Deconstructing Native-Speakerism: The Case of China
Ka Hang Wong, Australia
Ka Hang Wong is an English language teacher in Australia who has taught in China as a foreign teacher at a public university in 2014. He was born in Hong Kong, China and moved to Australia at the age of 13 where he completed the rest of his education. He has a BA in International Studies from Murdoch University, Western Australia and a Graduate Diploma in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages from University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). His research interests include native speakerism, bilingualism and using L1 in the classroom. E-mail: a_k_wong@hotmail.com
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Introduction
Who is a native speaker?
Does a native speaker have any advantages in teaching oral English in China?
How can foreign and Chinese teachers of English be successful language teachers?
Implications and conclusion
References
In China, the English language was nowhere near as important a few decades ago. Since the economic reforms of the 1980s, however, English language skills have become increasingly important. English has spread to China through corporatisation and globalisation in recent years (Rubdy 2015). There are now thousands of multinational companies operating in China since the opening up of the country to direct foreign investments and people with English ability are highly coveted. There is overwhelming anecdotal evidence that if job seekers had good English, they would get a good job with a foreign company.
As an expanding circle country, English is taught as a foreign language and its importance as an important international language is highly recognised (Tollefson 2000). Native speakers from inner-circle countries are highly sought after. One will notice from a casual glance at most English language teaching jobs on the internet that most positions advertised require native speakers. But who is a native speaker? In my own case, it is not easy to define. Even though I have worked as a native-speaking teacher in China in the past, it seems that the definition is context dependent. In China or even amongst Chinese students in Australia I would be automatically accepted as a native speaker, but amongst those who were born in inner-circle countries I would have to prove myself and my status as a native speaker would not be recognised as a given.
This essay explores who is a native speaker, whether a native-speaking teacher has any advantage over a Chinese teacher in teaching Oral English in China and how native and non-native speaking teachers can succeed in teaching the subject. To be clear, the words ‘native-speaking teacher’ and ‘foreign teacher’ used in this essay are one and the same, but in China it is more common to hear of the term ‘foreign teacher’.
An interesting dilemma I have observed from my experience teaching in China is that I was regarded as an Australian while in China and Chinese while in Australia. I was educated in Hong Kong – which is in the outer circle as a result of 156 years of British colonialism – and my family come from the nearby Guangdong province. Although I moved to Australia at the age of 13, I regard myself as a native speaker of English because I was educated in Australia for most of my life. That education and not birth determines native speakership has been also been propounded by Kramsch (1997). Not surprisingly, my students see this contradiction too, given the fact that although I look Chinese, I speak English more fluently than Chinese. As a case in point, I recently sat the IELTS test and achieved a band score of 8 out of a possible 9 for speaking. I would rate my level of Standard Chinese, if I took the HSK Oral test, to be intermediate. Technically though, my mother tongue is Cantonese, a dialect of a variety of Chinese known as Yue. It is spoken in many places in Guangdong, some areas in Guangxi and in the Hong Kong and Macau Special Administrative Regions, but there is no standard test in which proficiency in Chinese dialects can be measured. If I were to rate myself, I would say that my dialect ability is slightly higher than Standard Chinese but still lower than English.
A recent study in Canada, in which teacher candidates were interviewed about their self-perception of whether or not they were native speakers, has been published (Faez 2011). Teacher-educators were asked to validate the teacher candidates’ native speakerships. The study found that there was not a clear dichotomy between native and non-native speakers. Similar to my own lived experience, one man by the name of Mr Torres also found whether or not he was a native speaker to be ‘context-dependent, relative, multiple, and fluid’ (p.243). The participant’s background was very much identical to mine. Mr Torres had moved from an outer circle country to an inner circle country at the age of 14 and completed the rest of his education in the inner circle country. His English ability has exceeded his first language since moving to the inner circle country. When he taught in Japan, he also had to identify himself as a native speaker. Although he self-ascribed as a non-native speaker in Canada, he was validated by a teacher-educator as a native speaker of English.
Through a number of examples, the study illustrated the difficulty in placing a clear division between native and non-native speakers. This struggle is something I personally resonate. It may be that the status of native speaker is no longer a birthright, but rather the claim has to be validated in terms of one’s capacity to use the language. Modiano has the same view in his 1999 article (cited in Llurda 2004). Further, whether or not one is a native speaker is determined by acceptance by others (Kramsch 1997).
