This study examines the beliefs of foreign language teachers regarding the relative positions of native and nonnative speakers in foreign and second language education. In particular, I am concerned with the idealization of the native speaker in this context and the foreign language anxiety that may occur in nonnative speaker language teachers if they internalize this idealization. I collected data from 29 college-level Arabic and Hebrew teachers using four methods: (1) a questionnaire on their background and beliefs regarding native and nonnative speaker language teachers, (2) a version of the Teacher Foreign Language Anxiety Scale (Horwitz, 2007), (3) a one-on-one interview, and (4) class observation. By and large, study participants believed that native speakers, because of their nativity, have reached higher levels of linguistic and cultural proficiency with relative ease, and as a result are more readily granted credibility as teachers of their native language. Participants believed that nonnative speakers are more empathetic and understanding of their students' problems because of their own experience and efforts as students of the language. With regard to foreign language anxiety, the main sources of anxiety among the nonnative speaker participants were the fear of making mistakes (and losing credibility as a result), of not having the authority to speak on cultural issues, of not being hired when competing with native speakers, and of addressing professional audiences. Native speakers feared that they cannot anticipate or understand as easily as nonnative speaker teachers the difficulties their students have in learning their language, because they cannot relate to their experiences in the same way. Neither group, however, reported feeling particularly anxious overall. I argue that anxiety was minimal for both groups because of specific steps that participants have taken to overcome the perceived disadvantages of their group and thereby bolster their confidence. Participants reported gaining confidence through some combination of the following factors: (1) gaining experience and education, (2) improving their linguistic and cultural proficiency, (3) presenting the persona of a credible language teacher through extra preparation and language choices, (4) receiving external validation, and (5) realizing that everyone can learn from and teach others. / text

Made available in DSpace on 2016-06-02T20:25:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2467.pdf: 700754 bytes, checksum: 776c8b4794118bee25110f26bd0ec2ad (MD5) Previous issue date: 2008-02-11 / Based upon French Discourse Analysis, our purpose in this study is bring and analyze discursive sentences produced by Spanish native speakers, symptoms of their enunciative projections, imaginary and discursive memories, in relation to their concepts, impressions, allusions concerning Portuguese language and Spanish language, in situations of immersion and interlocution in Brazilian contexts. We start from Serrani-Infante s (1998) formulations, that the subject, when speaking another language, becomes part of the identification process in the target language discursive formations that build up the happening of enunciative positions. In order to realize this study it is necessary to understand the insertion of the Spanish native speaker in Brazilian Portuguese language in the immersion process as a subjective process (SERRANI, 1997b), which requires the subjectivity from the Spanish native speaker and will submit him to inscribe himself in different enunciative positions, missteps, displacements and transference motions (CELADA, 2004). Thus, we understand that part of these enunciative positions is associated with the Spanish native speaker s mother tongue, with their own language positions, and that many of them are brought up in the encounter with the foreign language, leading the subject to conflict situations generated by the distinct understanding of reality linked to those two languages. These conflict situations, concerning the processes of production and attribution of meanings by native speakers of Spanish as they enunciate in Brazilian Portuguese language, constitute the focus of this study. / A partir da Análise de Discurso de linha francesa, nossa proposta de pesquisa foi elicitar e analisar seqüências discursivas produzidas por sujeitos falantes nativos de espanhol, sintomas de suas projeções imaginárias e memórias discursivas em jogo, em relação às suas concepções, impressões, alusões, no que concerne à língua portuguesa e à língua espanhola, em situação de interlocução, imersos na língua e na cultura do brasileiro. Partimos de formulações de Serrani-Infante (1998), de que o sujeito, ao tomar a palavra em outra língua, inscreve-se em processos de identificação em formações discursivas da língua alvo que constituem o acontecimento de posições enunciativas. Para realizarmos este estudo foi necessário entender o processo de inscrição do sujeito hispano-falante na língua do brasileiro no processo de imersão como um processo subjetivo (SERRANI, 1997b), que solicitará a subjetividade do sujeito hispano-falante e o submeterá a circular por diferentes posições enunciativas, a deslizes, a deslocamentos e a movimentos transferenciais (CELADA, 2004). Dessa forma, entendemos que parte dessas posições enunciativas estão ligadas ao âmbito da língua materna do sujeito hispano-falante, a posições próprias de sua língua materna, e muitas delas serão trazidas à tona pelo encontro com a língua estrangeira, e levam o sujeito a situações de confronto entre as formas de recortar o real dessas duas línguas. São estas as situações que constituíram o objeto de estudo no processo de produção e atribuição de sentidos por parte de sujeitos hispânicos ao enunciarem na língua portuguesa.

