Influence of Teacher-Contact Time and Other Variables on ESL Students’ | Attitudes Towards Native- and | Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers

Influence of Teacher-Contact Time and Other Variables on ESL Students’ Attitudes Towards Native- and Nonnative-English-Speaking Teachers LUCIE MOUSSU University of Alberta Alberta, Edmonton, Canada Although several studies have been conducted that investigated the attitudes of English as a second language (ESL) students towards their nonnative-English-speaking (NNES) ESL teachers, few scholars have explored the influence of teacher-contact time and other relevant variables on students’ responses This article reports on a study conducted in 22 intensive English programs throughout the United States, which compared students’ attitudes towards both their native- and nonnativeEnglish-speaking (NES and NNES) ESL teachers at the beginning and at the end of a given semester This study also investigated whether variables such as students’ first languages, English proficiency level, and expected grades influence their answers Results show that students’ attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers were sometimes unexpectedly positive but could also be predictably negative in some instances Additionally, some variables such as the students’ first language significantly influenced their attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers Finally, students’ attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers changed over time These results suggest that the linguistic background of ESL teachers is only one among numerous variables influencing students’ attitudes towards their teachers Consequently, English proficiency and teaching skills should no longer be defined by the ambiguous notion of native versus nonnative speaker but, instead, should take into consideration the multilayered context in which the teaching is taking place doi: 10.5054/tq.2010.235997 t is not uncommon to find English-teaching job ads that state, ‘‘native English speakers only may apply’’ (Chronicle of Higher Education, 2006) Indeed, the status of native speakers of English is prestigious, and many English language schools proudly advertise that they only hire native-English-speaking (NES) teachers Mahboob’s (2003) study of 122 I 746 TESOL QUARTERLY Vol 44, No 4, December 2010 intensive English programs (IEPs) in the United States shows that only 7.9% of the English as a second language (ESL) instructors in the surveyed IEPs were nonnative-English-speaking (NNES) teachers Mahboob also found that 59.8% of the program administrators who responded to his survey used the native speaker criterion as their major decisive factor in hiring ESL teachers One reason for this decision was that several administrators believed only NES ESL teachers could be proficient in English and, therefore, qualified teachers In contrast, as many as 40% of the teacher trainees in U.S TESOL programs are NNES teachers (Liu, 1999; Llurda, 2005), who often pay large sums of money to be trained as ESL/English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers in the United States.1 As Mahboob’s study showed, these student teachers will not easily find employment (either in the United States or in other countries) after graduation because of the perception that ‘‘the ideal English teacher is a native speaker [of English]’’ (Phillipson, 1992, p 185) Several studies show, however, that ESL students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers not always coincide with those of IEP administrators At the same time, linguistic boundaries and definitions of the term native speaker have become blurred in today’s increasingly multilingual society and globalized world (Canagarajah, 2005; Davies, 2003) The results of the present study, as well as the study by Kelch and Santana-Williamson (2002; in which 56 ESL students correctly identified tape-recorded native and nonnative speakers of English only 45% of the time), also suggested that ESL/EFL students may not always be able to identify who is a native speaker of English and who is not The Nonnative Speaker of English The number of nonnative speakers of English worldwide is now greater than that of native speakers (Graddol, 2006) Likewise, the number of NNES ESL and EFL teachers has been larger than that of NES ESL and EFL teachers for several years (Canagarajah, 2005; Crystal, 2003; Prodromou, 2003) Still, the first articles regarding the differences between NES and NNES teachers were not published until the 1980s (Coppieters, 1987; Kresovich, 1988; Pride, 1981) Edge (1988), for example, advocated the importance of giving EFL students ‘‘real’’ models (i.e., NNES ESL teachers) who have learned to speak English well, as opposed to foreign models (i.e., NES ESL teachers) who, he felt, did not The costs of a TESOL Master of Arts or Certificate vary across universities, but international students usually pay more than in-state students and are limited in the number of hours they can work while studying ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 747 share students’ cultural and emotional experiences (an idea later supported by Cook, 2005, and McKay, 2003) In the early 1990s, Medgyes (1992, 1994) thoroughly discussed nonnative speakers of English as ESL and EFL teachers, arguing that both native and nonnative speakers of English could be successful ESL/ EFL teachers According to Medgyes, NNES ESL teachers (1) offer a good learner model to their students; (2) can teach language strategies very effectively; (3) are able to provide more information about the language to their students than native speakers of English; (4) understand their students’ challenges and needs; (5) are able to anticipate and predict language difficulties; and (6) can (in EFL settings) use the students’ native language to their advantage In his description of English teaching in Sweden, Modiano (2005) emphasized the importance of the NNES ESL teachers in EFL contexts He explained that, in a world where globalization is spreading rapidly, students should learn an international variety of English (i.e., English as a lingua franca) Thanks to NNES ESL teachers, Modiano explained, ‘‘students learn more about how English operates in a diverse number of nation states so that they can gain a better understanding of the wide range of English language usage’’ (p 40) Indeed, learners of English face a world where the economy, educational reforms, politics, culture, and societies are shaped by their knowledge (or lack thereof) of the multiple varieties of ‘‘Englishes.’’ Words, expressions, accents, sociolinguistic rules, and even grammatical rules are increasingly transformed and adjusted to fit different contexts, a diversity that NNES ESL teachers naturally bring to the classroom (Seidlhofer, 1999) Teacher Self-Perceptions Several scholars investigated how NNES ESL and EFL teachers perceived their own strengths, weaknesses, and educational and professional experiences Both Greis (1984) and Medgyes (1994) expressed their concern for teachers who, in spite of their education and experience, still feel much anxiety in front of students or colleagues Reves and Medgyes (1994) studied NNES ESL teachers’ self-esteem and concluded that the perpetual fear of their students’ judgments made the teachers overly self-conscious about their mistakes Although it seems acceptable for NES ESL teachers to make occasional mistakes or not to know everything about the English language (Amin, 2004), NNES ESL teachers’ teaching abilities and competencies are often questioned when they make the same mistakes or appear hesitant (Canagarajah, 1999, 2005) 748 TESOL QUARTERLY Samimy and Brutt-Giffler (1999) asked 17 NNES TESOL graduate students how they perceived themselves as future NNES teachers The respondents noted that it was difficult for them to feel qualified and appreciated in an ESL context, where their competencies were often questioned, and that they felt more valued and respected when teaching in their own countries Similarly, the NNES ESL teachers in Maum’s (2003) study (conducted in the K–12 context) expressed considerable frustration about their isolation and ‘‘marginalization in the profession’’ (p 162), whereas the participating NES ESL teachers were not aware of any discrimination taking place against NNES ESL teachers Amin (2004) interviewed eight women speaking different varieties of English (e.g., Indian English), who had taught or were teaching adult ESL in Canada, in order to investigate the construct of ‘‘nativism’’ (p 63) These women believed that only Caucasian teachers could be native speakers of English, and only native speakers of North American English could know ‘‘real’’ and ‘‘proper’’ English Alternatively, Liu’s (1999) participating international faculty members revealed that, occasionally, they had difficulty defining themselves as native or nonnative speakers of English and that their own definitions did not always match those of their colleagues and students Student Attitudes Although ESL and EFL students have been learning from and working with NNES ESL teachers for a number of years, only a few studies have directly investigated students’ opinions and attitudes regarding their teachers I conducted one of the earliest studies of ESL students’ attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers (Moussu, 2002) Ninety-seven ESL students taught by NNES teachers answered questionnaires at the beginning and end of a semester Results showed that teachers’ and students’ first language (and, by extension, culture and educational traditions in their own countries) made a significant difference in how teachers were perceived For example, Korean students held significantly more negative attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers than did Spanish students Length of exposure to their teachers proved to be a key variable too, and students’ attitudes towards their NNES ESL teachers were significantly more positive at the end of the semester Also in 2002, Cheung investigated the attitudes of 420 Hong Kong university students Her participants recognized NES EFL teachers’ language proficiency, fluency, and cultural knowledge, while acknowledging NNES EFL teachers’ ability to empathize with students, understand their shared cultural background, and establish more rigorous ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 749 standards Participants also agreed that professional skills (such as knowledge of the subject, preparation, and ability to motivate students) were more essential than language skills Around the same time, but back in the United States, Mahboob (2003) asked 32 ESL students to write about their NES and NNES teachers His results showed that NNES ESL teachers were commended for their experience as ESL learners, knowledge of grammar, stricter methodology, hard work, and ability to answer questions, but criticized for poorer oral skills and lack of cultural knowledge NES ESL teachers, meanwhile, were praised for their oral skills and cultural knowledge, but criticized for their poor knowledge of grammar, lack of experience as ESL learners, and sometimes mediocre teaching methodology It thus appears that the native speaker construct, the belief that only native speakers can be ideal teachers of English, is unsupported Despite popular belief, NNES ESL/EFL teachers can be successful teachers However, new NNES TESOL students graduate each year and encounter job advertisements that clearly discriminate against NNES ESL teachers Consequently, the current study critically and explicitly examines ESL students’ attitudes in order to substantiate or invalidate the basic assumptions underlying discrimination against NNES ESL teachers Theoretical and Conceptual Framework, and Research Questions Before instruments could be devised, a theoretical framework was adopted as a foundation for the analyses that would be performed and the instruments that