Views: 1,751
Arab World English Journal (AWEJ) Volume 16. Number 2, June 2025 Pp.358-372
Language Center and Academic Services,
International College of Sustainability Studies,
Srinakharinwirot University,
Bangkok, Thailand
This study investigated the attitudes of Thai English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university students towards their non-native English-speaking EFL teacher, who is a non-Thai national. For the quantitative approach, data were collected by distributing questionnaires to seventy-two first-year students (N=72) from two different university faculties, focusing on two specific areas: general attitudes and teaching English language skills. The questionnaire comprised forty-three Likert scale items and an open-ended question. The data were analyzed using the SPSS program, employing means, standard deviations, and Independent Samples t-tests. The findings revealed that most students showed positive attitudes towards their non-native English-speaking EFL teacher in terms of teacher characteristics and personality, good preparation for class, and students’ happiness in class. Moreover, students also indicated that they appreciated the non-native English-speaking EFL teacher teaching reading, listening, and speaking skills regarding teaching English language skills. The results also indicated no statistically significant difference in the attitudes of Thai EFL university students from the two faculties toward a non-native English-speaking EFL teacher. The advantages or disadvantages that students indicated regarding learning English with a non-native English-speaking EFL teacher were discussed. The study also outlined its limitations and offered recommendations for future research.
Punyaporn, P. (2025). When East Meets East: Thai EFL University Students’ Attitudes towards the Non-native English-Speaking EFL Teacher. Arab World English Journal, 16(2):358-372.
Adara, R. A. (2019). The differences in students’ attitudes and perceptions of NEST and NNEST. Leksika: Jurnal Bahasa, Sastra dan Pengajarannya, 13(2), 72-81. http://dx.doi.org/10.30595/lks.v13i2.4654
Ahmed, S.K., & Osam, N. (2022). Students’ and Instructors’ Attitudes and Perceptions towards Native and Non-native EFL Teachers in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, Arab World English Journal, 13 (4) 130-154. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/vol13no4.9
Al Muabdi, H. S. (2021). The Students’ Attitudes towards the NESTs versus NNESTs and their Impacts on the Students’ Motivations to Learn English Language at KAU, King Khalid University, Saudi Arabia (M.A. Thesis). Retrieved from Arab World English Journal (ID Number: 280) November 2021: 1- 35. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.24093/awej/th.280
Alseweed, M. A. (2012). University students’ perceptions of the influence of native and non-native teachers. English Language Teaching, 5(12), 42-53.
Benke, E. & Medgyes, P. (2005). Differences in teaching behavior between native and non-native speaker teachers: As seen by the learners. In E. Llurda (Ed.), Nonnative language teachers: Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession (pp.195-216). New York: Springer.
Braine, G. (Ed.) (1999). Non-native Educators in English Language Teaching. Mahwah, New Jersey: LEA
Bulter, Y.C. (2007). How are non-native English-Speaking teachers perceived by young learner? TESOL Quarterly, 41, 731-755.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Interrogating the “native speaker fallacy”: Non-linguistic roots, non-pedagogical results. In G. Braine (Ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp. 77-92). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum
Cheung, Y. L. (2002). The attitude of university students in Hong Kong towards native and nonnative teachers of English (Unpublished master’s thesis). The Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Deng, L. W., Zhang, L. J., & Mohamed, N. (2024). Teacher well-being matters: The case of students’ motivation on their own perceptions of native and non-native English speaker teachers. Porta Linguarum: International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching and Learning, 41(1), 1–21.
Evrim, U. (2007). University Students’ Perceptions of Native and Nonnative Teachers. Teachers and Teaching,13(1), 63-79. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/13540600601106096 (2) (PDF) University Students’ Perceptions of the Influence of Native and Non-native Teachers. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287606511_University_Students’_Perceptions_of_the_Influence_of_Native_and_Non-native_Teachers [accessed July 21, 2024].
