Reconceptualizing the Native/Nonnative Speaker Dichotomy (original) (raw)
Related papers
ARE YOU A NATIVE SPEAKER OF ENGLISH? MOVING BEYOND A SIMPLISTIC DICHOTOMY
Critical Inquiry in Language Studies, 2011
Despite considerable discussion and controversy over the native/nonnative distinction, there is no satisfactory definition of the terms. In addition, the literature tends to reduce the complexity of the distinction to an overly simplistic and problematic dichotomy. Using a qualitative case study approach, this research article examines the native/nonnative status of six linguistically diverse teacher candidates in Canada. The candidates' self-designation of their identity and level of proficiency is compared with the perceptions of their instructors and with those of an additional teacher educator who did not know the candidates. Within the social context under investigation, the candidates negotiated linguistic identities which did not fall under the native/nonnative categories but better represented their true linguistic identities. The findings of this study suggest that linguistic identities are multiple, dynamic, dialogic, and situated rather than unitary and fixed. The implications of monolingual ideologies are discussed in the hopes of moving beyond a simplistic dichotomy.
Current Research on Native/Non-Native Speaker Status and Identity
Historically, identity in Second Language Acquisition (SLA) research has been perceived as dichotomous between native/non-native speaker (NS/NNS) roles. Although that view has shifted, this brief literature review shows that the concept on NS/NNS is still pervasive, and identifies some possible ways forward based on current research.
(Non)native Speakered: Rethinking (Non)nativeness and Teacher Identity in TESOL Teacher Education
Despite its imprecision, the native-nonnative dichotomy has become the dominant paradigm for examining language teacher identity development. The nonnative English speaking teacher (NNEST) movement in particular has considered the impact of deficit framings of nonnativeness on "NNEST" preservice teachers. Although these efforts have contributed significantly towards increasing awareness of NNEST-hood, they also risk reifying the notion that nativeness and nonnativeness are objectively distinct categories. This article adopts a poststructuralist lens to reconceptualize native and nonnative speakers as complex, negotiated social subjectivities that emerge through a discursive process that the author terms (non)native speakering. It then applies this dynamic framework to analyze "narrative portraits" of four different archetypical language teachers, two of whom seem to fit neatly into (non)native speakerist frames of language and culture and two of whom deviate from them. It then reflects on how these preservice teachers negotiate, re-create, and resist the produced (non)native speaker subjectivities, and considers the complexity, fluidity, and heterogeneity within each archetype. In the conclusion, the author consider implications of (non)native speakering as a theoretical and analytical frame, as well as possible applications of the data for teacher education.
Rethinking the "Native Speaker"/"Nonnative Speaker" Dichotomy
2013
The study focuses on the concept of the “native speaker” and the “native”/“nonnative speaker” dichotomy. It recognizes the “native speaker” concept primarily as a political and ideological construct and the “native”/“nonnative speaker” dichotomy mainly as a basis for division and discrimination. The study believes that a strict adherence to “native”/“nonnative speaker” dichotomy as a framework of analysis in linguistics, especially applied linguistics, overlooks certain alternative ways of understanding the speakership of a given language and the possibility of there being covert but more intense forms of language-based division and discrimination. Based on the findings of empirical research conducted at Ohio University in 2011/2012, involving 173 Ohio University undergraduates who considered themselves “native speakers” of English, the study recognizes certain patterns that indicate that the divisions within the “native speaker” category are stronger and more intense than the division between the “native speaker” and “nonnative speaker” categories.
The “NNEST Movement” has been instrumental in documenting the privilege of native speakers, the marginalization of their nonnative counterparts, and the factors that may influence an individual falling into one category or another. More recently, scholars have adopted a poststructuralist orientation toward language and identity that resists dichotomized framings of language and language users. This article extends the poststructuralist orientation to consider how and why such abstract idealizations of native and nonnative speakers—what I term (non)native speakered subjectivities—emerged historically and are continuously reified and (re)produced through everyday discourse. Throughout this discussion, I weave illustrative examples from a participant in a semester-long ethnographic study that took place in a graduate teacher education program. In the conclusion, I consider implications for future theorizations of (non)native speakering as well as possibilities for increasing equity in the field of ELT.
A Global Conversation on Native-Speakerism: Toward Promoting Diversity in English Language Teaching
World Englishes, Global Classrooms, 2022
It has been over three decades since Paikeday's "The Native Speaker is Dead" was published, but alas the native speaker fallacy (belief that native speakers are the ideal language teachers) is still very much alive and remains dominant in the field of English language teaching. Although awareness of linguistic discrimination and the racialization of English are widespread in academic circles, on the ground such injustices are still common, as can be seen when browsing job advertisements which often directly request "native speakers" (NSs). This chapter begins with a series of autoethnographic accounts of the author's experiences of native-speakerism occurring globally. These accounts are used as a springboard for a multiple case study exploring the attitudes and experiences of 130 adult learners and 72 English language teachers in two multilingual and multicultural cities: Vancouver, Canada and Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Findings revealed that native-speakerism has a strong presence in students' ideologies as well as teachers' recruitment and classroom experiences. It is argued that the linguistic and ethnic background of teachers often greatly affects their experiences. From a world Englishes perspective, the binary terms "native speaker/non-native speaker" are problematized due to the complex composition of English speakers today. Practical ways to move beyond NS/NNS binaries and embrace diversity in English language teaching are advocated.
Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2022
As English has developed into a global language, comprehensive suggestions have been made for the integration of World Englishes (WE) and English as a lingua Franca (ELF) into language education. However, such suggestions have often encountered considerable resistance, in part due to the complexities in the formation of language teacher identity. In this paper, the authors employ a duoethnographic research method to explore how their encounters with WE and ELF have impacted their identities as a "native speaker" and a "non-native speaker" teacher of English. Through comparisons between their life histories, they demonstrate how their experience with WE and ELF have led to feelings of newfound legitimacy, and lingering incompleteness. The paper argues in order for the promotion of WE/ELF to be successful, more focus needs to be paid to the identity work required of teachers so that they can successfully and sensitively form a new conception of language teaching.
Journal of Language, Identity & Education, 2019
This article proposes translingual dispositions as a way to move beyond the NES/NNES dichotomy in understanding language teacher identity. Recent scholarship in TESOL and Applied Linguistics has problematized the NES/ NNES binary from a poststructuralist perspective, highlighting how NES/ NNES subjectivities are discursively and performatively (co-)constructed and negotiated. Despite the efforts to empower NNESs, the very binary reifies monolingual ideologies. This article argues that translingual dispositions can help move beyond the binary and complicate theorization of teachers' identities and practice. To illustrate, we report an ethnographic case study of a "NES" teacher, Daphne, and examine how Daphne's translingual dispositions shape her teaching and facilitate her students' creative negotiation of monolingual norms in a writing course. We conclude by discussing future research directions and the implications for language teacher education in fostering translingual dispositions.
2020
Recent poststructuralist theories of identity posit identities as being discursively constructed in interactions with society, institutions, and individuals. This study used a Linguistic Ethnographic framework to investigate the discursive identity construction of two English teachers, one ‘non-native’ English speaker, and one ‘native’ English speaker, teaching English in a tertiary institution in Japan. Using naturally occurring data taken from classroom observations as well as data from reflexive semi-structured interviews, a Membership Categorization Analysis approach was taken to analyze how the participating teachers are positioned and position themselves in relation to the institution itself as well as at the classroom level when interacting with students. The study found that a clear distinction between ‘native’ and ‘non-native’ speaker teachers was created at the institutional level, which the teachers had little control over. However, at the classroom level, the participant...