Abstract
Given the lack of research into native-speakerism among teachers of languages other than English (LOTEs), this qualitative study aims to bridge the gap by investigating the discriminatory and inclusive language employed in online recruitment for post-secondary institution instructors of LOTEs. The study also looks at how post-secondary institutions phrase language requirements and whether there is a difference in “native-speaker-teacher” bias depending on the language. For the purposes of this study, qualitative content analysis was used to examine 187 online job advertisements for teaching positions of different LOTEs that were posted by different post-secondary institutions across the United States. The findings of the study show that post-secondary institutions use discriminatory language such as “native” or “near-native” much more often than inclusive language such as “superior language skills,” regardless of the language(s) that the position advertises for. The findings, however, show that job candidates for teaching positions of LOTEs are often required to have “native” or “near-native” proficiency in at least two languages, most commonly English plus the target language of focus.
References
ACTFL. (2012). ACTFL proficiency guidelines. https://www.actfl.org/uploads/files/general/ACTFLProficiencyGuidelines2012.pdf
ACTFL. (May 16, 2019). Diversity and inclusion in world language teaching & learning. https://www.actfl.org/news/diversity-and-inclusion-in-world-language-teaching-learning#:~:text=ACTFL%20values%20diversity%20and%20strives,to%20promote%20diversity%20and%20inclusion
Anya, U. (2020). African Americans in world language study: The forged path and future directions. Annual Review of Applied Linguistics, 40, 97-112. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0267190520000070
Aslan, E., & Thompson, A.S. (2017). Are they really “two different species?” Implicitly elicited student perceptions about NESTs and NNESTs. TESOL Journal, 8(2), 277-294. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.268
Carreira, M.M. (2011). The making and breaking of language ideology: Language ideologies in Spanish departments. International Multilingual Research Journal, 5(1), 60-76. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/19313152.2011.541338
Clark, E., & Paran, A. (2007). The employability of non-native-speaker teachers of EFL: A UK survey. System, 35(4), 407-430. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2007.05.002
Cohen, A. (2016). The teaching of pragmatics by native and nonnative language teachers: What they know and what they report doing. Studies in Second Language Learning and Teaching, 6(4), 561-585. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/ssllt.2016.6.4.2
Daoud, S., & Kasztalska, A. (2022). Exploring native-speakerism in teacher job recruitment discourse through Legitimation Code Theory: The case of the United Arab Emirates. Language Teaching Research. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/13621688211066883
DeGraff, M. (2019). Against apartheid in education and in linguistics: The case of Haitian Creole in neocolonial Haiti. In D. Macedo (Ed.), Decolonizing foreign language education: The misteaching of English and other colonial languages (pp. ix-xxxii). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429453113
Derivry-Plard, M. (2008). Students’ representations of native speaker teachers of FL. In M. Pawlak (Ed.), Investigating English language learning and teaching (pp. 281-291). Faculty of Pedagogy and Fine Arts in Kalisz, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań.
Derivry-Plard, M. (2013). The native speaker language teacher: Through time and space. In S. A. Houghton & D. J. Rivers (Eds.), Native-speakerism in Japan: Intergroup dynamics in foreign language education (pp. 243-255). Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781847698704-022
Derivry-Plard, M. (2018). A multilingual paradigm in language education: What it means for language teachers. In S. A. Houghton & K. Hashimoto (Eds.), Towards post-native-speakerism: Dynamics and shifts (pp. 131-148). Springer. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7162-1_8
Flynn, K. F., & Gulikers, G. (2001). Issues in hiring nonnative English-speaking professionals to teach English as a second language. The CATESOL Journal, 13(1), 151-160. http://www.catesoljournal.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/CJ13_flynn.pdf
Hammond, M., & Wellington, J. J. (2021). Research methods: The key concepts. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429058165
Holliday, A. (2005). The struggle to teach English as an international language. Oxford University Press.
Holliday, A. (2006). Native-speakerism. ELT Journal, 60(4), 385-387. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/elt/ccl030
Holliday, A. (2015). Native-speakerism: Taking the concept forward and achieving cultural belief. In A. Swan, P. Aboshiha, & A. Holliday (Eds.), (En)countering native-speakerism: Global perspectives (pp. 11-25). Palgrave Advances in Languages & Linguistics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137463500_2
Holliday, A. (2021). Linguaculture, cultural travel, native-speakerism and small culture formation on the go. In R. Rubbi, R. Tuppas, & M. Saraceni (Eds.), Bloomsbury world Englishes volume 2: Ideologies (pp. 101-112). Bloomsbury. DOI: https://doi.org/10.5040/9781350065871.0013
Holliday, A. (2022). Contesting grand narratives of the intercultural. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003039174
Kiczkowiak, M. (2019). Students’, teachers’ and recruiters’ perception of teaching effectiveness and the importance of nativeness in ELT. Journal of Second Language Teaching and Research, 7(1). https://pops.uclan.ac.uk/index.php/jsltr/article/view/578
Kiczkowiak, M. (2020). Recruiters’ attitudes to hiring “native” and “non-native” speaker teachers: An international survey. TESL-EJ, 24(1). https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1257226.pdf
Kiczkowiak, M., & Wu, A. (2018). Discrimination and discriminatory practices against NNESTs. In J. I. Liontas & M. DelliCarpini (Eds.), The TESOL encyclopedia of English language teaching. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118784235.eelt0014
Koike, D. A., & Liskin-Gasparro, J. E. (1999). What is a near-native speaker? Perspectives of job seekers and search committees in Spanish. ADFL Bulletin, 30(3), 54-62. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1632/adfl.30.3.54
Kumaravadivelu, B. (2016). The decolonial option in English teaching: Can the Subaltern act? TESOL Quarterly, 50(1), 66-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.202
Lazarton, A. (2014). Second language speaking. In M. Celce-Murcia, D. M. Brinton, & M. A. Snow (Eds.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 106-120). National Geographic Learning.
