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UNIVERSIDAD ANDRÉS BELLO Facultad De Educación

Pedagogía en Inglés

WHAT ACCENT DO THEY PREFER? STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS

TOWARDS NATIVE AND NON-NATIVE TEACHERS

Seminario para optar al título de Profesor de Inglés para la

Enseñanza Básica y Media y al grado académico de Licenciado en

Educación.

Autor:

Stephanie Alejandra Rodríguez Lazcano.

Profesor Guía: Daniela Bascuñán Quezada

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Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has supported me during this intensive period. First, thanks to my parents, Roberto y Wilma who have worked hard to provide me and my sisters a good education. Everything I have is for you. Thanks for supporting me, for your patience and for the eternal love that you express. Thanks to my sisters because you gave me strength when I need it. Thanks Rocío for being my companion during the longest nights of my life and thank you Valentina for brighten my life. Thanks to my uncles and my grandma for being worried about me.

Thanks to my friends Zu, Ferni, Valeria, Pablo, Joselyn, Alejandra and Alexandra for giving me ideas when my brain was almost empty, for those conversations which took me away from my routine and for those moments where you make me feel that I was not alone, that I could count on all of you. Thanks for being part of my life guys! Special thanks to Simone and Gabriel; we all know that this study would not have been possible without you.

Thanks to my supervisor, Miss Daniela Bascuñán, for trusting in me and being an excellent supervisor and teacher. It was a pleasure to work with you. Also I would like to thank my teachers, Mr. Jorge Comte, Miss Paula Charbonneau-Gowdy, Miss Mónica Frenzel and Mr. Héctor Magaña who taught me different things in their own perspective. You were very important for my learning process and I will always be grateful for your teachings.

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Abstract

This qualitative case study is based on the perceptions that three Chilean students from an English teaching program of a private university have about their former and current English teachers (Native and Non-Native). To explore their beliefs, semi-structured interviews were conducted. The research was motivated by a lack of previous studies in the Chilean context, in order to fulfill that existing gap and contribute in that area.

One of the most important concepts to consider are the three concentric circles that Kachru (1992) describes, being Chile located in the expanding circle, where English is considered a foreign language. Additionally, Kim (2012) mentions that the number of English language learners has increased as well as the variety of English accents and the questions about which accent is the best one. Otherwise, Chang & Chang (n.d) mentioned that non-native teachers are seen inferior to native teachers in terms of linguistic competences.

Based on that information, the main objectives of this study are, first, to explore the perceptions that third and fourth year student from an English teaching program of a private university have about their native and non-native teachers and, second, to discover the type of teacher (native or non-native) with which they prefer to learn English as a foreign language.

The main results showed that some participants somehow admire their native teachers and those non-native teachers who have a native-like accent. They also mentioned that they prefer to learn the English language with a native teacher, even though they said that non-native teachers are the ones who have influenced them the most, because they spend more time with those teachers.

Key words: Students, perceptions, preferences, accents, native teacher,

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Resumen

Este estudio de caso cualitativo está basado en las percepciones que tienen tres estudiantes chilenos acerca de sus profesores. Para explorarlas, se realizaron entrevistas semi-estructuradas. El estudio fue inspirado por la falta de estudios previos en el contexto chileno, para así llenar el espacio vacío y contribuir en el área investigación.

Uno de los conceptos más importantes a considerar son los tres círculos concéntricos que Kachru (1992) describe, estando Chile ubicado en el círculo expansivo, donde el inglés es considerado un idioma extranjero. Adicionalmente, Kim (2012) menciona que el número de estudiantes del idioma inglés ha aumentado, junto con las variantes del acento inglés y los cuestionamientos sobre que acento es mejor para aprender el idioma. Por otra parte, Chang y Chang (n.d) mencionan que los profesores no nativos son vistos inferiores a los profesores nativos en cuanto a competencias lingüísticas.

Basados en esta información, los principales objetivos de este estudio fueron conocer las percepciones de estudiantes de tercer y cuarto año de un programa de pedagogía en inglés de una universidad privada acerca de sus profesores nativos, las percepciones de los mismos estudiantes sobre sus profesores no nativos y el tipo de profesor (nativo o no nativo) que ellos prefieren para aprender el inglés como idioma extranjero.

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Los principales resultados muestran que algunos participantes tienen cierta admiración a sus profesores nativos y a sus profesores no nativos que tienen un acento nativo. Ellos también mencionaron que preferían a los profesores nativos para aprender el idioma incluso cuando dijeron que quienes más influyeron en ellos fueron los profesores no nativos., debido a que pasaron más tiempo con ese tipo de profesor.

Palabras clave: Estudiantes, percepciones, preferencias, acento, profesor

nativo, profesor no nativo.

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List of Contents

1. Introduction ... 3

2. Literature Review ... 4

2.1. World Englishes, Kachru’s circles, and English as a Lingua Franca…...4

2.1.1 World Englishes. ... 4

2.1.2 Kachru’s Circles ... 5

2.1.3 English as a Lingua Franca. ... 7

2.2. People’s perceptions about English accents………...7

2.3. Students perceptions of Native and Non-Native Accents and Native and Non-Native teachers………...………10

2.3.1 Perception of the students towards accents. ... 11

2.3.2 Perception on native and non-native teachers. ... 11

3. Research Questions ... 13

4. Methodology ... 14

4. 1. Tradition and Research Approach……….……14

4. 2. Participants and context………...………….14

4.3. Procedures………...15

4.3.1 Participant recruitment and selection. ... 15

4.3.2 Data collection. ... 16

4.3.4 Data analysis. ... 19

4.3.5. Validity of the Study. ... 20

5. Results and Analysis ... 21

5.1. Perceptions about Native Teachers (NT)………...……21

5.1.1. Teaching domain. ... 22

5.1.2. Language issues. ... 25

5.1.3. Teaching problems. ... 29

5.1.4. Language domain... 30

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5.2.1. Promoting the target language. ... 36

