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Are They Really “Two Different Species”? Implicitly Elicited Student Perceptions About NEST s and NNEST s
Author(s) -
Aslan Erhan,
Thompson Amy S.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
tesol journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.468
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1949-3533
pISSN - 1056-7941
DOI - 10.1002/tesj.268
Subject(s) - psychology , adjective , nest (protein structural motif) , population , perception , mathematics education , pedagogy , linguistics , noun , medicine , philosophy , neuroscience , physics , nuclear magnetic resonance , environmental health
The native/nonnative‐English‐speaking teacher ( NEST / NNEST ) dichotomy has received much attention in the English language teaching profession. Although research shows that NEST s and NNEST s have different perceived strengths regarding English proficiency, personal characteristics, teaching behavior, and approaches to teaching English, more research is needed to discover learners' situated perceptions about teachers of English as a second language ( ESL ) in the classroom. A population of ESL students ( N = 76) studying in a university‐level English language program completed a semantic differential assessment scale that consisted of adjective pairs (e.g., approachable vs. unapproachable ). Without being prompted by the NEST and NNEST labels, the students who were taught by either an NEST or an NNEST implicitly described their teachers' attitudes toward students, teaching style and practice in the classroom, and personality. Independent t ‐tests conducted on the scores for adjective pairs revealed that the NEST / NNEST status did not cause significant differences in students' perceptions, suggesting that NEST s and NNEST s are perceived as equals in the eyes of the students. The study has implications for language teachers and program administrators and promotes teacher empowerment and collaboration.