The Students’ Attitudes towards the NESTs versus NNESTs and their Impacts on the Students’ Motivations to Learn English Language at KAU

Motivation is one of the crucial aspects of second language acquisition. Students’ motivation can be influenced by their teachers. The present study aims to investigate the impact of the two types of teachers on EFL learners’ motivations to learn English. These are NESTs (Native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (native English-speaking teachers). Hence, it examines learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards the two types of teachers. This study employed a mixed method by distributing a questionnaire contains quantitative and qualitative tools. It consists of twenty items of Likert scales and two open-ended questions. The present study subjects are 31 female students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The results of the study demonstrate that learners have a positive attitude toward NESTs and NNESTs. Despite that, the tendency to learn with NNESTs is higher than NESTs. The findings also show that both types of teachers motivate students to learn English. Moreover, it suggests that the methodology and teachers’ personalities are more important than the teachers’ nativeness.

Phonological features that predict accentedness, comprehensibility, and perceived teaching suitability in Arizona K-12 teachers

Motivated by a proposed administrative practice that would have discriminated against non-native English speaking (NNES) teachers, this study described an extensive phonological analysis on speech samples from ten certified Arizona teachers to investigate linguistic features that differentiate native English speaking (NES) teachers from NNES teachers. In addition, educational stakeholders (n = 141) impressionistically evaluated the speech samples for comprehensibility, accentedness, and perceived teaching suitability. Phonological features were used to predict listeners’ ratings on these three constructs. Multiple phonological features were found to predict comprehensibility, accentedness, and perceived teaching suitability, but each construct was predicted by a unique set of features. Lastly, stakeholders’ evaluations of NES and NNES teachers were analyzed. Despite individual variability in many of the features of NNES and NES teachers’ speech, educational stakeholders rated NNES teachers as more accented, less comprehensible, and less suited to teach.

The Students’ Attitudes towards the NESTs versus NNESTs and their Impacts on the Students’ Motivations to Learn English Language at KAU

Motivation is one of the crucial aspects of second language acquisition. Students’ motivation can be influenced by their teachers. The present study aims to investigate the impact of the two types of teachers on EFL learners’ motivations to learn English. These are NESTs (Native English-speaking teachers) and NNESTs (native English-speaking teachers). Hence, it examines learners’ attitudes and perceptions towards the two types of teachers. This study employed a mixed method by distributing a questionnaire contains quantitative and qualitative tools. It consists of twenty items of Likert scales and two open-ended questions. The present study subjects are 31 female students at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. The results of the study demonstrate that learners have a positive attitude toward NESTs and NNESTs. Despite that, the tendency to learn with NNESTs is higher than NESTs. The findings also show that both types of teachers motivate students to learn English. Moreover, it suggests that the methodology and teachers’ personalities are more important than the teachers’ nativeness.

A Qualitative Study Examining Macao’s Parents’ Attitude towards Native and Non-native English-speaking Teachers for Private Online Synchronous One-on-one English Lessons

In terms of English learning, whether native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) surpass non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) or vice versa has been a heated topic. These two types of teachers have their own respective benefits and drawbacks with respect to English teaching. Most of the current related studies are on the traditional educational classroom setting in both secondary school and higher education. However, the study of the virtual learning platform as a method of teaching English is rare. This research displays valuable significance in identifying whether parents in Macao have a preference towards NESTs and NNESTs before they purchase the online synchronous one-on-one English lessons for their children. This qualitative study, after two participants were interviewed, concludes that they both prefer NESTs due to their authentic accent and pronunciation and believe it is more suitable in such a speaking-andlistening oriented online lesson. Price is not the prioritized factor to consider. They are generally satisfied with the teaching style of the online NESTs but it is also important to take note of the teaching approach conducted in the online lessons towards children, to ensure that it holds their interest appropriately.

Schematic Structure and Stance in Students’ Writing in Business Communication: A Comparative Study of Native English Speaking and Iranian Students

This study reports on two knowledge elements of stance and schematic structure in order to help novice students increase the efficacy of their writing in business communication. With this regard, Santos’ (2002) Business Letters of Negotiation Model and Hyland’s (2005b) Stance Model of Interaction were drawn upon. Sixty business emails written by native English speaking (NS) and Iranian students of Business Management Departments in universities were analyzed. Two raters explored the corpus for their moves/steps frequencies and a concordance software was used in order to explore stance markers frequencies. To investigate whether Iranian and NS writers are statistically different from each other, the findings of frequencies were submitted to one-variable Chi-square test. The results showed that NS and Iranian writers are not different from each other in their content staging while they are providing information/answers or negotiating. Running counter to moves 2 and 23, move 3 turned out to have different results; there was a significant difference between NS and Iranian writers in their request of information/action/favors. Results presented no significant difference between NS and Iranian writers in their employment of hedges and attitude markers of stance with regard to one-variable Chi-square test results. For boosters, Chi-square test detected a significant difference between the groups only in move 2. There was a significant difference, however, between NS and Iranian writers in their use of self-mention markers in moves 3 and 23. The results of this paper have both theoretical and pedagogical significance.

Writing letters and emails in English: correspondence for the editorial office

One of the main responsibilities of the editorial office is to communicate effectively with authors through emails, formal letters, and most importantly through decision letters. Even when the content is informative and constructive and the editor has only good intentions, if the tone and level of formality are not managed properly, the image of the journal may be negatively affected, which may deter authors from submitting papers to the journal again. Despite their best efforts to treat authors respectfully, some editors may unintentionally cause offense if they lack the appropriate sociolinguistic knowledge required for effective English correspondence. In order to ease the burden of the editorial office, this tutorial aims to assist non-native English speaking editors by demonstrating the basic format and principles of writing formal letters and email, providing tips on how to select an acceptable level of formality, and offering strategies to avoid unintentional rudeness. Specific tips include framing issues positively, using indirect language, and using hedging. Through this tutorial, non-native English speaking editors are expected to develop sociolinguistic competence to write professionally and improve their efficiency in corresponding with authors.

Language Teacher Identity and English Education Policy in Japan: Competing Discourses Surrounding “Non-native” English-speaking Teachers

This paper examines English teacher identity of Japanese “non-native” English-speaking teachers through a multi-layered analysis of discourses and identity. Informed by poststructuralist views of identity, it explores dominant discourses surrounding “non-native” English-speaking teachers by analyzing their portrayal in national English education policy in Japan. This analysis is combined with qualitative data analysis of interview accounts of five Japanese high school “non-native” English-speaking teachers, which allows for examination of the interrelation between dominant discourses and their teacher identities. The data analysis demonstrates how the policy documents portray “non-native” English-speaking teachers, framing them within two competing discourses: the discourse of teaching professionals vis-à-vis students and the discourse of “nonnative” teachers vis-à-vis imagined “native” speakers of English. This discursive portrayal corresponds to the “non-native” English-speaking teacher identity illuminated by narrative accounts from the participant teachers, manifesting the paradoxical and conflicting nature of teacher identity. The discussion concludes with implications and recommendations for English education policy design and teacher education with a heightened sensitivity to identity.