5.2.2. Teaching problems. ... 39

5.2.3. Language aspects. ... 41

6. Discussion ... 46

7. Conclusion ... 51

7.1. Limitations and further research………...……..52

7.2 Pedagogical implications………...52

References ... 54

Appendix 1: Ethical Approval Form. ... 57

Appendix 2: Participant information sheet ... 59

Appendix 3: Consent Forms ... 62

Appendix 4: Interview’s Guide ... 68

Appendix 5: Transcription conventions. ... 76

Appendix 6: Transcriptions. ... 78

List of Figures Figure 1: Kachru’s three concentric circles of English ... 6

List of Tables Table 1: Participant’s characteristics ... 15

Table 2: Interviews’ information ... 18

Table 3:Organization of data: Perceptions about native teachers (NT) ... 21

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1. Introduction

The following study is the result of an investigation which left in evidence the lack of research related to the types of teachers that students prefer to learn a foreign language - English in this particular case. One of the main purposes of this enquiry was to fulfill that existing gap and to make a contribution to the Chilean EFL context and instruction. In a country where English is considered a foreign language, it is important to investigate the aspects that students consider important or not about their English teachers should know or the skills that they should manage in order to be reliable for their students. The main objectives are to know the perceptions that three Chilean students have about their former and current English teachers (Native and Non-Native) and also to know what type of teacher they prefer.

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2. Literature Review

This section will be focused on the literature that serves as the basis for the development of this study. It includes important topics for the development of this research which are: World Englishes, Kachru’s Circles and the presentation of English as a lingua Franca. It will also include relevant studies based on English accents perceptions in general terms and students’ perceptions regarding native and non-native English teachers and accents. The aim of including these sections in this research is to present the perspectives that students have around the world and compare the obtained results, since in our country there is a lack of information regarding this relevant topic in English as a Foreign Language (EFL). It is also important to mention that for this research it is important to discover what Chilean students think about native and non-native teachers, as for example their strengths and weaknesses, pointing out which aspects both kinds can contribute to their learning.

2.1. World Englishes, Kachru’s circles, and English as a Lingua Franca.

This subsection aims to explain the different concepts related to the English language in nowadays-world. In this section, three important aspects that are related to the English language are addressed: World Englishes, the well-known Kachru’s circles, and the impact of English as a Lingua Franca in the

world.

2.1.1 World Englishes.

It is important to address the concept of World Englishes when referring to accents of English during the learning process of the language and, mainly, to the students’ perception of a native or non-native English teacher. In order to

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Jenkins (2009), when referring to English language speaking, it is possible to identify three main groups of users:

 English as Native Language (ENL): In this group, it is possible to find people who have been raised and born in countries where the English language is used as a first language, and on a daily basis. e.g. United Kingdom, United States of America, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.

 English as Second Language (ESL): In this group, it can be recognized people from countries that had been primarily colonized by countries where English is the first or native language. e.g. India, Bangladesh, Nigeria, and Singapore.

 English as a Foreign Language (EFL): This is the group of countries (people) in which English serves no major purpose for the country itself. Furthermore, according to Jenkins (2009), the purpose of learning the English language from a historical perspective was that it was learned with the intention of using it with native speakers from U.K. and the U.S.A, but it is not the case anymore. e.g. Chile, Argentina, Peru, and Colombia.

It is important to acknowledge these three groups to realize in which of them this research will be focused on because of the context in which the English language is taught and learned (Chile). Moreover, these groups are highly related to one important concept when talking about World Englishes Kachru’s circles as explained in the following subsection.

2.1.2 Kachru’s Circles

Kachru’s concept of the Three circle model of World Englishes

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functional allocation of English in diverse cultural contexts” (p. 356). These concentric circles are:

The Inner Circle, which is connected to the English as a Native Language

countries as USA and the United Kingdom among others.

The Outer Circle, which is connected to English as a Second Language

countries as India and Jamaica among others.

The Expanding Circle, which is connected to English as a Foreign

Language countries as Japan, China and Chile among others.

Figure 1: Kachru’s three concentric circles of English (1992)

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2.1.3 English as a Lingua Franca.

According to Crystal (2003), the world status of English nowadays represents the result of two main factors: the expansion of the British colonial power, whose climax was reached at the end of the 19th century, and the appearance of the United States as the leading economic power of the 20th century. It can be one factor that can explains the position of the English language through the time. This tells that the fact that the English language is earning the title of Lingua Franca is no more than the power that the language has had since its expansion with the starting British colonies around the world (taking into consideration that all those colonies are now highly developed countries) and the importance and power of one of those past colonies; now the country with the biggest economic power, and probably one of the most powerful country in the world in many international aspects: the U.S.A.

These three concepts previously mentioned play a key role since they help to narrow this research, and help to have a better understanding of what this research is going to be focused on.

2.2. People’s perceptions about English accents.

As it is well known, the English language has acquired a greater importance around the world. For that reason, “an increasing number of L2 learners have begun to study English as a chosen foreign and/or as a second language because of the spread of English as a global language. This spread increased the variety of English accents over the world” (Kim, 2012, p.127) and

in parallel the questions regarding the appropriate accent to learn and speak.

To begin with this section of the literature review, it is necessary to specify the meaning of accent. In general terms, it refers to “a distinctive mode

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nation, locality, or social class” (Oxford Dictionary, n. d). Moreover, according to the focus of this study, accent will be understood as “the quality of a person’s speech that, in the view of language authorities, sets this person apart, as not belonging to mainstream, or not fitting the (idealized) norm” (Arboleda & Castro, 2012, p.48). Even though both definitions are suitable for the following study, the second one is which better describes accent according to the aim of the study.

English accent may be a possible factor that most learners care about when they learn the language. According to McGee (2009) there are still students or learners who think that the predominant and official accents are British and American because they take for granted that native speakers control better tools and methods that will improve their learning. In that sense, it is understandable if learners feel inclined to study and learn one of those English accents. There are some learners who travel to the British Embassy looking for guidance to learn English under the correct accent as McGee (2009) mentions in his research. A study made in China reflects that “when speaking English, the majority of participants, 82 percent, preferred trying to sound like a Native Speaker (NS) whereas 25.3 percent wanted to be clearly identified as Chinese” (He & Miller, 2011, p.435). One possible reason why they prefer native accented English is the same that McGee (2009) explains: better tools and methods to learn the language.

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different first languages. In this sense, a socio-cultural factor may become in one of the main reasons why some students prefer a local accented English teacher. Kim (2012) mentions that English accents of language learners are closely related to their social, cultural and regional identity and the choice of an accent depends on the socio-cultural context.

