Blog “Must Be A Native English Speaker” - Should This Change?
Recently, a friend of mine attended the TESOL Conference in Denver, Colorado. She told me how globalization was an important issue and that it was changing the face of TESOL. She mentioned that people were talking about getting away from the “native English teacher” mold, and instead of teaching English as a second or foreign language, it should be teaching English as an international language. Since there are far more non-native English speakers, the teaching of English should step away the native English teacher mold, both culturally and linguistically.
TESOL Convention 2009
Currently, the client companies that NewPath works with require “native English speaking teachers.” For Japan and South Korea, it seems that there is still a ways to go before non-native English teachers are accepted equally. There have been some signs that things are changing, however. I have noticed that public schools have begun to hire English teachers from countries such as the Philippines and India. I think that as globalization and the demand for English education continues to grow, learning English will have a stronger emphasis on effective communication and not so much on being able to speak with a native accent. What do you think?
As a teacher educator, who prepares emerging teachers to teach EFL abroad, I am dismayed by the age discrimination that exists among NewPath’s clients. Not only am I a highly experienced and qualified instructor over the age of 50, many of the over 45 years of age teachers I prepare for overseas teaching are also well-prepared and experienced, however, they have limited opportunities to teach in Japan and Korea, based on their age.
This is age discrimination and it should not be tolerated. Companies like NewPath, who do not provide their services to the over 45 age group, should not be included among those from which one is seeking employment. In countries like Japan and Korea, an English teacher is most often not hired because of their skills, but because one looks a certain way or fits a particular profile. When I taught in Japan, the Ministry of Education, circulated a memo, directing universities to terminate all foreign instructors over the age of 40. One well-known professor filed a lawsuit and wrote a book about his experiences with discrimination, while in Japan. His book details discrimination at all levels of government, education and commerce in Japan. To think that these archaic practices still exist in 2009 is disconcerting. As a teacher educator, I urge all prospective teachers desiring to teach abroad, to reconsider teaching in countries that discriminate based on age, sex, national origin or any other form of discrimination.