Ferris, D. R. (2006). Does error feedback help student writers? New evidence on the short and long-term effects of written error correction. In K. Hyland and F. Hyland, eds., Feedback in Second Language Writing: Contexts and Issues, 81-104. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kachru, B. B. (1992). Models for non-native Englishes. In B. B. Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: Englishes across cultures (2nd ed., pp. 48–75). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Kachru, B. B. (1996). The paradigms of marginality. World Englishes, 15(3), 241–255.
Koksal, K. (2006). An investigation into students’ perception of native English-speaking teachers’ (NEST) and non-native English-speaking teachers’ (Non-NEST) performance and competence in teaching English as a foreign language. (Unpublished master’s thesis), Canakkale ONsekiz Mart University, Turkey.
Lasagabaster D., and Sierra J.M. (2005). What do Students Think about the Pros and Cons of Having a Native Speaker Teacher? In: Llurda E. (eds) Non-Native Language Teachers. Educational Linguistics, vol 5. Springer, Boston, MA.
Liu, D. (1999.) Training non-native TESOL students: challenges for TESOL teacher education in the West. In G. Braine (ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching. Mahwah: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. 197–210.
Ma, L. P. F. (2012). Advantages and disadvantages of native- and nonnative-English-speaking teachers: student perceptions in Hong Kong. TESOL Quarterly, 46(2), 280-305. https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.21
Ma, L. P. F. (2015). Teaching behaviour of LETs and NETs in Hong Kong: Differences perceived by secondary students. The Asian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 28-42.
Madrid, D. & Cañado, M. L. P. (2004). Teacher and students’ preferences of native and non-native foreign language teachers. Porta linguarum (2), 6, 125-137.
Mahboob, A., (2003). Status of non-native English-speaking teachers in the United States. PhD dissertation. Bloomington, IN: Indiana University.
Mahboob, A. (2004). Native or Non-Native: What do the Students Think? In L. D. Kamhi-Stern (Ed.), Learning and Teaching from Experience (pp. 121–147). Michigan: University of Michigan Press.
Medgyes, P. (1994). The Non-native Teacher. Macmillan Publishers, London.
Phothongsunan, S. (2017). Delving into International Students’ Attitudes to NESTs and NNESTs. 3L, Language, Linguistics, Literature, 23(4).
Sung, C. C. M. (2014). An exploratory study of Hong Kong students’ perceptions of native and non-native English-speaking teachers in ELT. Asian Englishes, 16(1), 32–46. doi:10.1080/13488678.2014.880252
Tsou, S. Y., & Chen, Y. L. (2017). EFL college students’ perceptions toward native and non-native English-speaking teachers. American Journal of Educational Research, 5(12), 1182-1190. https://doi.org/10.12691/education-5 -5-12-2.
Wang L.& Fang, F. (2020). Native-speakerism policy in English language teaching revisited: Chinese university teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards native and non-native English-speaking teachers. Cogent Education, 7,(1), DOI: 10.1080/2331186X.2020.1778374
Walkinshaw, I., and Duong, O. T. H. (2012). Native- and non-native speaking English teachers in Vietnam: Weighing up the benefits. TESL-EJ, 16 (3), pp.1 -17.
Walkinshaw, I., and Oanh, D.H. (2014). Native and Non-Native English Language Teachers: Student Perceptions in Vietnam and Japan. SAGE Open 1-9.
Waterworth, P. (2016). Teaching English in ASEAN: The voices of English teachers in ASEAN nations. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 5(2), 154–166. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.17509/ijal.v5i2.1340
Watson-Todd, R. & Pojanapunya, P. (2009). Implicit attitudes towards native and nonnative speaker teachers. System, 37, 23–33. doi:10.1016/j.system.2008.08.002
Patthaya Punyaporn is a full-time lecturer at Language Center and Academic Services, International College of Sustainability Studies, Srinakharinwirot University, Thailand. She holds a doctoral degree in English Language Teaching at Thammasat University, Thailand. Her areas of interest are willingness to communicate, foreign language anxiety, NESTs and NNESTs, English language teaching, and related fields. ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2824-1688