As it has been pointed out in the mentioned countries, students do not consider the accent as an important tool at the moment of learning a new language. Malaysia is also an example of the dominance of socio-cultural influence. Tokumoto and Shibata (2011) mention that Malaysian students who have been exposed to Malaysian English and the native variety of English – British or American- find confidence in their own variety, reflecting their mother tongue phonological characteristics. Tokumoto and Shibata’s (2011) study was

carried out in students from three different nationalities, Japan, Korea and Malaysia, being the last country the only one that prefers their local accented English. On the contrary, to learn the language, Japanese and Koreans rejected their varieties of English and expressed their preference for native English pronunciation. Particularly, Japanese participants’ disagreement within their local-accented English showed to be the greatest among the rest of the countries in the study (Tokumoto & Shibata, 2011).

It is important to mention that Malaysian learners prefer their local English accents because they commented that “a native accent would not necessarily be intelligible to every English speaker, and others mentioned that they did not need to have a native-like accent because they were not NSs of English”

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Shibata (2011) for that ideology in Japan is clear: Japanese students consider that American andBritish accents give them more status.

Some studies made in the United Kingdom try to explain the preferences regarding accents. Coupland and Bishop (2007) mention that gender, age, language ideologies and prestige among other items can influence learners’ preferences of language. Another study analyzed the accent perceptions of a group of 37 English language learners and 10 undergraduate students from different nationalities. The conclusions indicated that “learners' accent preferences were associated with ease of understanding and speed, reflecting the importance of listening comprehension in learning English” (Scales,

Wennerstrom, Richard & Hui Wu, 2006, p. 731). These are some aspects to consider in the development of this study.

To conclude this section, it can be said that the main reason why students decide to learn English in a native or non-native accent is related to the socio-cultural context of their country but to widen these findings, it is necessary to study the reality in Chile and see if there are similar opinions regarding accents or if Chilean students have a different perspective. It is also necessary to study the influence that English speaking countries have over our country and what factors can help students to decide which accent they want to learn and speak.

2.3. Students perceptions of Native and Non-Native Accents and Native

and Non-Native teachers.

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between Native and Non-native speakers. Non-native speaker is understood as somebody who learned a language during childhood or adulthood, while a native speaker learned a determined language as baby, mostly of the time acquiring it as mother tongue (Cambridge Dictionary, n.d.).

2.3.1 Perception of the students towards accents.

The perceptions that students have towards the accent employed during their English lessons generates a substantial impact on their learning since this can affect the way in which students may develop their spoken skills. According to Arboleda & Castro (2012) “there are cases of people who have less than perfect pronunciation of a second language, but they are still highly proficient in other areas of it" (p.48). In this way, it is suggested that there are some people who do not manage perfect pronunciation, nevertheless, they perform better at some other areas. For example, in the case of teachers, if they manage the language well and have good classroom management, they are professional teachers, something that is fundamental for the learners. For some students, there are also preferences towards which accent is the most accurate to learn. According to Pilus (2013) the British accent was considered familiar and easy to learn, pronounce and comprehend. In the results of this research, it is shown that British accent is chosen by the participants because they believe it is a good model to learn the language.

2.3.2 Perception on native and non-native teachers.

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that students may make (Llurda & Moussu, 2008). According to Chang & Chang (n.d) native speakers are thought to use the language in an accurate way, since they know the grammar and vocabulary, dominating the rules and forms. That is the reason why in some countries people believe that the best option is to have a NST.

It is possible to say that depending on the context, the impression that a teacher (NST or NNST) gives is a crucial factor due to the fact that their skills may be meaningful for the students or not. Additionally, the relationship that students and teachers build plays an important role in learning. Students could create a better rapport with NNST because they perceive teachers in equal conditions; therefore, students see that obtaining an accent is not that difficult as they believe (Liang, 2002). As the number of NNST has been growing, it is important to pay attention in which aspects they can contribute or not, since students perceive that the accent and the language employed during the lessons may affect the way in which they learn the new language (Llurda & Moussu, 2008).

There also exist prejudices from the school communities towards NNST. According to Chang & Chang (n.d.), “there exists an NEST ideology in […] high schools, since the respondents perceive NESTs have better language abilities, because English is their mother tongue. It can be argued that NNESTs are viewed inferior to NESTs in terms of linguistic competences” (p.53). Even though NESTs can be seen as inferior, they can develop some other skills being more aware of the current mistakes that their students can make.

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within the process of learning. If the teacher is closer to the student, the second one will perform better since the teacher acts as a model to learn the language.

To conclude with these related sections, it is fundamental to know what students may think about their teachers, whether they are native or not. Having these opinions as back up, both kinds of teachers can see their weaknesses and strengths, taking them into consideration in order to improve some aspects that could benefit the learners.

3. Research Questions

After the investigation for the literature review, the following research questions emerged:

1. What are the perceptions of third and fourth year students of an English Teaching Program at a Chilean private university about their Native English Teachers?

2. What are the perceptions of third year and fourth students of an English Teaching Program at a Chilean private university about their Non-native English Teachers?

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4. Methodology

In this section, the methodological procedures of the study will be explained in detail. This part is also going to describe the decision of conducting a qualitative research and the reasons why I decided to work in a case study. I will mention the participants involved in the study and their contexts. Additionally, I will include the methodological steps that will help to understand how the necessary data was collected and analyzed, including the emergent codes and the validity of my study.

4. 1. Tradition and Research Approach.

For the study that I conducted and the results that I wanted to reach, I considered that the most suitable approach was qualitative since its broad aim is to understand better some aspects of people within the lived world (Richards, 2003). In that sense, I wanted to study my participants’ experiences in detail, focusing on their perceptions and preferences about a specific type of teacher.

As it was mentioned in the introduction to this chapter, I decided to do a

Case Study. Creswell (2003) explains that, through a case study, the

“researcher explores in depth a program, an event, an activity, a process of one or more individuals” (p.15). I considered that this is the suitable tradition to follow, as I was studying an ideology surrounding accents and three students’

perceptions about it. Once this valuable information was explained, I can start the description of my participants and the following steps in the research.

4. 2. Participants and context.

