Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers in the English Teaching Profession
In the field of English language teaching (ELT), a growing number of teachers are not native speakers of English. Some learned English as children; others learned it as adults. Some learned it prior to coming to the United States; others learned it after their arrival. Some studied English in formal academic settings; others learned it through informal immersion after arriving in this country. Some speak British, Australian, Indian, or other varieties of English; others speak Standard American English. For some, English is their third or fourth language; for others, it is the only language other than their mother tongue that they have learned. The strengths of these individuals as ESL teachers are still somewhat unknown and are often underestimated by their colleagues and students. This digest describes the contributions that these educators make to the ELT field, some of the challenges they face as teaching professionals, and ways in which these challenges are being addressed. ...