Lippens, L., Vermeiren, S., & Baert, S. (2023). The state of hiring discrimination: A meta-analysis of (almost) all recent correspondence experiments. European Economic Review, 151, 1-25. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroecorev.2022.104315
Llurda, E., & Calvet-Terré, J. (2022). Native-speakerism and non-native second language teachers: A research agenda. Language Teaching. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444822000271
Loewen, S., & Reinders, H. (2011). Key concepts in second language acquisition. Palgrave. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-230-34627-7
Mackenzie, L. (2021). Discriminatory job advertisements for English language teachers in Colombia: An analysis of recruitment biases. TESOL Journal, 12(1), 1-21. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesj.535
Mahboob, A., & Golden, R.I. (2013). Looking for native speakers of English: Discrimination in English language teaching job advertisements. Voices in Asia Journal, 1(1), 72-81. https://154a5226-6f67-4763-b01a60502fb2f488.filesusr.com/ugd/a8d6f0_2a56be9668b94bfaab940f5dddfe716f.pdf
MLA Job List. (n.d.). About. https://joblist.mla.org/
Modern Language Association. (n.d.). About the MLA. https://www.mla.org/About-Us/About-the-MLA
Moussu, L. M. (2006). Native and non-native English-speaking English as a second language teachers: Student attitudes, teacher self-perceptions, and intensive English administrator beliefs and practices. (Doctoral dissertation, Purdue University). ERIC. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED492599.pdf
Oxford Reference. (n.d.). Neo-racism. https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100228471;jsessionid=83799E864F561A4A8DC265763C897F10
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford University Press.
Phillipson, R. (2018). Linguistic imperialism. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics (pp. 1-7). Wiley-Blackwell. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal0718.pub2
Radwanska-Williams, J. (2008). The “native speaker” as a metaphorical con-struct. In E. A. Berendt (Ed.), Metaphors for learning: Cross-cultural perspectives (pp. 139-156). John Benjamins. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1075/hcp.22.10rad
Rivers, D. J. (2016). Employment advertisements and native-speakerism in Japanese higher education. In F. Copland, S. Garton, & S. Mann (Eds.), LETs and NESTs: Voices, views and vignettes (pp. 68-89). British Council.
Rivers, D. J. (2018). The idea of the native speaker. In S. A. Houghton, D. J. Rivers, & K. Hashimoto (Eds.), Beyond native-speakerism: Current explorations and future visions (pp. 15-35). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315643601-2
Ruecker, T., & Ives, L. (2015). White native English speakers needed: The rhetorical construction of privilege in online teacher recruitment spaces. TESOL Quarterly, 49(4), 733-756. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/tesq.195
Schreier, M. (2014). Qualitative content analysis. In U. Flick (Ed.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative data analysis (pp. 170-183). Sage. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4135/9781446282243.n12
Selvi, A. F. (2010). All teachers are equal, but some teachers are more equal than others: Trend analysis of job advertisements in English language teaching. WATESOL NNEST Caucus Annual Review, 1. https://www.academia.edu/226716/All_Teachers_are_Equal_but_Some_Teachers_are_More_Equal_than_Others_Trend_Analysis_of_Job_Advertisements_in_English_Language_Teaching_2010_
Selvi, A. F. (2019). Qualitative content analysis. In J. McKinley & H. Rose (Eds.), The Routledge handbook of research methods in applied linguistics (pp. 440-452). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367824471-37
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (1988). Multilingualism and the education of minority children. In T. Skutnabb-Kangas & J. Cummins (Eds.), Minority education: from shame to struggle (pp. 9-44), Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800418110-002
Skutnabb-Kangas, T. (2015). Linguicism. In C. A. Chapelle (Ed.), The encyclopedia of applied linguistics. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781405198431.wbeal1460
TESOL International Association. (2006). Position statement against discrimination of nonnative speakers of English in the field of TESOL. https://www.tesol.org/docs/pdf/5889.pdf
Thompson, A. S. (2021a). The role of context in language teachers’ self development and motivation: Perspectives from multilingual settings. Multilingual Matters. DOI: https://doi.org/10.21832/9781800411197
Thompson, A. S. (2021b). LOTEs in US universities: Benefits, trends, motivations, and opportunities. In U. Lanvers, A. S. Thompson, & M. East (Eds.), Language learning in Anglophone countries: Challenges, practices, ways forward (pp. 181-204). Palgrave MacMillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-56654-8_10
Thompson, A. S., & Fioramonte, A. (2013). Nonnative speaker teachers of Spanish: Insights from novice teachers. Foreign Language Annals, 45(4), 564-579. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1944-9720.2013.01210.x
Thompson, A. S., & Morgan, W. J. (2022). “If I own a business one day…”: The value of language study for future careers. ADFL Bulletin, 47(2), 71-80. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1632/QSNI2667
US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (n.d.) Prohibited employment policies/practices. Retrieved June 19, 2022, from https://www.eeoc.gov/prohibited-employment-policiespractices#job_advertisements
