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Is a native english speaker a better teacher?

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Is a native english speaker a better teacher?
A native speaker is a person who has spoken the language from the earliest childhood. It other words, It is known as ‘Mother Tongue’. Is it true that a native English speaker makes a better English teacher? The answer is no. Not all native English speakers make a better teacher.
Being an English teacher, you must not only know how to speak in English, but to know how to teach. According to Justin Murray, the most important characteristic of being any teacher is to know how to teach to the level of their student, to be passionate about it and willing to put efforts in to preparing a good class.
English doesn’t have to be your first language to be able to be a better English teacher as long as you are able to speak fluently. Not all native English speakers are good at their grammars, or vocabulary. To be a better English teacher, you have to be good at your grammar, pronunciation and have a strong vocabulary. These can all be learned by classes.
According to Jim Ross (EBC TEFL course), the non-natives have two virtually guaranteed advantages over native English speakers. Their spelling and understanding of English grammar are usually better. Both of which are skills that are essential for being a good English teacher. They’ve also learned English as a foreign language and therefore can relate much more closely to the teaching process. They’ve lived through the process by attending courses and lessons whereas a native English speaker hasn’t.
Jim Ross also stated that the native English speakers’ advantages are that they have a much higher comfort level and a wider vocabulary but the fundamental problem is that they know how to construct sentences but cannot explain why. This is basic to all language teaching as no-one can communicate in any language without understanding how its components fit together.
According to Tara Arntsen, most non- native speakers are trained teachers either in their country or the country they teach in. This proved that they often will have much more teaching experiences than native speakers. Without training in classroom management and lessons In English grammar, native speakers cannot be effective ESL instructors. As what Jim Ross also mentioned, they may be able to speak the language but explaining it is an entirely different matter.

In conclusion, training, passion, knowledge and efforts are very important aspects of being a better teacher whether it is the native language or not. When your native language is English doesn’t make you a better teacher if you do not undergo training or grammar lessons to be able to understand why or how each sentence is structured that way. Therefore, native English speakers are not necessarily makes a better English teacher.

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