would be used (Nunan, 1992) Because this study investigated students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers, it was crucial to gain an in-depth understanding of ‘‘attitudes’’ before attempting to measure them Eagly and Chaiken (1993) defined attitude as ‘‘a psychological tendency that is expressed by evaluating a particular entity with some degree of favor or disfavor’’ (p 1) According to Wegener and Fabrigar’s (2003) definition of attitude, the students in my study would thus assign memories and emotions to the concept of NES and NNES ESL teachers (affect), have specific beliefs about the characteristics of NES and NNES ESL teachers (cognition), and subsequently act in certain ways towards NES and NNES ESL teachers (behavior) In addition, all speakers and learners of a language make evaluations about (i.e., hold attitudes towards) linguistic superiority or inferiority, aesthetic preferences and differences (accents, etc.), and social conventions and connotations (Alford & Strother, 1990; Edwards, 1982) 750 TESOL QUARTERLY Albarracin, Johnson, and Zanna (2005) explained that behaviors can be overt or covert, and interact with knowledge, memories, and affect to create attitudes that may not always be stable and constant over time For example, students hearing the words nonnative teachers might recall negative comments they have recently heard from friends (the automatic activation phase) Their immediate evaluation of NNES ESL teachers will thus be negative However, they might then recall a muchloved high school English teacher who was a NNES ESL teacher (the deliberation phase), and their evaluation of NNES ESL teachers would then become more positive The response they would write on a survey about NNES ESL teachers would be a final evaluation based on all the memories and emotions they recalled (the response phase), as well as the choices available on the survey (agree, disagree, not sure, etc.), the students’ interpretation of those choices, and the ‘‘translation’’ of their attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers into a response fitting the survey’s response format (Krosnick, Judd, & Wittenbrink, 2005) The intent of this project is thus to (a) identify which emotions, memories, and characteristics are assigned to the concept of NES and NNES ESL teachers (i.e., students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers); (b) analyze how students accumulate new memories, create new beliefs, and change their attitudes over time (i.e., the influence of time on students’ attitudes); and (c) study the underlying beliefs, knowledge, memories, and resulting behaviors of students which generated the responses given on the attitude questionnaires (i.e., variables that may influence students’ perceptions of NES and NNES ESL teachers) Based on the above literature and theoretical frameworks, this research project was guided by three research questions: What are the attitudes at the beginning of the semester of ESL students towards NES and NNES ESL teachers? What teacher and student variables (first language, etc.) influence ESL students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers? Does length of exposure to their ESL teachers influence students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers? METHODS Instruments The problem investigated in this study is multifaceted and takes into consideration several variables identified in the literature review A multivariate design was chosen to take into consideration such a large spectrum of naturally occurring and sometimes nonmanipulable ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 751 variables, to explore the relationships between these relevant variables, and to study the interrelationship of many variables at the same time (Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991) Richards and Lockhart (1994) explained that survey questionnaires are useful to gather ‘‘information about affective dimensions of teaching and learning, such as beliefs, attitudes, motivations, and preferences’’ (p 10) Krosnick et al (2005) and Brown (2001) observed that using Likert scales can lead to a high reliability and validity of the measurement of attitudes, as long as careful attention is given to the theoretical issues used to create the items and the rating scale Additionally, using a questionnaire with specific multiple-choice questions and statements to rate on a Likert scale provides the participants with a single frame of reference when choosing their answers (Schuman & Presser, 1996) Questionnaires are ideal for another reason as well: When working with students with varied levels of English proficiency and linguistic backgrounds, questionnaires can be easily translated so that the great majority of the students can understand the questions and respond accordingly To create the questionnaire, eight teacher and student constructs (such as pronunciation, grammar knowledge, and physical appearance) were first identified from the literature review (Brown, 2001; Purpura, 1998), and several statements for each construct were written or adapted from previous studies The constructs and 75 statements were then sent to a group of scholars in the fields of applied linguistics, statistics, and psychology, who considered issues of significance, validity of the constructs, content validity, clarity of the beliefs and statements, and overall organization of the questionnaire Finally, two pilots were conducted, and, informed by measurements of validity and reliability, the number of questions was narrowed down to 39.2 The questionnaire, which was going to be used both at the beginning and at the end of the semester, was divided into two sections (see Appendix A) The first section, about students’ ESL teachers, consisted of multiple-choice questions and statements to be rated on a five-point Likert scale (from [strongly disagree] to [strongly agree]) The second section used multiple-choice and short-answer questions to