This study examines the extent of the impact of proficiency and language use on sociophonetic variation in Indian English (IE). It is based on an oral corpus using the methods and tools of the PAC project and derived from a pool of South Delhi-based highly proficient speakers. The investigation was conducted using quantitative and qualitative methods and focused on two understudied variables: (1) the fricative realisation of th, and (2) the realisations of the vowels in words of the NORTH and FORCE lexical sets. First, the results demonstrate that a significant amount of variation which cannot be accounted for by the traditional age, gender and social class factors can be explained by the language use parameter. A degree of correlation was found between the volume of use of English in a range of domains, and how speakers take advantage of the sociolinguistic potential of prestigious forms. This offers indications on the location of the leaders of the linguistic change. The second central feature of this study is derived from the investigation of the NORTH versus FORCE distinction. It is argued that the general maintenance of this distinction in IE provides evidence for the endo-normative nature of this variety. In the light of these findings, issues ultimately relating to the debate over nativeness are discussed.

The binary distinction of “native speaker” and “non-native speaker” (NS/NNS) remains the primary way in which professionals are categorised in the field of teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). This distinction is problematic because it is used to place greater value on native English speaking teachers (NEST) over non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs). This distinction is argued to be largely based on linguistic features (Medgyes 1992; Cook 1999). However the aspect of race remains to be adequately discussed (Kubota and Lin 2006).This thesis has its origins in my personal experiences with racism because, as a Canadian- Filipino, my employer and my students did not accept me as a “real” NEST because I am “non-white”. In my initial research, during my MA TESOL, into the professional experiences of racism I coined the acronym “VEM-NEST”: visible ethnic minority, native English speaking teacher. I used this term to describe the particular group of teachers, to which I belong, who do not easily fit into the available categories of NS/NNS, and consequently NEST/NNEST.My thesis reported on the experiences of nine VEM-NESTs and how they performed specific identities during specific events. Their experiences were presented as individual restoried narratives which were developed from the combination of the participants’ written stories and one-to-one interviews. The restoried narratives were analysed using an analytical lens based on Labov and Waletzky’s (1967) structural approach. The findings suggest that VEM-NESTs need to meet a certain amount of “native speaker” norms in order to be given the opportunity to perform their VEM-NEST role identities in specific situations. This has particular implications for how the NS/NNS binary distinction needs a more nuanced understanding as a way of addressing the inequalities embedded in the way TESOL professionals are valued.

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This study explores how upper secondary school English teachers in Sweden view English pronunciation in the classroom, particularly in the context of English as a global language and the native speaker ideal. The results are analysed from a sociocultural perspective, highlighting contextual and cultural aspects of pronunciation teaching. Despite its importance for effective communication in a global context, the current English syllabi provide limited directives on teaching the productive skill of pronunciation. The study is based on eight semi-structured interviews with Swedish upper secondary school English teachers. Three research questions were formulated and addressed in the results section concerning the teachers’ perspectives on English pronunciation, their methods and strategies, and attitudes toward language varieties and the native speaker ideal. Furthermore, thematic analysis was utilised to identify themes that corresponded to the aim of the study. The findings indicate that pronunciation is primarily addressed alongside receptive skills, and the teachers prioritise communicative ability over adherence to a specific pronunciation norm. Teachers’ emphasis on pronunciation varies according to their pupils’ needs. While the teachers recognise the importance of exposing pupils to diverse English varieties, 60% give inner-circle forms as examples. Furthermore, the teachers perceive that pupils often aspire to sound native, yet the teachers accept different English varieties in the classroom. The study discusses the use of a Swedish variety of English as both an opportunity and a challenge. Moreover, various teaching strategies are reported, with reading aloud being employed by half of the teachers and a phonetic approach by two. The findings suggest that pronunciation teaching is a context-sensitive practice influenced by ongoing negotiations between teachers and pupils in the specific classroom.

This study investigates awareness and use of communicative language teaching methodology (CLT) in a foundation programme at an institution of higher learning in the Sultanate of Oman, where rapid expansion and a reliance on expatriate skills has resulted in the employment of predominantly native English teachers, many with inadequate formal teacher training. The qualitative research methodology employed involved a core of five teachers using three data-gathering instruments and ten additional English language teachers who responded to a questionnaire. The study finds that the majority of teachers have inadequate knowledge of the CLT approach and do not use it in the classroom. The findings suggest that an adapted version of CLT which embraces local contextual and sociocultural conditions may be pedagogically viable. The study draws comparisons between the idea of a hypothetical, “adapted” version of CLT and the notions of “particularity, practicality and possibility” as suggested by Kumaravadivelu (2006). / English Studies / M.A. (Specialisation in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, TESOL)

This study investigates awareness and use of communicative language teaching methodology (CLT) in a foundation programme at an institution of higher learning in the Sultanate of Oman, where rapid expansion and a reliance on expatriate skills has resulted in the employment of predominantly native English teachers, many with inadequate formal teacher training. The qualitative research methodology employed involved a core of five teachers using three data-gathering instruments and ten additional English language teachers who responded to a questionnaire. The study finds that the majority of teachers have inadequate knowledge of the CLT approach and do not use it in the classroom. The findings suggest that an adapted version of CLT which embraces local contextual and sociocultural conditions may be pedagogically viable. The study draws comparisons between the idea of a hypothetical, “adapted” version of CLT and the notions of “particularity, practicality and possibility” as suggested by Kumaravadivelu (2006). / English Studies / M.A. (Specialisation in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages, TESOL)

No description available.