University Students’ Perceptions Of Native And Non-native Teachers In EFL Teaching

Although the majority of English language teachers are non-native speakers, many still consider that foreign languages should be taught by native speakers of the language. A number of studies have addressed the debate concerning who are the best teachers: native English speaking teachers(NESTs) or non-native English speaking teachers(NNESTs). However, they have tended to focus on teachers? rather than students? opinions. Therefore, further research on students? perception of NESTs and NNESTs in EFL teaching has become necessary.This study investigates students? perceptions of NESTs and NNESTs in college English teaching. 150 students(25 male students and 125 female ones) from Jiangxi Normal University were selected for this survey. A questionnaire by Evrim Ustunluoglu?s(2011) was used as the instrument. It consists of 30 items related to in-class teaching roles, in-class management roles, in-class communication roles and individual features. This study attempts to explore:(1) students? general perception of NESTs and NNESTs;(2) the difference between NESTs and NNESTs in terms of in-class teaching roles;(3) the difference between NESTs and NNESTs in terms of in-class management roles;(4) the difference between NESTs and NNESTs terms of in-class communication roles;(5) the difference between NESTs and NNESTs in terms of individual qualities. Both quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted in the current study. The SPSS 16.0 was used to analyze the statistics. Descriptive analysis and paired samples t-test were employed to analyze the data in this study. In terms of qualitative study, six students were chosen as the interviewees.The findings of this study show that:(1) in general, the students in this study do not show a preference for NESTs or NNESTs in English teaching;(2) there is a significant difference between NESTs and NNESTs in terms of in-class teaching roles, and an NNESTs perfoem in-class teaching roles better than an NEST does;(3) there is a significant difference between NNESTs and NESTs in the aspect of in-class management roles, and an NNESTs do better than an NEST;(4) significant difference was also discovered between NESTs and NNESTs in the aspect of in-class communication skills, and students prefer NESTs more than NNESTs in this aspect.(5) there is a significant difference between NESTs and NNESTs in the aspect of individual qualities, and NESTs do better than NNESTs.Based on the findings above, this thesis offered several implications for Chinese English teaching. It suggested that:(1) both NESTs and NNESTs have their own strengths and weaknesses, it is quite necessary for them to recognize their own strengths and weakness, and then they can complement each other;(2) a collaboration between NESTs and NNESTs is essential in developing their teaching awar eness, increasing their teaching effectiveness and enhancing their mutual professional growth;(3) program administrators should hire teachers on the basis of teaching abilities and teachers’ professional qualifications rather than the native/nonnative status.