I propose that to determine whether or not one is a native speaker, the job applicant can be validated by their IELTS or TOEFL results. I am encouraged that an increasing number of English language teaching jobs that are advertised in Australia and overseas require applicants to provide their IELTS or TOEFL results or equivalent.
Oral English is a subject typically offered to first and second year university students in China. They normally attend a two-hour class once a week and classes are generally taken by foreign teachers who are native speakers.
Let us assume that a native speaker is a foreign teacher who has achieved a band score of 9 in the IELTS speaking test. That means he is an expert user of the language, has fully operational command and complete understanding of it (IELTS 2016). One obvious advantage is that the native speaker is able to provide a model of the English language and create a natural environment from which students learn from (Zhou 1999). This native speaker model is resonated in Cheung’s 2002 unpublished thesis (cited in Braine 2005). Subjects in Cheung’s study are of the opinion that native speakers’ ability to use the language functionally is an advantage.
Unfortunately, one frequent complaint from Chinese university students is that they learn nothing from foreign language teachers (Li 1999). These complaints are often due to differences in assumptions between teachers and students (Liu 2010). On the one hand, students in China generally have the belief that the teacher is the only authority in the classroom; on the other, western teachers see their role as helpers and facilitators only. In addition, there is a belief that using L1 in the foreign language classroom is an anathema to communicative language teaching (Walkinshaw and Duongthi 2014). My experience teaching in China suggests that native-speaking teachers who insist on an ‘English only’ policy only exacerbate conflicts because it is inevitable that L1 comes into play during language lessons.
Another perceived advantage that a native speaker would be able to represent the culture he comes from (Zhou 1999). Cheung’s study in 2002 (cited in Braine 2005) also confirms the widespread opinion that awareness of English speaking cultures is seen as strength. But what is the English speaking culture? Is there such thing as a homogenous English speaking culture, given Australia, Britain and to a certain extent America, are multicultural, multiracial societies? Would one native speaker represent a different English speaking culture to another? It seems that in China students are crazy about everything mainstream American. They love NBA, American television sitcoms, Taylor Swift and Justin Bieber. They do not see much of Australian or British television nor do they know much about these countries, which are not as big as America. In the minds of many, the English speaking community is like the stereotypical culture and values of America (Llurda 2004).
In addition, the employment of native-speaking teachers could result in the cultural invasion of the Chinese classroom (Lin 2012). For instance, studies have found that foreign teachers directly import their teaching methods into China and do not understand the host country’s culture (Liu 2010; Lin 2012). These foreign teachers also discuss things which are not relevant to the Chinese context, such as recreational vehicles used in the United States.
It would be advantages for native-speaking teachers to have some form of Chinese language training to at least intermediate level so that they can make use of some L1 in their Oral English class. This teaching approach is supported by various research papers in the ELT world including Dendrinos in 2001, Cook in 2001, Auerbach in 1993 and Baiget et al. in 1998 (cited in Llurda 2004). They argue that L1 and code-switching practices are of utmost importance to becoming competent multilingual speakers.
Even though I was a native-speaking teacher when teaching in China, I used a hybrid of the translation method and communicative approach to allow L1 in the classroom. In my experience, I found that a directly imported communicative approach did not suit the Chinese university students whom I taught. They were used to traditional approaches such as listening to teachers explain grammar points in L1. I managed to resolve this conflict by showing a short clip from a blockbuster movie that had Chinese sub-titles each week, and presented the idiomatic expressions in the movie by comparing them with Chinese translations. I attempted to act in an authoritative way that somewhat resembled a Chinese teacher of English. I had done what most other native-speaking teachers were not able to do, because my background in Chinese education up to middle school and my Chinese language skills had given me an advantage over most native speakers who did not have my life experience of learning English as a second language.
On the other hand, Zhou (1999) challenges the perception that native speakers are better teachers. He asserts that in some cases native speakers turn out to be poor teachers because of lack of experience or training and at the most students would receive listening practice only. Zhou’s view is echoed by Kirkpatrick (2007) who states that many English language schools recruit native speakers without any qualifications as language teachers. In the case of China, unfortunately, most foreign teachers go to the country primarily for travel and not for teaching (Qiang and Wolff 2008).