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program at different ages. This group of students has plenty of experience regarding native and non-native teachers at university since they have had both kinds of teachers in the subject “English Language” throughout their years in the program. Table 1 summarizes the participants’ characteristics. Their names were changed to protect their identities.

Table 1

Participants’ Characteristics

Participants Age Gender University year

Karina 21 female 3

Florencia 25 female 3

Marcela 21 female 4

As it was mentioned before, studies regarding this issue were not found in the Chilean context, for that reason, I decided to conduct the research in a Chilean context and in that way, to fill the existing gap in terms of information.

4.3. Procedures.

This subsection will mention and explain the main procedures of the research as the participants, data collection, the process of transcribing and the validity.

4.3.1 Participant recruitment and selection.

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and Non-native teachers, I decided that the best option was to choose participants that have had classes with both of them because I could contrast and compare the information obtained from them. After I obtained the approval from my supervisor (See appendix1) I asked for participants with those characteristics without taking into consideration their ages or sex. I met some of them and I asked by mail if they were able to attend to a meeting with me in the same university. After they answered, I created the Participants Information Sheet (See appendix 2) to inform them about the purpose of my study, and the Consent Form (See appendix 3) to ask formally for their permission to be part of the research and the authorization to use the data that they could provide. The documents were written in English, because the participant quite know and understand the English language as they are part of the English teaching program. Finally, I arranged a meeting individually with each participant, in which I gave them the two documents previously mentioned and they signed the Consent Form to start the study. We also came in an agreement regarding the two meetings for the interviews.

4.3.2 Data collection.

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conduct the interviews in a natural way, without pushing the participant to answer something that he or she does not want to say.

The interviews consisted of two sessions with 15 and 14 questions respectively, having a total of 6 interviews (See appendix 4). I decided to arrange two sessions because in one of them I investigated only about students perceptions on native teachers and in the other one about non-native teachers. In that way, we can focus the interview on one topic and get enough information about it. The first session took between fourteen and twenty-three minutes while the second one took between fourteen and twenty-five minutes (See table 2). These interviews were carried in their mother tongue because participants may feel more comfortable talking in Spanish in this case (Rossman & Rallis, 2012). As participants felt comfortable, I could obtain more developed and complete answers from them. At the beginning of each interview I mentioned the participants the aim of the session. In that way, the students knew the focus of our interview.

After giving the information about the interview, I used some introductory questions because, as Dörnyei (2007) states, they are important as “they set the tone and create initial rapport” (p. 137). The introductory questions were followed by the content questions, which according to Patton (2002), I can ask any of the main types of questions which can be related to knowledge, feelings, specific information, participant’s experiences, and background. Dörnyei (2007) also mentioned the probes, which could also help me to conduct satisfactorily the interviews. Finally, the closing questions -mentioned by the same author- were also necessary because “several scholars have noted in the literature the richness that simple closing questions can yield” (p.138).

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During the first session, the participants spoke about their previous experiences at school, in the case they had native teachers there and university and their perceptions on native teachers while during the second one, they only focused on their perceptions on non-native teachers. I decided to conduct the interviews on this way because it is easier to focus on the needed information (depending on Native or Non-native teachers) and Karina, Florencia and Marcela had enough time to provide enough useful information to respond to the questions. Moreover, I recorded the interview with two smartphones to have a complete backup to analyze and check the interview every time I needed. Table 2 gives the most important details of each interview.

Table 2

Interviews’ Information

Participants N°

Session

Time (min) Type of interview

Karina 1

2

20:13 25:20

Skype

Florencia 1

2

14:29 14:36

Face to face

Marcela 1

2

23:27 20:37

Face to face

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4.3.3. Transcription.

After the interviews were made, I started the process of transcribing the interviews to analyze them in depth (See appendix 6). To transcribe the data, I followed conventions (See appendix 5). The transcription is important to continue with the following step in the research process: the analysis of data.

4.3.4 Data analysis.

To introduce this subsection, it is important to know what analyzing data means. According to Denscombe (2010), “the main aim of the data analysis is to describe its constituent element to explain how it works and to interpret what it means” (p. 235). Without knowing well these aims, probably the analysis would not succeed.

To start with the analysis of the data, I read the respective transcripts to find the main emergent codes of the research. By code we understand that is “a word or short phrase that symbolically assigns a summative, salient, essence-capturing and/or evocative attribute for a portion of language-based or visual data” (Saldaña, 2009, p.3). In other words, the main codes are the concepts

that synthesize some specific ideas.

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Once the categorization was ready, I connected the data acquired. At this point, I could contrast and see some similarities and differences in the information given by my participants. Finally, after a long analysis of data, I could come up with the first interpretations. The idea was not to rely on the first impression and not to ignore information because those actions could drive the study under my perceptions instead of my participants’ perceptions. Therefore, all the collected data was read and studied three times.

After the analysis of data was done, I could give a step to the last but not less important section of the methodology: The validity of my research.

4.3.5. Validity of the Study.

As I was the only researcher and I needed to give validity to my study, I considered important to use a procedure called Member Checking. In this procedure, as Creswell and Miller (2000) explained, after I come up with my interpretations, I showed them to the participants. In that way, they could corroborate the data and helped me to confirm the validity and credibility of the study. I consider that this viability procedure was the most suitable to give credibility to my research.

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5. Results and Analysis

In this section, the results and the analysis of the interviews will be explained as well as the codes and themes obtained. The section consists of the presentation and analysis of the perceptions of the three participants (Karina, Florencia and Marcela) about their Native Teachers (NT) and Non Native Teachers (NNT) at their university, through specific quotes and their respective explanations. As explained in the previous chapter, after I read the transcriptions of the interviews, I came up with the main codes and themes.

5.1. Perceptions about Native Teachers (NT).

This subsection is only focused on the results and analysis of the perceptions about NT. In that way, it was easier to observe the difference between both types of teachers and the results. To start, table 3 summarizes the main codes and themes obtained from the interviews.

