| Since Native English Speaker Teachers(NESTs)were introduced into China in 1970’s,the teaching efficiency of NEST has been suspected by many researchers and educators.However,NESTs are still welcomed in oral English class es.Schools ranging from kindergartens to universities all employ NESTs as oral English teachers if financially possible.In fact,Non-Native English Speaker Teachers(Non-NESTs)also have their own advantages in oral teaching.This research is conducted on two teachers,one NEST and one Non-NEST,in order to explore answers to three questions.1.What are the differences between NESTs and Non-NESTs in terms of classroom management? 2.What are the differences between students’ engagement in each class,if any? 3.What are the implications of use of NESTs and Non-NESTs?The NEST and Non-NEST’s classes are observed in two classes of Grade 2 in Hunan University Overseas Studies Center.The teaching content is IELTS oral topics.The observation lasts 8 weeks and the whole teaching process is observed and video recorded.Interviews are given to both students and teachers during the research.Teaching notes and diaries are kept during classes.By contrasting,many differences are discovered.First of all,NEST’s class is loosely organized in terms of time arrangement and sitting arrangement,and student s engage reluctantly in NEST’s class except when personal experience is shared in class,and NEST shows low control in class.Second,students expect more cultural knowledge rather than language knowledge from NEST.However,Non-NEST has advantages in classroom management.In Non-NEST’s class,the teaching pace is fast and teaching objectives are fully achieved,and students are pushed to engage in and out of her class.In addition,she has no language barrier in communicating with students so students are more willing to seek help from her in language problems.The Non-NEST is more authorized and students are better controlled.All in all,NESTs and Non-NESTs have their own merits in teaching,NEST is the best choice of teaching cultural knowledge whereas Non-NEST suits for language knowledge,especially for exam purpose,like IELTS oral test.NEST’s class should be well-supervised and guided by authority.They should be given systematical pre-service training about Chinese culture,Chinese student feature s,Chinese education system and classroom management and teaching strategy.What’s more,NEST and Non-NEST should communicate more on teaching and learn from each other,in this way,English oral teaching can be more effective.When employ NESTs,authority should consider their education background and teaching experience,and NESTs’ teaching certificate should be an influential factor.But this research is only based on a small sample collection and limited data resources,which awaits further studies to make up. |
