Demystifying Native Speakerism in English Teacher Education

This presentation explores native speakerism —the problematic division between native English speakers teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speakers teachers (NNESTs)—resulting in the controversy surrounding desirable English language teaching professional identity. This critical issue informs ideological beliefs about the English language as a property. The most recent theoretical foundations address the privilege of NESTs that should be detached from a Western approach. Acknowledging power differentiation is another consideration that reinforces NNESTs' valuable cultural and linguistic backgrounds and imposes an unrealistic standard of language articulation and production.