Table 3

Organization of data: Perceptions about native teachers (NT)

Participant Codes Themes

Karina -Mutual learning

-Not focused on mistakes -Innovative methodology

Teaching domain

Florencia -Foreign influence -Close mindedness -Lack of grammatical knowledge

-Weak teaching training

Language issues

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Marcela -Accurate pronunciation -Authentic language -Miscommunication -Close mindedness

Language domain

Language issues

5.1.1. Teaching domain.

Teacher domain was one of the main themes that I could get from the data I acquired from the interviews. This theme emerged from Karina’s

interview. It seemed that for her, teaching domain is one of the most important characteristics that a NT can have.

a) Mutual learning.

Sometimes communication between a learner or student and a teacher from different nationalities can be a little bit difficult, especially when they do not share the same mother tongue or the same culture. Karina exposed that situation.

Nos pasó una vez con Miss XX que no entendió algo que de un tema del que estábamos hablando, pero era por un tema muy cultural como las elecciones presidenciales y eso pero creo que tampoco afecta. Al contrario, porque eso es un intercambio de cultura y de hecho la profesora nos hacía saber cuándo escribíamos de algo relacionado con nuestra cultura porque ella aprendía también (125-130).

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cultural interchange; in fact, the teacher let us know when we wrote something related to our culture because she learnt too].

Misunderstanding of topics can also be a good instance to learn one from another. In other words, it can be a learning tool and that situation can only occur under a NT class as Karina let it know in the interview. In this case, the teacher and the student could interchange information about their cultures and that can be taken as a positive aspect about having a NT language teacher even when Karina was asked about a negative aspect of having a NT. She could turn the situation into a positive situation, as well as some teachers do in those cases. Even though the topic worked as a learning tool, it will be seen that it does not always work in the same way.

b) Not focused on mistakes.

Similarly to the previous topic, mistakes made by students can be also a tool to teach instead of only correcting and giving feedback to students. Karina pointed out that situation as can be read in the following quote.

Da lo mismo si se equivocan, pero que estén participando ehh y les va a dar lo mismo si es que se equivocan obviamente siempre y cuando el profe emm entienda que esos errores son propios de cómo de ese proceso, cachai? y creo que eso lo hicieron saber ellos porque más allá que una nota o “entregame el trabajo a tiempo” era como hazlo y aprende haciéndolo cachai que más allá del contenido al final termina siendo la metodología (139 – 145).

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mark or “hand in the task on time”, it was as do it and learn while working on it, do you understand? Beyond a mark what really matters is the methodology].

This aspect is interesting because Karina pointed out that some NTs do not really care about the students mistakes, while they learn from them. She also involves her classmates while talking and it reflects that the teacher’s attitude is

the same with all the students and not only with Karina. It seems that the methodology used by the teacher influences Karina in a positive way, because this answer was given when she was asked about positive characteristics of her native teachers. “Learn while working on it” seems as a good way to teach some

contents and as it can be seen, it worked on Karina.

c) Innovative methodology.

Teachers not always use the same methodologies or have the same skills than their colleagues. In this subsection, Karina’s perceptions about her

NTs will be explained and also how she could realize that NTs can contribute in a positive way in their learning process.

Profes con otras culturas igual nos hace darnos cuenta a veces como de de la falta que nos hacen incluir otros otras metodologías y no seguir la tradicional siempre como el memoria o todo a tiempo todo disciplina, no, no es necesario si los alumnos participan y aprenden y creo que eso es una característica de ellos o de sus países, así como que le dan otra vista o perspectiva como a la educación (164 – 169).

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them or their country to give another point of view or perspective to education].

Karina clearly notices a difference between NTs and NNTs’ methodologies. It is necessary to consider that methodologies used to teach are very important. According to what she mentioned, I can realize that our actual system is totally different to the system implemented by NTs. It is also important to point out that in Chile, students learn how to speak a new language and also how to teach. Karina said “nos hace darnos cuenta” (164) [make us realize],

reflecting that possibly she shares the same opinion with more classmates who have had classes with the same teacher.

5.1.2. Language issues.

The second theme that emerged from the interviews was language issues, which appeared from Florencia and Marcela’s interviews. They were more interested in mentioning the accent used by the NT and the language in general.

a) Foreign influence.

As in all cultures, Chilean society has especial expressions and phrases that make it unique and distinct from others. Florencia pointed this topic out through the following quote.

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[We felt too influenced by her writing style, to the Canadian aspects that she had because there were a lot of things she disagreed with, there were too- she said “no, this is too North American but if you want to go to Canada, you must say it in that way”].

The first observation is that as well as Karina, Florencia also used first person plural to speak. So that, I can assume that she also share opinions with her classmates. The second observation is that foreign influence is observed in the language classes. Some expressions present in Chile are not used in Canada or United States for example so, those cannot be translated literally. That means that students should learn the correct use of expressions and idioms. Also, some NTs encourage students to use the correct expressions as Florencia expressed: “nosotros estábamos acostumbrados pero ella no, entonces nos cambió un poco la percepción” [we were used to it but she does not so, she changed a little bit our perception]. In that sense, students are forced to learn an expression used in countries where language is the native language which they think it is a positive aspect because they are familiarized with foreign expressions. However, it can also be seen as a negative aspect because as Florencia said some teachers change the perceptions of some things that they learnt previously with another teacher.

b) Miscommunication.

When students learn a new language with a NT there are some problems that may appear, for example the lack of understanding mentioned by Marcela in the first session.

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En cambio un profesor que no habla español no te puede ayudar en eso (186 – 189).

[When someone is learning, sometimes he or she needs some help in Spanish, for instance if a teacher sees that you are not understanding what he or she is telling, he or she can say it in Spanish, he/she should. However, a teacher who does not speak Spanish cannot help you in that sense].

When you have a NNT it is easy to communicate because the teacher and the student use the same intonation, expressions, similar accent among other things. If there is a misunderstanding, they can easily change the language and the concerns will be solved. The student and the teacher can use the second language most of the time and the mother tongue as a resource when the learning process turns difficult. Marcela tackled a very good aspect to think about when people teach and teach a new language.

c) Close mindedness.

This topic is complex because it only depends on the teacher’s mentality.

Florencia and Marcela tackled this subject. On the one hand, Florencia expressed the following.

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[We go in a way and suddenly a British teacher arrives with his/her writing style which has completely different words from American accent and it makes confusion. Then, a Canadian teacher arrives with her idioms and snatches us the teaching given by the British teacher and in that way it can be seen a little rivalry].

