scholarly efforts at dislodging the myth of the native speaker (Kachru, 1992; Kramsh, 1997; Medgyes, 1994), nonnative-speaking L2 teachers continue to face inequitable hiring practices, hold marginalized teaching assignments and be positioned as less competent than their expert-speaker counterparts (Arva and Medgyes, 2000; Braine, 1999).

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Road map• UW English Dept. “nonnative” speaker TA policy• Research questions• The NNEST Movement• Comparison of nonnative English speaking (NNES) TA

policies at eight R1 universities• Participants and methodology• Intensive English Program (IEP) students’ attitudes

towards their NNES student teachers▫ Positive responses▫ Suggestions for improvement▫ Student teacher as future stand-alone teacher?

• Conclusions▫ Possible courses of action▫ Further research

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UW English Dept. “nonnative” speaker TA policy

•“Teaching Assistantship applicants who are not native speakers of English must submit as part of their application a score of 290 or better on the Test of Spoken English (TSE) or the UW-administered SPEAK Test* (University of Washington 2010).”

*The new requirement is 80/80 on the Versant test.

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Questions

• How do we define “applicants who are not native speakers of English”?

• How does this policy compare to that of English departments at other universities?

• How do nonnative MATESOL students feel about this policy?

• What are IEP students’ attitudes towards their non-native English speaking student teachers?

• What are the effects of this policy on future English Language Teaching professionals’ identities?

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The Nonnative English Speaking Teacher (NNEST) Movement

• Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• Medgyes, P. (1994). The non-native teacher. London: MacMillan.

• Braine, G. (Ed.) (1999). Non-native educators in English language teaching. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Canagarajah, A. S. (1999b). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford.

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The NNEST Movement (cont.)• Kamhi-Stein, L. (Ed.) (2004). Learning and

teaching from experience: Perspectives on nonnative English speaking professionals. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

• Llurda, E. (Ed.) (2006). Non-native language teachers: Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession. U.S.A.: Springer.

• Braine, G. (Ed.) (2010). Nonnative speaker English teachers: Research, pedagogy, and professional growth. ?:Routledge.

• Mahboob, A. (Ed.) (2010). The NNEST lens: Non native English speakers in TESOL. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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MATESOL “nonnative” TA policies

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University Scores required to be an English TA

Scores for other departments

Support offered

Classes TAs teach

Scores required to apply

1. WSU None Same Six classes ? No

2. UGA 22/30 on TOEFL iBT

Same Two ITA classes

? No

3. GSU 22/30 on TOEFL iBT*

Same One ITA class ? No

4. NAU Letter from department

Same ? Composition and IEP

No

5. Purdue 27/30 on TOEFL iBT

Same ? Composition and AEP

No

6. UA 55/60 on TSE 50/60 on TSE ? Composition No*

7. ASU 55/60 on TSE Same ? ? No

8. UW 80/80 on Versant

70/80 on Versant

No IEP Yes

Participants

•31 intensive English program students▫12 students of NES student teachers

Grammar and Writing 3, Listening and Speaking 3, and Academic Reading and Speaking 5

▫19 students of NNES student teachers Grammar and Writing 3, Listening and

Speaking 4, and Reading 2

Methodology

•Questionnaires with open-ended questions▫What does your student teacher do well?▫How could your student teacher improve?▫Would you like your student teacher to be

your stand-alone teacher next quarter?

What are IEP students’ attitudes towards their student teachers?

• Attitudes are comparable to those towards their native English speaking student teachers.

• 11/12 participants had positive comments regarding their native student teachers.▫ ability to explain grammar and vocabulary and

supportive attitude• 17/19 participants had positive comments

regarding their non-native student teachers ▫ ability to explain grammar and vocabulary and

supportive attitude

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Positive response to native English speaking student teachers

• “He’s way to teach us I think is good, and during class all the time able to answer the studen’s question. Explain every thing clearly, explain everything until you get it (Abtin, 25, male, Iran, Grammar and Writing 3).”

• “Melissa is very nice. She remembers all of students’ name. She is kind. She picks up all of our comments (Matsumi, 23, female, Japan, Listening and Speaking 3).”

Positive response to nonnative English speaking student teacher

• “She take more time than my teacher to let me understand. She really work hard and try to let us understand (Fu-han, 25, male, Taiwan, Grammar and Writing 3).”

• “She is a lot of responsible and friendly. I think that she do the class more friendly and she help many studients (Marcos, 30, male, Venezuela, Reading 2).”

IEP students’ attitudes towards their student teachers (cont.)

