Damn it they are everywhere! There are almost more English teachers out there than students. Basically, anyone who speaks the language is eligible to teach it. In some countries, it is good enough if you are a native speaker, in others you are expected to have some form of certification (and not a qualification mind you) such as the Cambridge CELTA or Trinity CertTESOL. The point is that there seems to be a misconception out there that teaching English is not rocket science and that anyone who can speak it reasonably well (and by the way, “well” has many definitions depending on the country in which English is taught), can actually teach it. I must say that is an ignorant, even moronic view that accounts for the failure of thousands of students around the world in achieving a reasonable level of fluency in English despite forking out thousands of dollars on English courses and lessons. In my opinion though, students are partially responsible for this mess. Why? Because they share the same belief that they can learn English pretty much from anyone who speaks it fluently. They wind up sitting in a classroom sometimes for more than 1 year learning and re-learning useless grammar rules, playing stupid games or using some lame textbook completely and utterly irrelevant to their lives. Ok. “Nuff” (enough) said.
CLICK HERE TO READ ABOUT WHETHER YOU SHOULD STUDY GRAMMAR
CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT MY RANTING AND VENTING AGAINST PHONEY ESL TEACHERS
Amusing as it is to rant and vent, that is not the aim of this article. I am writing this article to provide an overview of the general types of ESL teachers working in the field. ESL (English as a Second Language) teachers fall into two broad categories, Native speakers of English and non-native speakers of English. Nevertheless, there are several types within each category especially in the native speakers’ category.
Native English Teachers
The They-pay-me-for-speaking-my-language Type
Beware. That is by far the worst kind. They have no respect for the profession; they believe teaching English is an awesome job simply because it requires no effort from THEM. Think about it. Teaching for them is as easy as speaking. These kinds of teachers come to class ill-prepared and most probably do not believe in on-going learning and self-development. Why bother? It’s just speaking right?
The I-know-all-about-grammar-and-academic-English Type
Depending on your goals and objectives (on what you want), this type could be helpful. If you are studying English for Academic purposes, then you need someone to basically teach you the techniques of writing reports, essays and research. This will not make you fluent though as I have seen so many university students who could write reasonably well but still could not express themselves well in English.
The I-enjoy-traveling-and-learning-about-different-cultures Type
Though better than Type 1, these kinds of teachers do not view teaching English as a profession but more as a hobby, a quick and easy way to earn a buck while traveling. They love travel and the only way they can survive overseas is by teaching English. Usually, those teachers can’t go beyond basic grammar and simple conversations spoken in rather a very artificial and unnatural manner known as “classroom English”.
The I-love-teaching-English-to-help-the-students-realize-their-dreams Type (monolingual)
They teach English for the love of English, which is great. They can teach you one thing or two about the language. They have a structured approach to teaching, they have experience, and most importantly passion for teaching and helping their students, so they go the extra mile to see improvement and progress. Unfortunately, their limitation is that they do not truly know what it is like to learn a language as they have only taught it. What this means is that as a learner, you won’t have all your questions answered and you won’t be given practical self-study information and tips. Any clever learner knows that unless you are taught how to study by yourself, you will sooner or later hit a plateau (stop improving), get frustrated with yourself and the language, and then call it quits.
6 TIPS TO TAKE YOUR ENGLISH UP TO THE NEXT LEVEL
The I-love-teaching-English-to-help-the-students-realize-their-dreams Type (bilingual)
This type of teachers is similar to the previous one with one major advantage. The teachers know the process of foreign language learning; they’ve been there and experienced the general difficulties and obstacles that foreign language learners often run into. This means you can gain valuable knowledge from them of how to improve by yourself. Be careful though. Do not assume a teacher is bilingual just because they know how to say a few words in another language. That is not bilingualism, it is a joke.
Non-native English Teachers
The I-love-teaching-English-and-helping-the-students-realize-their-dreams Type (native-like)
If you ever get this type of teachers, you are truly a lucky student. Allow me to draw the following analogy. Native speakers of English are like a tribe of people born and raised at the summit of Mount Everest. They know what it is like to be on top as they have always been there, they are also aware of the living conditions and everything else EXCEPT FOR ONE THING. They do not know how to climb the mountain and reach the peak from the bottom. They have never been at the feet of the mountain. The only people equipped to do that are the ones who have actually done it, Native-like teachers. They know the snags and pitfalls of climbing the mountain. They might have even slipped a couple of times on the way up. Been there, done that. Native-like English teachers are a rare find. Here’s a word of caution though. There are many native-like English teachers who speak like native speakers because they actually migrated to an English speaking country as babies or teenagers, so they never had to LEARN the language, they acquired (just picked it up) it. There is a big difference between learning a language and acquiring it. The teachers who acquired it still do not know and are not aware of the process and therefore, in a sense, are not different from native speakers.
HOW CAN I SPEAK ENGLISH LIKE A NATIVE SPEAKER?
The I-love-English-and-I-love-teaching-it (non native-like)
I feel sorry for these kinds of teachers because they do love English but they simply are not good enough. Very often they still have an accent and have not managed to overcome all the problems and difficulties of learning a foreign language, so as arrogant as this might sound, they should look for another job.
GOOD PRONUNCIATION: INTELLIGIBILITY OR IMPACT?
WHAT ENGLISH ACCENT SHOULD I SPEAK WITH?
Look, I am not claiming that the statements above are facts and I’m certain they can easily be proven wrong as there are exceptions and special cases of, for example, native teachers that are far more brilliant than native-like ones. I wish it was that simple but it is not a black-and-white issue as some people think.
Finally, the views and opinions expressed in this article are mine and mine only.
[polldaddy poll=7667360]
Leave a Reply