Some students as in Florencia’s case get confused when somebody

starts teaching them under a different accent, methodology or even a different language. The situation may become more difficult if there exist a disagreement among teachers and they impose their way of thinking as it was mentioned by Florencia. In this case, the participant assumed that could have existed a rivalry between the NTs, but there are not proves to back up the information given. Marcela also lived an uncomfortable situation with her NT.

Ya eh, él mismo el acento igual. Recuerdo que una de los profesores profesoras que tuve que eran de Inglaterra eh nos decían que había que hablar el inglés real, que era obviamente el inglés británico. Decían decía “usted puede hablar el idioma inglés americano o el inglés real” (161 – 164).

[Ok, the accent. I remember that one of the teachers that I had and was from England told as that we should speak the real English language, which obviously was the British English language. She said “you can speak American English language or the real English language”].

In both situations, the teachers imposed their points of views and left a little chance for students to choose the accent they would like to learn. The last part of the quote, “usted puede hablar el idioma inglés americano o el inglés real” [“you can speak American English language or the real English language”]

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interesting to investigate the perceptions that Native English speakers have about their accent to understand the position of Marcela’s teacher.

5.1.3. Teaching problems.

Sometimes, having a NT looks as a good opportunity to learn correctly the new language, however, the circumstances can show a different reality. a set of positive aspects about having a NT has been shown. Now, the teaching problems will be explained according to the participants’ perceptions.

a) Lack of grammatical knowledge.

People usually think that a NT is a perfect type of teacher but as it was mentioned before; sometimes there are things that they cannot manage. Florencia mentioned it and provided an insightful observation.

Quizás el tema de entendimiento como digamos en cómo las clases gramaticales cosas así. Quizás es distinto porque ellos no quizás no saben bien cómo explicar su idioma porque es algo que tienen incorporados desde que nacieron, no es algo que hayan ido adquiriendo entonces ellos no saben cómo lo adquirieron entonces es complicado para ellos explicarlo (102 – 106).

[Maybe the concept of understanding like let's say like grammar classes, something like that. Maybe it is different because they do not know how to explain well their language because they have it incorporated since they were born, it is not something that they have been acquiring so, they do not know how they acquired it and it is difficult for them to explain it].

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grammar focused, students may feel a gap in their learning process and, at the same time, they can feel that their English teachers are not prepared to teach some specific concepts.

b) Weak teaching training

This concept is closely related to the previous one. The difference is that this topic is only focused on teaching methodologies and not only on contents. Florencia expressed the following words.

Por otro lado quizás el hecho de que no, de que ellos no hayan adquirido el idioma de segunda como segunda lengua eh les complica también para enseñarlo (181 – 183).

[On the other hand, the fact that they had not acquired the language as a second language, it is difficult for them to teach it].

Probably, native teachers do not have patterns to teach something that they have acquired, so it could be a challenge. Otherwise, teachers also get prepared precisely to teach things they do not manage. They are not supposed to be hired just because they are natives. To the previous quote, Florencia added the following utterance: “a diferencia de nuestros profesores que son chilenos y tienen- ya adquirieron el lenguaje” (99 – 100) [Unlike our Chilean teachers who have acquired the language]. That quote expresses that as Chilean teachers learn the language through methodologies and professional training; they would know how to teach the English language in a better way.

5.1.4. Language domain.

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a) Accurate pronunciation.

A second aspect mentioned when talking about native teachers is pronunciation. Florencia clearly expressed her opinion about NT pronunciation and intonation.

Ellos han- tienen una percepción en general del del idioma completamente distinta a nosotros emm, la manera en que se expresan su entonación más que nada eso. Yo creo que su manera de ver el idioma desde el otro lado y su entonación al sus tonos eh cuando hablan que es mucho más natural que los profesores que no son nativos (122 – 126).

[They have a general perception of the language completely different from ours, the way in which they expressed their intonation. I think that their way to see the language from other side and their intonation, the tone when speaking is more natural than NNTs].

An aspect that Florencia mentioned and repeated constantly is the naturalness in which NTs speak. She also mentioned that NTs tones are more natural than NNTs. Thus, a person that manages a language may sound more natural than a person who is just acquiring the language. Naturalness to speak only involves the place where the teacher comes from. Florencia also mentioned something that most people think.

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[Yes, I think that definitely the fact of having a more marked accent gives you more opportunities mainly because it makes you feel more confident].

Florencia’s opinion about the accent exposes a fact to consider at the moment of teaching a new language. As Florencia, there could be more students that think the same as her about accents. Marcela also developed ideas about accents. When she was asked about NTs and NNTs’ abilities she

answered the following.

Su pronunciación es súper eh natural eh piensan en el idioma todo el tiempo, por ejemplo yo igual hablo inglés pero no estoy todo el día pensando en inglés (176 – 178).

[Their pronunciation is super natural, they think in the language all the time, for example I also speak English but I am not thinking all the day in English].

As Marcela explained, native people from any country use to think in the native language. For her, native English teachers sound natural at the moment of speaking because they think in their native language as well as she thinks in Spanish.

b) Authentic Language.

To have a NT inside the classroom can be very fruitful as Marcela mentions in this quote.

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para mí es lo más importante poder comunicarte entonces estas metodologías que ofrecen los profesores nos ayudaron a a ser más fluidos (220 – 225).

[I think that the methodology that these teachers used helped me to develop the speaking skills because as I just said, all this thing about the traditional teaching does not allow you to develop speaking skill because for me the most important thing is to communicate so, the methodologies that NTs offer helped us to be fluent].

As Marcela pointed out, several people consider communication more important than speaking the language accurately. As it was mentioned before, some NTs think similarly to Marcela, so instead of teaching other aspects of the English language, they focus their attention on productive skills. Karina also mentioned this topic at the beginning of this chapter.

The NTs communicative skills help to have an uninterrupted communication as Marcela explained in her interview.

Lo que yo siempre recuerdo de mis profesores nativos y lo que más me gusta de tener profesores nativos es que es que saben todo o sea a ver cómo explicártelo? es como más real el la comunicación que uno tiene con ellos en el sentido de autenticidad, por ejemplo de repente cuando uno ve películas en en inglés eh hay hay hay cosas que uno no entiende no son de repente palabras si no que son oraciones son expresiones (141 – 146).

