Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Native Speaker? by Jocelyn A.S. Navera

Native Speaker? Jocelyn A.S. Navera (Okayama) Who’s Afraid of the Big

Bad

The term “native speaker” is usually seen plastered on hiring advertisements for ALTs and has become a prerequisite condition for the English-teaching industry. In Japan, where these services are in demand and competition is stiff, it is not difficult to find posts that go as far as expressly restricting potential candidates. It is not abnormal to come across such straightforward addendums such as “Americans only” or “US/UK applicants are preferred.” The prevailing notion is that specific nationalities are seen as “experts” of English, given their exposure and constant use of the language. However, do these certain groups actually carry a pedagogical advantage or is the notion of the “native speaker” a dated concept that perpetuates discriminatory biases? Wanted: Native Speaker Historically, a native speaker is defined as someone whose first language is English. Recently, this definition has become more difficult to unpack because many educational institutions and businesses identify this term with speakers who do not have just English as a first language, but also those who are stereotypically seen to be ideal speakers of the language (i.e. white people). In effect, the “nativeness” of a speaker has come to be preliminarily determined by factors other than actual proficiency in communicating in (and most importantly, teaching) the target language. In advertisements like those mentioned, similarly or even better qualified individuals from other parts of the world are excluded because they do not fit the socially constructed mental image of a native speaker of English. Debunking the Myth What should be prioritized in the search for English teachers are pedagogical experience and qualifications. After all, acquiring a language via exposure vis-à-vis intensive study will eventually affect one’s ability to explain rules and simplify linguistic concepts to English language learners. When it comes to language learning, “nativeness” should no longer be part of the equation. Rather, it would be beneficial for both educational institutions and language learners to reject prevailing assumptions that dichotomize speakers. Ultimately, the glorification of the native speaker negates the point of learning any language and underestimates the innate human ability to learn. The emphasis on “nativeness” sets an impossible goal and only promotes racial inequalities that should no longer exist in a globalized, multicultural world. The Bottom Line Expanding Japanese schools’ linguistic horizons and helping them accept that English comes in many forms from many places are part and parcel of being an ALT in Japan. At the end of the day, communication is the goal and clear, contextualized goal-setting can help teachers appropriately position themselves and the English they teach in the classroom.

The Myth of the Native Speaker For language researchers and specialists, however, the existence of the native speaker is a myth and is considered problematic in that it promotes monolingual bias and discrimination. In 2006, Watson compiled spelling errors made by native speakers, invalidating the claim that these speakers are perfect models of the English language (1). In 2012, Kumaki acknowledged that learners were statistically more likely to communicate with “non-native” speakers and hence, were more exposed to lesser-known varieties of English (2). In 2016, a study conducted by Levis et al. concluded that teacher identity (native versus non-native) did not impact even the teaching of pronunciation (3). In sum, there is evidence that the superiority of the native speaker is more of belief rather than fact.

Sources: 1. The Myth of the Native Speaker as a Model of English Proficiency 2. Native Speaker Myths 3. Native and Nonnative Teachers of L2 Pronunciation

29 Jocelyn A.S. Navera is a second-year SHS ALT assigned in Okayama. She has a BA and an MA degree in English Studies Major in Language from the University of the Philippines, Diliman and is currently taking her PhD in Applied Linguistics at De La Salle University, Manila. Apart from being the Director of Alumni Resources in the National AJET Council, she is also passionate about broadening approaches to English teaching and learning from the multicultural perspective through opportunities such as the annual Skills Development Conference (SDC). This article was born out of a group presentation during the 2019 Okayama SDC.