Zhou (1999) goes on to say that although Chinese teachers of English may lack familiarity with the English speaking culture, they have the necessary qualification to teach English and could make up for their deficits by learning about the culture in other ways. In my own lived experience, I find that those Chinese teachers of English who have studied in an English speaking country and returned to China after a number of years turn out to be highly successful in teaching Oral English. For instance, the director of a training school in China whom I moonlighted for, Mr Sky, had spent some years studying at the University of Adelaide. Similar to Mr Torres’s and my own lived experience in language acquisition, I would say that Mr Sky has also become a native speaker through his travel and education in Australia. His English ability is on par with his Chinese. His ability to switch between L1 and L2 during his lessons often enhances students’ understanding. Kramsch (1997) says that a bilingual native speaker, like Mr Sky, has the advantage over monolingual native speakers because they can be the bridge between cultures. Cheung’s study in 2002 (cited in Braine 2005) also concludes that a shared cultural background between the teacher and his students; and being able to understand students’ journeys as second language learners are seen as strengths.
Zhou (1999) says that for a Chinese teacher of English to succeed in teaching Oral English, he or she should create authentic situations. During my time working with Mr Sky, he often asked me to demonstrate speaking situations. For example, Mr Sky would ring me on my mobile and put me on speaker, while a student would invite me to dinner the next day.
There are, however, some disadvantages in using L1 in the classroom. Chinese university students would have had a number of years of English training at school before they entered university. Using L1 in the university classroom fails to maximise the time they use L2. Nevertheless, my experience as a native-speaking teacher suggests that students strongly favoured using L1 in class.
The opening of China to the world since the 1980s has attracted many native speakers to teach English in the country. Schools, especially schools in remote areas, are seen as more prestigious, having high quality and academic standards if they have a foreign teacher (Dalby 2006). There is, however, an overwhelming perception of a stereotypical native speaker look. That is why for a native speaker who does not look like a Caucasian, finding an English teaching job in China is extremely difficult, especially in areas where there are already many foreigners. Numerous journalists have been written about the discrimination suffered by non-white native-speaker job applicants (e.g. Cullen 2007; Zhou 2007; Liang 2015). Unfortunately, the stereotype native speaker has even been resonated by one of the participants in Faez’s study (Faez 2011), Ookami, who acknowledged that she did not look like a native speaker because of her biracialism. Her own internalised prejudice is echoed by many Americans of ethnic Asian backgrounds who may not see American-born Asians as native speakers because they are not Caucasians (Braine 2005).
In a world where many people move countries for a greener pastures, it is essential that people no longer have a particular view of native speakers. As Faez’s study has shown, there are six categories capturing the diverse backgrounds and identities of the participants (Faez 2011). Defining a native speaker is not as simple as having a birthright. Just as participants in the study were validated as to whether or not they were native speakers, I believe employers could determine whether or not an applicant is a native speaker by asking the applicant to provide his IELTS results or its equivalent.
There is also a perception that native speakers are better teachers because of the natural environment that they provide. Unfortunately this is also a myth (Qiang and Wolff 2008). Many foreign teachers do not understand that the way Chinese students are educated is completely opposite to the west. When foreign teachers try to implement the communicative approach, they often bring materials that are inappropriate to the Chinese classroom and teach in a way which frequently frustrates the students to no ends (Liu 2010; Lin 2012; Li 1999).
Another myth about hiring native speakers is that the foreigners are able to represent the English speaking community (Zhou 1999). However, there is no homogeneous English speaking culture (Llurda 2004). Instead, students in China often idealise the American culture and values to be the English speaking community because this is all they see.
While the native speaker from a foreign country still has some value in the Chinese classroom, it is necessary for people to change their perceptions about what a native speaker is. Even within an English speaking country such as Australia, there is no one stereotypical culture because of immigration. Australia is a multicultural country with many cultures. For instance, a person of Chinese ethnicity who has migrated to Australia or has spent a number of years in the country as a student may well be considered a native speaker.
To be effective teachers of Oral English, it is necessary for the foreign teacher to gain an appreciation of Chinese educational approaches and preferably have some working knowledge of Chinese. Similarly, a bilingual Chinese teacher of English may have spent a number of years abroad and is able to guide his students into successful bilingual native speakers. When foreign and Chinese teachers of English complement each other, students benefit immensely and become competent bilingual speakers.
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