• 9participants offered suggestions for improvement to their native student teachers▫confidence, clarity, and involvement in class

• 14/19 participants offered suggestions for improvement to their non-native student teachers ▫confidence, clarity, experience, and friendliness

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Suggestions for native English speaking student teachers• “She need more experiences. When she stand

in front of us, I feel she a little nervous (Chin, 22, Female, Taiwan, Listening and Speaking 3).”

• “(S)ometime she speak so fast, I can’t cashes her point, and I don’t want to ask her every time she speak. She could speak slowly and more louder (Sabina, 27, female, Thailand, Listening and Speaking 3).”

Suggestions for nonnative English speaking student teachers

• “I think she is good. Only thing that she need is experans. I believe if she has more experans, she’ll be a really good teacher (Sabina, 27, female, Thailand, Grammar and Writing 3).”

• “I think she can practice her pronunciation clear because I heard her pronunciation some are different American people (Suan, 25, female, Taiwan, Reading 2).”

IEP students’ attitudes towards their student teachers (cont.)

•9/12 participants would like their native student teacher to be their stand alone teacher.▫Negative answers related to experience.

•13/19 participants would like their non-native student teacher to be their stand alone teacher.▫Negative answers related to experience,

accent, and nonnativeness.

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Would IEP students want their native English speaking student teacher to be their stand alone teacher next quarter?

•“No, experience is important to teach international student. What we need is in a short time we can improve our English a lot. That’s why we come to the US not go to cram school in my country (Su-mei, 22, female, Taiwan, Listening and Speaking 3).”

Would IEP students want their native English speaking student teacher to be their stand-alone teacher next quarter?• “In my opinion, I want to study with native

English speaker more than (Plaeck, 19, Thailand, Grammar and Writing 3).”

• “I don’t think so, they don’t have many experience if they are teacher I won’t stay at [this university] because we want to learn English with professional teacher (Hae-jin, 24, male, South Korea, Listening and Speaking 4).”

Conclusions

•Students express similar attitudes towards both NES student teachers and NNES student teachers.

•Student attitudes do not justify extremely conservative, gate-keeper policy towards NNES TAs.

•Nonnative TA policy does not reflect ideological shift in the field of TESOL.

Possible courses of action

•Maintain the status quo.•Give NNES TA applicants more support.•Change deadline for required test scores.•Rewrite the policy basing it on a more

inclusive language ideology.▫ Have all applicants take a language

proficiency test.▫ Delegate responsibilities based on scores.

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Further research: the effects of the UW English Department nonnative speaker TA policy?

• What sort of power relations are perpetuated by this policy?

• How does this policy affect teachers confidence in light of their linguistic identity?

• How does this policy affect NNESTs ability/disposition to tap into their “funds of knowledge” (Monzo and Rueda 2003)?▫ How does the existence of this policy contribute to

the professional identity of MATESOL students?

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References• Braine, G. (Ed.) (1999). Non-native educators in English

language teaching. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

• Braine, G. (Ed.) (2010). Nonnative speaker English teachers: Research, pedagogy, and professional growth. ?:Routledge.

• Canagarajah, A. S. (1999b). Resisting linguistic imperialism in English teaching. Oxford: Oxford.

• Duff & Uchida (1997). The negotiation of teachers’ sociocultural identities and practices in postsecondary EFL classrooms. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 451-486.

• Johnson, K. (2006). The sociocultural turn and its challenges for second language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 40(1), 235-257.

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References (cont.)• Kachru, B. B. (1992). Models for non-native Englishes. In

Kachru, B. B. (Ed.), The Other tongue: English across cultures (pp. 48-72). 2nd edition. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.

• Llurda, E. (Ed.) (2006). Non-native language teachers: Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession. U.S.A.: Springer.

• Kamhi-Stein, L. (Ed.) (2004). Learning and teaching from experience: Perspectives on nonnative English speaking professionals. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press.

• Llurda, E. (Ed.) (2006). Non-native language teachers: Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession. U.S.A.: Springer.

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References (cont.)

• Mahboob, A. (2010). The NNEST Lens: Nonnative English speakers in TESOL. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

• Medgyes, P. (1994). The Non-native teacher. London: MacMillan.

• Monzo, L. D., & Rueda, R. (2003). Shaping Education through Diverse Funds of Knowledge: A Look at One Latina Paraeducator's Lived Experiences, Beliefs, and Teaching Practice. Anthropology &Amp; Education Quarterly. 34 (1), 72-95.

• Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic Imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

• University of Washington. (2010). Financial Support: Teaching Assistantships. Retrieved on February 18, 2010. <http://depts. washington.edu/engl/grad/Support.php>.

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