[What I always remember and what I really like about having NT is that they know everything, I mean… how can I explain it? Communication with

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we watch movies in English, there are things that someone does not understand, and they are not words but sentences or expressions].

That type of communication can also help students to get the meaning of some concepts or ideas that they did not really understand, even the same idioms mentioned previously in this chapter. At this point, there is a difference between the perceptions of Florencia and Marcela about this concept. For Marcela, authenticity to express ideas seems to be an important factor about a NT.

In addition, having a natural language is also a topic to consider when talking about a NT. Marcela expressed the following idea when she was asked about a positive aspect that NTs have.

Te aparecen expresiones que que se dicen en cierta parte del mundo entonces por ejemplo eso me gustó mucho de haber tenido una profesora nativa, de que le puedo preguntar cosas que no podía averiguar en otra parte. También obviamente la cultura que traen a nosotros es sorprendente (150 – 153).

[ expressions used in some parts of the world appear so, for example that was why I really liked to have a native teacher, I can ask things which I cannot find out anywhere. Also, the culture that they bring to us is amazing].

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can be a tool for the learning process. Her expression “me gustó mucho” [I really liked...] (51) shows a clear preference about this type of teacher.

These were the main topics that emerged from the interviews about native teachers. In the next subsection, the perceptions about Non Native Teachers (NNTs) are analyzed and explained.

5.2. Perceptions on Non Native Teachers (NNTs).

In this subsection, NNTs are the main focus of Karina’s, Florencia’s and Marcela’s opinions. As in the previous subsection, table 4 represents the main codes and themes obtained from the interviews.

Table 4

Organization of data: Perceptions about Non Native Teachers (NNTs)

Participant Codes Themes

Karina -Spanish forbidden

-Communication over pronunciation

-Teacher focused class -Diverse level of English

Promoting the target language

Teaching problems

Florencia -Error fossilization -Lack of grammatical knowledge

-Mother tongue as a resource

-Inaccurate pronunciation

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Marcela -Inaccurate use of vocabulary

-Promoting oral skills -Communication over pronunciation

Promoting the target language

5.2.1. Promoting the target language.

In Chile, English language is not considered a second language but a foreign language. As that is the reality, NNTs try to create an environment where students can talk and learn the language.

a) Spanish forbidden.

Most of the teachers state their own rules at the moment of teaching. The three participants mentioned in their interviews that their NNTs never speak Spanish in the class unless it is extremely needed. Karina said the following.

He hablado con otras personas que muchos profesores tuvieron que recurrir no sólo a una clase, a varias clases en la universidad a hablar español y acá no, para nada yo creo que tú también estás de testigo que no ni en el pasillo. Que se nos hace raro incluso escuchar el acento español de un profe porque nunca no es costumbre (165 – 169).

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Teachers use the English language as much as they can. In that way, they create an English environment which can be helpful for the students, considering that students as Karina are learning a foreign language in their native country.

b) Communication over pronunciation.

Communication seemed to be an important factor for some students. Karina tackled that topic when she was asked about her preferences regarding her NNTs. The following quote shows her answer.

Que pudiera entenderse sin importar el acento. emm noo tener un acento cualquiera no creo que te, te posicione en ningún nivel más alto ni más bajo siempre obviamente la idea es que se entienda (159 – 161).

[That he or she could be understood. It does not matter the accent. I do not think that having an accent could put you in a higher or lower level. Obviously the idea is to be understood].

Communication plays an important role at least for Karina in the learning process. In some situations, pronunciation may have a secondary role according to the students’ needs. When I asked the same question to Marcela, she

answered the following.

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[I think it is that he or she could be understood without considering the accent (...) that is the most important aspect for me, that a teacher helps me to understand him or her I mean that he or she can be understood instead of having an accent or imitate a specific accent].

As well as Karina’s opinion, she expresses that for her it is more important communication. For both students an accent is not required to learn English with a NNT. The aspect that influenced the most on their learning process is production.

c) Promoting oral skills.

Oral skills seemed to be a very important factor when students analyze their teachers’ performance in the classroom and when they teach a foreign language. Marcela gave complete information about her perception on NNTs oral skills.

Yo encuentro que los profesores de acá obviamente no todos pero la mayoría tienen súper bueno su acentos son súper buenos su inglés también su fluidez me gustan bastante son muchos aspectos positivos ósea, eh te hablan de partida te hablan inglés todo el tiempo de hecho el inglés está súper prohibido eh acá en la sala de clases, perdón el español eh el español está súper prohibido en en la sala de clases te escuchan hablando español obviamente te dicen “hable inglés” eh

siempre te eh motivan a a hablar inglés están todo el tiempo preguntando cosas (53 – 62).

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“speak in English”. They always motivate students to speak in English and asking you different things].

As it can be seen, Marcela has very good perceptions about her teacher's oral skills. She considers that the methodology used and the level of her NNTs are good. Otherwise, she would have mentioned it as a negative aspect. It seems that the teachers create an English environment for students to learn in a better way the foreign language.

5.2.2. Teaching problems.

As well as NTs, NNTs also have some problems regarding teaching and methodologies but also some positive aspects.

a) Teacher focused class.

The manner in which a class is developed is a factor to consider when analyzing a teacher. Karina was the person who mentioned this observation in her interview.

Me ha pasado que hay clases muy centradas como profesor profesor, profesor en todo momento y creo que por lo menos con los profes no nativos y con- si creo que con todos los profes nativos la base era como la participación, pero también es una característica que tienen otros profesores que no son nativos (186 – 189).

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As she mentioned, there are some NNTs who only focus the class on themselves and students notice the difference with their NT who prefer to make students to produce and participate. It would have been good to know if there is a pattern that NNTs may follow to develop their classes in that way and to contrast them with NTs.

b) Diverse level of English.

Pronunciation is one of the most important components that can be found in any language. That component may allow a person to be understood or not. Marcela has some observations about some of her NNTs’ pronunciation.

Hay algunos profesores que eh encuentro que eh que su acento es demasiado malo y también su inglés, no solo su acento porque acento no lo es todo como dije anteriormente sino que su inglés es muy malo muy malo (69 – 71).

[There are some teachers whose accent is really bad and also their English not only their accent because the accent is not everything as I said previously but their English is truly bad].