collect students’ demographic information The questionnaire was translated (and then back-translated) by professional translators into 12 languages (Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Spanish, Taiwanese, Thai, and Turkish) to allow students 752 When calculated by construct on the final results, Cronbach’s alphas revealed some low coefficients of reliability and a lingering imbalance in the construction of the questionnaire For the construct meeting students’ expectations, Cronbach’s alpha was 909; simplification of concepts 0.841; teachers as good role model 0.758; physical appearance 0.258; grammar knowledge 0.768; pronunciation 0.294 TESOL QUARTERLY of as many levels of English proficiency and linguistic backgrounds to participate as possible Procedures For the pilots and full-scale studies, IEPs were chosen that adhered to the same educational standards and overall organization and were accredited by an institution recognized by the U.S Department of Education This helped identify programs that were as comparable as possible in terms of the length of their semester and the division of levels of proficiency Although 50 IEPs were initially identified and contacted, problems of attrition due essentially to difficulties in obtaining permissions from each IEP’s IRB (Committee on the use of Human Research Subjects) resulted in only 22 IEPs participating in the full-scale study In August 2005, these 22 IEPs received files that contained directions for the distribution and collection of the questionnaires, the English version of the questionnaire, the translations, and prestamped return envelopes Four weeks later, 862 completed questionnaires had been received from 16 IEPs In November, files were sent again to these 16 IEPs for the second phase of data collection By January 2006, 643 completed questionnaires had been received from 12 IEPs The approximate return rate for the initial questionnaire was 62.75% and 46.59% (counting the four IEPs whose students filled out the initial, but not the final, questionnaire) For reliability purposes, responses to the initial and final questionnaires were entered by two individuals and then compared Once the errors were fixed, students’ responses were divided into three groups, depending on their teachers’ nativeness: if students had identified their teacher as a NES ESL teacher, their responses fell into the Native category; if they had identified their teacher as a NNES ESL teacher, their responses fell into the Nonnative category; if students didn’t know if their teacher was a NES or a NNES ESL teacher, their responses fell into the Not Sure category.3 Using SPSS v.16, a range of descriptive and inferential statistics was calculated for each of these groups, and the data examined to assess normalcy.4 The significance level was set at 0.05, and an analysis of variance then determined to what extent the variations within the means could be attributed to different independent variables (first language, Because of space limitation and the small number of respondents that fell into this category, responses from students in the Not Sure group are not discussed here For more information on a considerable amount of statistical results not discussed here, please contact the author ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 753 class subject, etc.) To account for the multiple comparison procedures performed on the data, Fisher’s LSD (least significant difference method) was applied Finally, a t-test (paired samples) compared the initial and final responses for analysis of the influence of teacher-contact time on students’ attitudes Participants Students and administrators from 22 IEPs in the United States participated The participating groups of students were intact (Hatch & Lazaraton, 1991), that is, there was no random selection of participants done at any time of the project, and there was no control group There was also no attempt to a stratified selection of participants After eliminating any students who had partially completed or otherwise unusable questionnaires, a total of 804 students (46.7% males, 53.3% females) answered the initial questionnaire (at the beginning of the semester), and 643 students (48.5% males, 51.5% females) answered the final questionnaire (at the end of the semester).5 When asked about the class they were taking while responding to the questionnaires, a great majority of the students (80.9%) indicated that they were currently taught by a NES ESL teacher, 15% were taught by a NNES ESL teacher, and the remaining students were not sure if their teachers were NES or NNES ESL teachers Languages spoken by the students who filled out the initial questionnaire included Korean (30.4%), Spanish (18.6%), Japanese (14.1%), Chinese (13.4%), Arabic (6%), and several other languages Students also gave additional information about the level and subject as well as their expected grades in that course Limitations The voluntary nature of the survey was one of its limitations: IEP administrators agreed (or not) to participate, then passed (or not) the information along to the ESL teachers, who then allowed (or not) their students to participate Students also had the choice of filling out (or not filling out) their questionnaire Another limitation of this study lies in the uneven number of participants in each group (beginners vs intermediate, Korean vs Arabic, etc.) The interpretation of the statistical results must therefore be cautious Finally, although the large number of participants helped results to be relatively significant statistically, the results are not representative of all ESL students’ attitudes 754 The students who answered the final questionnaire had also answered the initial questionnaire TESOL QUARTERLY RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Initial Attitudes Towards NES and NNES ESL Teachers The first goal of this study was to investigate students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers at