“I Have to Teach The ‘English’ English”: Native-speakerism Ideology among the English Teachers

HG Retno Harsanti, Christine Manara

Abstract


Native-speakerism is a crucial issue to discuss in ELT, especially related to the different ideological views on World Englishes and ‘standard’ English. Differences in ideology about English and its variations have an impact on the English teaching implementation. Many studies have examined discrimination practices driven by native-speakerism ideology in educational contexts such as in the preference of English teacher recruitment which prefers teachers who are considered as native speakers. Although studies have discussed native-speakerism ideology, not many studies have discussed native-speakerism ideology from the perspective of English teachers in Indonesia. This study, therefore, aims to find out how widespread this ideology is among English teachers of a private school in metropolitan Jakarta. It seeks to explore the dimensions of native-speakerism in the various aspects of the English teaching profession. This study is interview-based research with seven participants. Data collection was done by conducting individual interviews for 30-40 minutes which then were analyzed descriptively to identify the recurring themes. The results showed that there were traces of native speakerism ideology among the English teachers in Permata schools that views English from a purist perspective towards the language and its culture. This purist perspective is reflected from how they defined native-speakers of English and depicted the ownership of English, language learning and teaching beliefs, and their teaching practices.

Keywords


English language teaching; globalization; language ideology; native-speakerism

Full Text:

PDF

References


Bolton, K. (2004). World Englishes. In A. Davies & C. Elder (Eds.), The handbook of applied linguistics (pp. 367-396). Oxford, UK: Blackwell Publishing.

Bourdieu, P. (1991). Language and symbolic power. Cambridge: Polity.

Comprendio, L. J. E. V., & Savski, K. (2019). ‘Asians’ and ‘Westerners’: Examining the perception of ‘(non-)native’ migrant teachers of English in Thailand. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434632.2019.1630419

Crystal, D. (2003). English as a global language 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, D. (2008). Two thousand million? English Today, 24(1), 3–6. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078408000023

Doan, N. B. (2016). To employ or not to employ expatriate non-native speaker teachers: Views from within. Asian Englishes, 18(1), 67–79. https://doi.org/10.1080/13488678.2015.1132112

Etikan, I., Musa, S. A., & Alkassim, R. S. (2016). Comparison of Convenience Sampling and Purposive Sampling: Science Publishing Group. American Journal of Theoretical and Applied Statistics, 5(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajtas.20160501.11

Fang, F. (Gabriel). (2018). Native-speakerism revisited: Global Englishes, ELT and intercultural communication. Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 131(2), 115–129.

Fang, G. (Gao). (2011). Linguistic capital: continuity and change in educational language polices for Sout Asians in Hong Kong primary schools. Current Issues in Language Planning, 12(2), 251-263. https://doi.org/10.1080/14664208.2011.609687

Greenfield, B. H., Greene, B., & Johanson, M. A. (2007). The use of qualitative research techniques in orthopedic and sports physical therapy: Moving toward postpositivism. Physical Therapy in Sport, 8(1), 44–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ptsp.2006.11.002

Holliday, A. R. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60(4), 385-387. https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl030

Holliday, A. (2014). Native Speakerism. Retrieved from http://adrianholliday.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/01/nism-encyc16plain-submitted.pdf

Hymes, D. (1972). On communicative competence. In J.B. Pride and J. Holmes (Eds.). Sociolinguistics. Selected readings (pp. 269-293). Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Hymes, D. (2001). On communicative competence. In A. Duranti, Linguistic anthropology: A reader (pp. 53-73). New Jersey: Wiley.

Kachru, B. B. (1998). English as an Asian Language. Links & Letters, 5, 89–108. Retrieved from http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.199.2932&rep=rep1&type=pdf

Kachru, B., & Smith, L. E. (1985). Editorial. World Englishes, 4, 209–212.

Krachu, B. (1991). Liberation linguistics and the Quirk Concern. English Today, 7, 3–13. https://doi.org/10.1017/S026607840000523X

Krachu, B. (2009). World Englishes and Culture Wars. In The Handbook of World Englishes (pp. 446–472). United Kingdom: Wiley-Blackwell.

Kilickaya, F. (2009). World Englishes, English as an International Language and Applied Linguistics. English Language Teaching, 2(3), p35. https://doi.org/10.5539/elt.v2n3p35

Kubota, R. & Lin, A. M. Y. (2006). Race and TESOL: introduction to concepts and theories. TESOL Quarterly 40/3: 471-93. DOI: 10.2307/40264540

Kubota, R & Fujimoto, D (2013) Racialized native speakers: Voices of Japanese American English language professionals. In: Houghton SA and Rivers DJ (eds) Native-Speakerism in Japan: Intergroup Dynamics in Foreign Language Education. Bristol, U.K. Buffalo, N.Y. and Toronto, Canada: Multilingual Matters, pp.196–206.

Leimgruber, J. R. E. (2013). The trouble with World Englishes: Rethinking the concept of ‘geographical varieties’ of English. English Today, 29(3), 3–7. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078413000242

Li, S. (2019). Expanding the scope for research on global English-language advertising. World Englishes, 38, 519–534. https://doi.org/10.1111/weng.12428

Lowe, R. J., & Kiczkowiak, M. (2016). Native-speakerism and the complexity of personal experience: A duoethnographic study. Cogent Education, 3(1), 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/2331186X.2016.1264171

Lowe, R. J., & Pinner, R. (2016). Finding the connections between native-speakerism and authenticity. Applied Linguistics Review, 7(1), 27–52. https://doi.org/10.1515/applirev-2016-0002

Mckay, S. L. (n.d.). English as an International Language. In Sociolinguistic and Language Education (pp. 89–115). Multilingual Matters.

Medgyes, P. (2001). When the teacher is a non-native speaker. Teaching English as a second or foreign language, 3, 429-442.

Morrison, K., & Lui, I. (2000). Ideology, linguistic capital and the medium of instruction in Hong Kong. Journal of Multilingual and Multicultural Development, 21(6), 471-486. https://doi.org/10.1080/01434630008666418

Pandey, M., & Pandey, P. (2014). Better English for Better Employment Opportunities. International Journal of Multidisciplinary Approach and Studies, 1(4), 93-100.

Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Quirk, R. (1985). The English language in a global context. In English in the World: Teaching and Learning the Language and Literatures (pp. 1–7). Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/326771?origin=crossref

Quirk, R. (1990). Language varieties and standard language. English Today, 21, 3-10. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0266078400004454

Roshid, M. M. (2013). English language proficiency and employment: A case study of Bangladeshi graduates in Australian employment market. Mevlana International Journal of Education, 3(1), 68-81.

Rudolph, N. (2019). Native speakerism (?!): (Re)considering critical lenses and corresponding implications in the field of English Language Teaching. Indonesian Journal of English Language Teaching, 14(2), 89-113.

Saville-Troike, M. (2003). The etnography of communication: An introduction 3rd Ed. Oxford: Blackwell.

Seidman, I. (2006). Interviewing As Qualitative Research: A Guide for Researchers in Education and the Social Sciences. Teacher’s College Press.

Suwendra, I. W. (2018). Metodologi Penelitian Kualitatif dalam Ilmu Sosial, Pendidikan, Kebudayaan dan Keagamaan. Badung: Nilacakra.

Tahmasbi, S., Hashemifardnia, A., & Namaziandost, E. (2019). Standard English or World Englishes: Issues of Ownership and Preference. Journal of Teaching English Language Studies, 7(3), 83–98.




DOI: https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v11i2.26379

Refbacks

  • There are currently no refbacks.


View My Stats

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.