In this case, Marcela was very honest and show her discontent regarding the vocabulary management that some teachers have. As mentioned before, vocabulary is a key component of communication. If vocabulary fails, then communication fails too. NNTs should be aware of the vocabulary he/she as and if it is poor, they should try to expand it. However she mentioned that NNTs in general have a good pronunciation and accent.

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acento americano hablan súper rápido de repente cuesta un poco seguirles pero no porque ellos hablen mal si no porque obviamente es un acento más rápido que al que no estamos acostumbrados, los que tienen acento británico también encuentro que son súper buenos está bien imitado (86 – 92).

[I like a lot sincerely, there are, well, obviously we have more non-native than native teachers and I have never had problems understanding English. Obviously there are some NNT that are closer to American English, they speak fast and sometimes it is difficult to follow them but not because they speak badly but it is a quick accent to which we are not used to, I consider that those who speak British English speak well too, it is well imitated].

There are some NNTs that imitate accents and as far as it can be analyzed, it works. Previously, Marcela said that the most important thing for her was communication so; I think she is being really objective by giving that opinion about accents. She only refers to accents and pronunciation, for that reason I assume that she is not interested in following a specific accent and she is not worried about her teachers’ accents.

5.2.3. Language aspects.

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a) Error fossilization.

Most of the teaching problems a teacher may have will affect directly the student or learner. Florencia highlighted that topic when talking about negative aspects about her NNTs.

Yo creo que como cualquier profesor, de repente los errores que podían cometer eh algún concepto en la escritura de alguna palabra que son errores que al final se nos fosilizan a nosotros como estudiantes y que en el futuro nos pueden afectar cuando queramos seguir alguna carrera relacionada con el idioma y que eso quedamos con la percepción de ese profesor y que quizás en algún momento comete algún error y nosotros quedamos con ese mistake (19 – 24).

[I think as any teacher, sometimes the mistakes they can make any concepts, the spelling of a word are mistakes that in the end fossilize us as students and in the future can affect us if we want to continue studying something related to the English language and we stay with the perception of that teacher that in a moment can do an error and we keep that mistake].

Teachers’ errors and mistakes are crucial when it comes to teaching. Students trust in their teacher and as Florencia said, students will learn the mistake as if it is correct. It can be observed again that Florencia is not talking only for her, she speaks in plural, letting know that there are more people who think like her.

b) Lack of grammatical knowledge.

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this important fact that makes the process of teaching and learning a bit confusing for teachers and students.

Quizás información que ellos puedan haber aprendido em demasiado traducido y que al final los profesores nativos después nos reprochan de que no son justamente expresiones que se puedan usar realmente en un contexto de un país nativo de habla inglesa, sino que son cosas que son muy traducidas y no son como acordes a cosas reales (52 – 56).

[Maybe information that they could have learnt literally translated and at the end Native Teachers reproach us that precisely those are not expressions that can be used in a native English speaking country context but they are translated things and are not according to real things].

At the beginning, “they” refers to NNT. It can be observed that Florencia really cares about the mistakes teachers can make. As seen in the previous subsection, NTs are a little closed minded in terms of expressions and idioms. Students may have more than one confusion or problem by the difference in teaching and grammar. Florencia also mentioned the way in which some of her teachers could have learnt the language. She states that maybe they did not learnt the language in a good manner and that may be the reason why they do certain number of errors which later can be criticized by a native speaker of the English language.

c) Mother tongue as a resource.

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Yo creo que em no la influencia ha sido bastante positiva porque con ellos podemos desarrollar no solamente un una relación profesor alumno sino que algo más, quizás una amistad, o poder también comunicarnos en nuestro idioma que al parecer el español es mucho más fácil de comunicarse de manera afectiva (102 – 106).

[I think influence has been quite positive because with them we can develop not only a relationship of teacher - students, but also a friendship or even we can talk in our native language. It seems that it is easier to communicate effectively in Spanish].

For Florencia it is easier to communicate with her NNTs because they share the same native language. At the same time, she is learning a foreign language and she should manage some vocabulary to communicate in the same way with her NTs. I could observe that she felt more comfortable with her NNTs rather than her NTs because they share the same native language. She may feel insecure when talking to a NT but it could be a good element to research in the future.

d) Inaccurate use of vocabulary.

Use of vocabulary also appeared as fact which students consider when they are asked about their NNTs. In this case, Marcela did not have a good opinion about the vocabulary that her teachers manage.

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[I know it can sound mean coming from a student but that is the reality and I know that there are students that have better level of English than some teachers. I am not mentioning them but there are teachers that have poor English vocabulary].

Marcela firmly criticized the lack of vocabulary that some teacher have at the moment of teaching and it seems that for Marcela it is important that an English teacher manages vocabulary in a high level. It is important to highlight that teachers should be well prepared to teach others. Otherwise, roles could be seen reversed. Marcela also mentioned that some of her classmates manage English vocabulary better that some teachers and at the moment of telling that, she infer that situation cannot happen.

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6. Discussion

This section will be focused on the discussion of the results obtained from my participants’ interviews. In general, the three participants had very similar ideas and opinions about both NTs and NNTs as well as they had some differences.

Regarding the first research question, which refers to students’ perceptions about Native teachers, Karina, Florencia and Marcela agreed that communication can be affected by the differences in terms of language because, sometimes, students do not know some expressions or specific words and immediately turn to Spanish. Particularly,, Karina could see beyond the boundaries and take advantage of the situations by explaining that, for her, those moments became an instance of cultural exchanges and mutual learning between the teacher and the students because, as she mentioned, some NTs also learn from students for instance about the Chilean culture and some words in Spanish, at least those who did not speak the language. She seemed convinced of what she was saying so, it means that effectively this aspect influenced positively in her learning process.

Another aspect that emerged was the way in which some NTs teach the English language. Karina mentioned that NT focus on production instead of grammar structures. In this case, she represents a group of students that prefers to learn how to successfully communicate and produce the language instead of memorizing grammar rules and structures, as some of her NTs did. For Karina, this methodology was the correct one and maybe she represents a huge number of students that think similarly to her. However, in Florencia’s

Figure

Figure 1: Kachru’s three concentric circles of English (1992)

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