the beginning of the semester Responses showed that, in general, students’ initial attitudes towards NES ESL teachers, with means ranging from 3.16 to 4.48 on the Likert scale (going from [strongly disagree] to [strongly agree]) appeared to be more positive than their attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers, with means ranging from 2.90 to 4.20 However, students’ attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers were generally positive too (which corroborates Moussu, 2002), and often not radically more negative than answers given by students taught by NES ESL teachers, as could have been expected (Table 1) Notable exceptions when ratings given by students in the nonnative group were significantly lower than ratings given by students in the native group included Q13 (My English teacher is a good example of the ideal English speaker), Q15 (My English teacher looks like a typical American person), Q18 (My English teacher rarely makes grammar mistakes when he/she speaks), and Q21 (The English pronunciation of my English teacher is good) Alternatively, responses of students in the nonnative group were sometimes more positive than responses of students in the native group, such as with Q19 (My English teacher explains grammar rules very clearly), Q25 (I can learn English just as well from a NONNATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVE English teacher), and Q26 (I don’t care where my teacher is from, as long as he/she is a good teacher for me) Responses to Q25 and Q26, as well as to Q24 (Native English speakers make the best English teachers), also illustrate a recurring and central finding: In general, students taught by NNES ESL teachers seemed to have a significantly more positive attitude towards NNES ESL teachers than students taught by NES ESL teachers (Table 2) Several conclusions can be drawn from these initial results First, the ESL students in this study did not systematically hold negative attitudes TABLE Responses to My English teacher is a good English teacher (Q4) at the Beginning of the Semester 95% Confidence interval Group Native Nonnative n M SD SE Lower bound Upper bound 556 100 4.25 4.20 0.77 0.73 0.033 0.073 4.19 4.05 4.32 4.35 Note M mean; SD standard deviation; SE standard error; F 0.381; df 1; p 0.537 (N 656) ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 755 TABLE Responses to I can learn English just as well from a NONNATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVE English teacher (Q25) at the Beginning of the Semester 95% Confidence interval Group Native Nonnative n M SD SE Lower bound Upper bound 637 117 3.17 3.65 1.15 1.22 0.046 0.113 3.08 3.43 3.26 3.87 Note F 16.76; df 1; p 0.000 (N 785) towards NNES ESL teachers, and, in several cases, responses given by students in the nonnative group are not significantly different from responses given by students in the native group This seems to indicate that ESL students not prefer NES ESL teachers over NNES ESL teachers in all cases Second, students taught by NNES ESL teachers seemed less prejudiced against NNES ESL teachers in general than students not taught by NNES ESL teachers This confirms findings by Rubin and Smith (1990) and Ma (1993) that previous exposure to ‘‘international’’ teachers increased students’ favorable reception of NNES teachers The Influence of Variables The variables identified from the literature review and whose influence on students’ attitudes was examined in this study included students’ first languages, class subjects (grammar, reading, etc.), levels of English proficiency, and expected grades, as well as teachers’ countries of origin.6 All of these variables, except students’ levels of English proficiency, seemed to have strongly influenced students’ attitudes towards their teachers It was hypothesized that the English proficiency level of the ESL students would strongly influence their attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers Presumably, students at higher proficiency levels would want teachers with better (i.e., more authentic) accents and more extensive knowledge of North American culture However, students at the advanced levels taught by NNES ESL teachers often seemed to hold slightly more positive attitudes towards their teachers than beginners in the same group This finding could be explained by the fact that a student with a high English proficiency level might have had a larger number of English 756 It is acknowledged that numerous variables (such as personality, individual institutions, cultural backgrounds, etc.) could also influence students’ attitudes towards their teachers These will be the object of future studies TESOL QUARTERLY teachers than a student just starting to learn the language and, consequently, a higher likelihood of exposure to NNES ESL teachers However, this hypothesis cannot be confirmed, because no previous study has directly investigated the influence of ESL students’ levels of English proficiency on their attitudes Students’ first languages, on the other hand, seemed to have a significant influence on their attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers, as was the case in previous studies (e.g., Moussu, 2002; Tang, 1997), although it proved difficult to compare groups of such uneven sizes Overall, Korean, Japanese, Thai, and Chinese students held a less positive attitude towards NNES ESL teachers, but also towards NES ESL teachers, than students speaking other languages In contrast, responses given by Portuguese, French, Spanish, Arabic, and Turkish students often seemed to indicate positive attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers These general trends can be observed in Table below Interestingly, it is difficult to separate first language and culture and to know if this acceptance of, or prejudice against NNES ESL teachers may have been influenced by a traditional view of language teachers in different countries Class subject also seemed to have a significant