Ushioda, E. (2017). The impact of global English on motivation to learn other languages: Toward an ideal multilingual self. Modern Language Journal, 101(3), 469-482. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/modl.12413
Valdes, G. (1998). The construct of the near-native speaker in the foreign language profession: Perspectives on ideologies about language. ADFL Bulletin, 29(3), 4-8. https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25595646.pdf?refreqid=excelsi-or%3Ac83aaebe0ba9dcd9dbc346d5ae4ef8f5&ab_segments=&origin=&acceptTC=1
Wernicke, M. (2017). Navigating native-speaker ideologies as FSL teachers. The Canadian Modern Language Review, 73(2), 208-236. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3138/cmlr.2951
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
1.1 The Author hereby warrants that he/she is the owner of all the copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Work and that, within the scope of the present Agreement, the paper does not infringe the legal rights of another person. The owner of the copyright work also warrants that he/she is the sole and original creator thereof and that is not bound by any legal constraints in regard to the use or sale of the work.
1.2. The Publisher warrants that is the owner of the PRESSto platform for open access journals, hereinafter referred to as the PRESSto Platform.
2. The Author grants the Publisher non-exclusive and free of charge license to unlimited use worldwide over an unspecified period of time in the following areas of exploitation:
2.1. production of multiple copies of the Work produced according to the specific application of a given technology, including printing, reproduction of graphics through mechanical or electrical means (reprography) and digital technology;
2.2. marketing authorisation, loan or lease of the original or copies thereof;
2.3. public performance, public performance in the broadcast, video screening, media enhancements as well as broadcasting and rebroadcasting, made available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them;
2.4. inclusion of the Work into a collective work (i.e. with a number of contributions);
2.5. inclusion of the Work in the electronic version to be offered on an electronic platform, or any other conceivable introduction of the Work in its electronic version to the Internet;
2.6. dissemination of electronic versions of the Work in its electronic version online, in a collective work or independently;
2.7. making the Work in the electronic version available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, in particular by making it accessible via the Internet, Intranet, Extranet;
2.8. making the Work available according to appropriate license pattern Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) as well as another language version of this license or any later version published by Creative Commons.
3. The Author grants the Publisher permission to reproduce a single copy (print or download) and royalty-free use and disposal of rights to compilations of the Work and these compilations.
4. The Author grants the Publisher permission to send metadata files related to the Work, including to commercial and non-commercial journal-indexing databases.
5. The Author represents that, on the basis of the license granted in the present Agreement, the Publisher is entitled and obliged to:
5.1. allow third parties to obtain further licenses (sublicenses) to the Work and to other materials, including derivatives thereof or compilations made, based on or including the Work, whereas the provisions of such sub-licenses will be the same as with the Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) Creative Commons sub-license or another language version of this license, or any later version of this license published by Creative Commons;
5.2. make the Work available to the public in such a way that members of the public may access the Work from a place and at a time individually chosen by them, without any technological constraints;
5.3. appropriately inform members of the public to whom the Work is to be made available about sublicenses in such a way as to ensure that all parties are properly informed (appropriate informing messages).
6. Because of the royalty-free provision of services of the Author (resulting from the scope of obligations stipulated in the present Agreement), the Author shall not be entitled to any author’s fee due and payable on the part of the Publisher (no fee or royalty is payable by the Publisher to the Author).
7.1. In the case of third party claims or actions for indemnity against the Publisher owing to any infractions related to any form of infringement of intellectual property rights protection, including copyright infringements, the Author is obliged to take all possible measures necessary to protect against these claims and, when as a result of legal action, the Publisher, or any third party licensed by the Publisher to use the Work, will have to abandon using the Work in its entirety or in part or, following a court ruling in a legal challenge, to pay damages to a third party, whatever the legal basis
7.2. The Author will immediately inform the Publisher about any damage claims related to intellectual property infringements, including the author’s proprietary rights pertaining to a copyrighted work, filed against the Author. of liability, the Author is obliged to redress the damage resulting from claims made by third party, including costs and expenditures incurred in the process.
7.3. To all matters not settled herein provisions of the Polish Civil Code and the Polish Copyright and Related Rights Act shall apply.