Ok, let's say I want to teach English is Thailand. Is it important for me to speak Thai? Would it make me a better teacher? When I studied French, my teacher was French, but she was also proficient in English. A lot of countries recruit native English speakers to teach. Some countries do not require language proficiency in the country's official language and some do not even require prior teaching experience or training! The fact that one is a native English speaker is qualification enough. How effective could I be, as a teacher, in Thailand without being able to understand my student in their native language? Must teachers be bilingual in order to teach English as a foreign, second or other language?
On the flip side, do native English speakers make better English teachers than non-native, but highly proficient English speakers? Non-native yet highly proficient English speakers had to learn English as a foreign, second or other language therefore one could argue that they understand the structure and organization of English better than a native speaker could. Of course, English is a particularly complex language full of homonyms, grammatical exceptions, idioms, etc. Is it possible to achieve native-like proficiency as a non-native English speaker?
As I think about where I want to teach next year, I cannot help but think about the language barriers between me and my future students. If I am interested in teaching abroad, should I only look at countries that I have at least some degree of proficiency in their language? If I choose to stay in the states and work in a K through 12 setting, should the language of the local populous immigrant groups play a factor in my decision?
Sunday, November 30, 2008
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