influence on students’ answers, which corroborates Liu’s (1999) findings For example, students in the native group tended to prefer their grammar class to other classes Interestingly, the assumption that students would prefer NNES grammar teachers and NES teachers as listening–speaking teachers was not confirmed by these results Indeed, previous studies (see Cheung, 2002; Mahboob, 2003) had shown a clear preference by students for NES listening–speaking teachers and a preference for NNES TABLE Responses to My English teacher knows the English grammar very well (Q16) by First Language Native Students’ first language Arabic Chinese French Japanese Korean Portuguese Spanish Thai Turkish Other Nonnative 95% CI 95% CI n M SD SE LB UB n M SD SE LB UB 38 84 16 88 200 10 111 20 13 53 4.37 4.17 4.44 4.03 4.25 4.60 4.53 4.50 4.46 4.61 0.942 0.916 0.629 0.890 0.818 0.699 0.711 0.607 0.660 0.595 0.153 0.100 0.157 0.095 0.058 0.221 0.068 0.136 0.183 0.096 4.06 3.97 4.10 3.85 4.13 4.17 4.40 4.22 4.06 4.41 4.68 4.37 4.77 4.22 4.36 5.03 4.67 4.78 4.86 4.80 15 22 31 28 1 4.83 3.87 4.50 4.09 4.19 5.00 4.21 4.00 5.00 4.25 0.408 1.187 0.868 0.946 0.000 0.833 1.165 0.167 0.307 0.185 0.170 0.000 0.157 4.50 3.27 3.71 3.85 5.00 3.89 3.44 5.16 4.47 4.48 4.54 5.00 4.54 Note CI confidence interval; LB lower bound; UB upper bound Native: F 3.225; df 9; p 0.000 (N 633) Nonnative: F 0.833; df 9; p 0.587 (N 116) ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 757 grammar teachers Responses to Q10, for example (My English teacher is able to simplify difficult material so I can understand it), illustrated this unforeseen preference pattern (Table 4) Students’ expected grades was a variable that strongly influenced students’ attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers, although it is difficult to know if students expected a high grade because they liked their teacher, or if they liked their teacher because they believed they would receive a high grade Whatever the case may be, the higher the expected grade, the more positive the attitudes of the students towards their teachers in both groups Importantly, responses given by students in the nonnative group who were expecting an A were similar to, or even more positive than, responses given by students in the native group also expecting an A, as can be observed in Table Teachers’ first language was another variable that strongly affected students’ responses, which corroborates my findings (Moussu, 2002).7 Surprisingly, it was found that not all teachers labeled as NES ESL teachers spoke English as their first language Similarly, it appeared that some of the teachers labeled as NNES ESL teachers spoke English natively (Table 6) The reasons for these categorizations are unclear, but might have to with the teachers’ appearance or accent (as discussed by Amin, 1997), as well as the way the teachers presented themselves to their students at the beginning of the semester (see Liu, 1999, for more about different perceptions of nonnativeness) These findings raise the question of defining the native speaker The analysis of the first language variable’s effects on students’ attitudes showed that not all NES and NNES ESL teachers elicited TABLE Responses to My English teacher is able to simplify difficult material so I can understand it (Q10) by Class Subject Native Nonnative 95% CI 95% CI Class subject n M SD SE LB UB n M SD SE LB UB Grammar L/S R/W Other 121 87 310 15 4.21 3.95 3.94 3.80 0.729 0.914 1.009 0.775 0.066 0.098 0.057 0.200 4.08 3.76 3.82 3.41 4.34 4.15 4.05 4.19 32 49 4.22 4.33 3.76 3.50 0.906 0.500 1.195 1.013 0.160 0.167 0.171 0.358 3.89 4.00 3.43 2.80 4.55 4.66 4.09 4.20 Note L/S listening–speaking; R/W reading–writing; Native: F 2.780; df 3; p 0.041 (N 633) Nonnative: F 2.405; df 3; p 0.072 (N 98) 758 Teachers speaking different varieties of Spanish were grouped into the Spanish category Teachers speaking a North American variety of English were clustered into the American category, and teachers speaking other varieties of English (England, New Zealand, Australia, and Ireland) were clustered into the British category TESOL QUARTERLY TABLE Responses to My English teacher explains grammar rules very clearly (Q19) by Expected Grades Native Students’ expected grade A B C D F Nonnative 95% CI 95% CI n M SD SE LB UB n M SD SE LB UB 227 235 79 10 4.08 3.94 3.52 3.40 2.67 0.866 1.024 1.174 0.577 0.928 0.057 0.067 0.132 0.182 0.536 3.98 3.82 3.26 3.04 1.62 4.19 4.07 3.78 3.76 3.72 49 40 14 4.41 3.98 3.79 3.00 0.866 0.974 1.122 0.632 0.124 0.154 0.300 0.258 3.89 3.66 3.20 2.49 4.39 4.29 4.38 3.51 Note Native: F 8.350; df 4; p 0.000 (N 604) Nonnative: F 0.2.907; df 4; p 0.038 (N 109) similar reactions On the one hand, teachers of certain origins (e.g., those from Russia, Spanish-speaking countries, and the United States) seemed to be consistently appreciated by their students On the other hand, teachers of other origins (e.g., those from China, and, interestingly, countries where other varieties of English are spoken) appeared to receive more negative responses These results reveal the uselessness of classifying NNES ESL teachers as one homogeneous group and assigning strict attributes to all members of this group (Moussu & Llurda, 2008) As Samimy and Brutt-Giffler (1999) and Reves and Medgyes (1994) previously noted, and as this study confirmed, students’ attitudes towards their teachers did not necessarily show a relationship with nonnativeness For example, students taught by NES ESL teachers who expected lower grades did not respond positively about their teachers TABLE Responses to I understand my English teacher’s pronunciation easily (Q22) by Teachers’ First Languages Native Teachers’ first language Nonnative 95% CI n American 550 Armenian British 52 Portuguese Chinese Other Russian Spanish M 4.29 3.88 4.50 4.50 4.00 4.00 95% CI UB LB n M SD SE LB UB 0.857 0.037 4.22 1.078 0.150 3.58 0.577 0.289 3.93 4.36 4.18 5.07 10 15 19 25 19 15 4.75 4.10 4.33 3.73 3.32 3.64 4.53 3.80 0.500 0.738 0.577 1.223 1.057 1.114 0.697 1.265 0.250 0.233 0.333 0.316 0.242 0.223 0.160 0.327 4.26 3.64 3.68 3.11 2.84 3.18 4.19 3.16 5.24 4.56 4.98 4.35 3.80 4.10 4.86 4.44 SD SE Note Native: F 2.163; df 5; p 0.057 (N 611) Nonnative: F 2.688; df 7; p 0.014 (N 110) ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 759 in spite of their nativeness Similarly, students taught by NNES ESL teachers who came from certain regions of the world showed positive attitudes towards their teachers in spite of their nonnativeness As discussed in the next section, duration of exposure to their teachers also influenced students’ attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers The Influence of Time Overall, students’ attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers appeared to have changed by the end of the semester The changes towards NNES ESL teachers, however, seemed to be more positive than the changes towards NES ESL teachers In some instances, however, these changes were minimal For example, although 79% of the students taught by NES ESL teachers and 74.4% of the students taught by NNES ESL teachers responded Yes to Q3 (Would you encourage a friend to take a class with this English teacher?) at the beginning of the semester, the changes were minimal, and 76.4% of the students taught by NES ESL teachers and 75% of the students taught by NNES ESL teachers responded Yes at the end of the semester Similarly, 6.6% (students taught by NES ESL teachers) and 6.8% (students taught by NNES ESL teachers) answered No at the beginning of the semester; at the end of the semester, the numbers showed little change, with 7.8% (students taught by NES ESL teachers) and 6.3% (students taught by NNES ESL teachers) answering No.8 The trend that the attitude of students taught by NNES ESL teachers changed a little more strongly and positively than that of students taught by NES ESL teachers can be observed in many instances However, the small number of participants in the nonnative group9 often did not allow the differences to emerge as statistically significant, as can be seen in Table 7, although the difference could be significant given a larger sample size Responses to the two last statements on the Likert-scale section of the questionnaire, however, reflected particularly well the significant influence of teacher-contact time on students’ attitudes towards NNES ESL teachers Responses to Q25 (I can learn English just as well from a NON-NATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVE English teacher), for example, show that, at the beginning of the semester, 14.76% of the Interestingly, a post-hoc analysis of these results seemed to suggest an overall shift of attitude during the semester and that the students (in both groups) who said Yes (or No) at the beginning of the semester were not necessarily the same as the students who said Yes (or No) at the end of the semester To calculate the t-test, only the responses of students who answered both the initial and the final questionnaires were used 760 TESOL QUARTERLY TABLE Responses to I understand my English teacher’s pronunciation easily (Q22) at the Beginning and End of the Semester Native Semester Initial Final Nonnative n M SD SE n M SD SE 371 371 4.22 4.44 0.916 0.817 0.048 0.042 78 78 3.87 4.07 1.109 1.034 0.126 0.117 Note Native: t 24.290; df 370; p 0.000 Nonnative: t 21.730; df 77; p 0.088 students taught by NES ESL teachers strongly agreed By the end of the semester, that number had risen to 17.86% (an increase of 3.1%) At the same time, 29.06% of the students taught by NNES ESL teachers strongly agreed with the same statement at the beginning of the semester, whereas 42.02% strongly agreed by the end of the semester (an increase of 12.96%, and 24.16% more than students taught by NES ESL teachers) Table shows these changes The strengthening of students’ positive attitudes towards their NNES ESL teachers shows that the potential hesitation they might have felt about those teachers’ qualifications at the beginning of the semester almost disappeared with a full semester of exposure to a NNES ESL teacher in the classroom environment These results suggest a number of interesting trends First, students’ attitudes towards both their NES and NNES ESL teachers seem to be influenced not so much by the nativeness or nonnativeness of their teachers but possibly by individual teacher and student variables such as personality, individual experience and background, and pedagogical skills (although these variables were not specifically studied here) For example, students’ first language and expected grades influenced in similar ways their attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers, which suggest that the native–nonnative dichotomy is sometimes ineffective in predicting students’ opinions of their teachers On the other hand, students’ attitudes towards teachers of different class TABLE Responses to I can learn English just as well from a NONNATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVE English teacher (Q25) at the Beginning and the End of the Semester Native Semester Initial Final Nonnative n M SD SE n M SD SE 373 373 3.17 3.33 1.183 1.207 0.061 0.063 79 79 3.56 4.00 1.268 1.068 0.143 0.120 Note Native: t 22.398; df 372; p 0.017 Nonnative: t 22.883; df 78; p 0.005 ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 761 subjects (e.g., grammar or reading) and of different linguistic origins strongly indicate that assuming that all NES ESL teachers are alike and all NNES ESL teachers are alike is no longer defensible Finally, the analysis of the influence of time and exposure to their teachers on students’ attitudes confirms that students’ negative or positive preconceptions towards NES and NNES ESL teachers are less predictable than previously believed Furthermore, whatever expectations and preconceptions students may hold at the beginning of the semester, these initial attitudes are likely to change as a result of time and exposure to their teacher CONCLUSION In 1992, Phillipson presented some of the issues surrounding the ‘‘native speaker fallacy,’’ that is, the belief that ‘‘the ideal teacher is a native speaker’’ (p 185) A few years later, Canagarajah (1999) also explained how the notion of ‘‘Native Speaker,’’ as established by Chomsky (1986), had become obsolete, as an increasing number of people speak more than one language or more than one variety of a language In 2005, Canagarajah reexamined the distinction between native and nonnative speakers He concluded that this distinction simply did not apply anymore, not only because the concepts of native and nonnative have changed, but also because linguistic boundaries are no longer clear As Canagarajah and several other scholars explained, English today is no longer owned and dominated by the traditional inner circle (Kachru, 1982) colonial powers, but rather by a multitude of speakers from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds Judging teachers’ pedagogical and linguistic skills on a construct that can no longer be unmistakably defined thus seems unwise and, in light of students’ complex responses, misguided The English proficiency of English teachers must be seen as a ‘‘plural system’’ that should no longer be defined by the ambiguous notion of native versus nonnative speakers but, instead, could use distinctions such as ‘‘novice and expert’’ teachers (Canagarajah, 2005, p xxvii) As a result, a ‘‘good teacher’’ will no longer be identified by the obsolete and ill-defined native/nonnative model but rather—and only—as a person who has mastered a combination of linguistic and pedagogical skills (Astor, 2000) An analysis of relevant variables (first languages, etc.) inherent in students’ responses to this study confirms these principles Responses grouped by teachers’ first languages, for example, showed that ESL students’ classifications of native and nonnative speakers can seem fuzzy at times, and may not necessarily correspond to either the teachers’ own classification or a linguist’s classification of their nativeness or 762 TESOL QUARTERLY nonnativeness However, additional studies are needed to confirm or refute this ‘‘fuzziness’’ that Liu’s (1999) participants also noted about (self)-classifications of (non)nativeness The analysis of the influence of different variables on students’ attitudes also provided some interesting insights into the complex question of what makes a teacher a good teacher Results demonstrated that the participating students could appreciate both NES and NNES ESL teachers and in a variety of teaching contexts, but also that some groups of students could hold negative attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers Indeed, students’ attitudes towards NES ESL teachers were not always as positive as some IEP administrators may have believed (Mahboob, 2003) Students’ responses also suggested that their attitudes towards NES and NNES ESL teachers were not as significantly different as might have been expected and did not become significantly more positive or negative over time As a consequence, by the end of the semester, attitudes towards both NES and NNES ESL teachers had remained overall positive and constructive In spite of the many limitations of this study, its results may help both ESL/EFL teachers and language program administrators to respond to students’ doubts and prejudices against NNES ESL teachers These results may also inspire teacher preparation programs and student teachers to rethink the conventional notions and definitions of the native speaker and the good teacher It is hoped that future studies will be conducted to investigate further the preconceptions and realities of ESL and EFL teaching A better understanding of students’ motivations for learning English, their expectations of what constitutes a good teacher, and their experiences with NES and NNES ESL teachers in different contexts can inform and enrich the learning experience of ESL/EFL students, the teacher training programs for future ESL/EFL teachers, and the pedagogical and professional experiences of teacher educators, student teachers, ESL/EFL teachers, and language program administrators ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This study was generously funded by a dissertation grant from the TESOL International Research Foundation I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers as well as Aya Matsuda and Enric Llurda for their useful suggestions on previous drafts Thank you also to the many participating students, teachers, and IEP administrators for their time, responses, and encouragements A more thorough account of this research project can be found in my doctoral dissertation (Moussu, 2006) ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 763 THE AUTHOR Lucie Moussu is an Assistant Professor in Writing Studies at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada, and Director of the Centre for Writers Her research interests include the advantages of NES and NNES ESL teachers, the Canadian bilingual context, writing center administration, and second language writing REFERENCES Albarracin, D., Johnson, B T., & Zanna, M P (2005) Attitudes: Introduction and scope In D Albarracin, B T Johnson, & M P Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp 3–20) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Alford, R L., & Strother, J B (1990) Attitudes of native and non-native speakers towards selected regional accents of U.S English TESOL Quarterly, 24, 479–495 doi:10.2307/3587231 Amin, N (1997) Race and the identity of the nonnative ESL teacher TESOL Quarterly, 31, 580–583 doi:10.2307/3587841 Amin, N (2004) Nativism, the native speaker construct, and minority immigrant women teachers of English as a Second Language In L Kamhi-Stein (Ed.), Learning and teaching from experience: Perspectives on non-native English-speaking professionals (pp 61–90) Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press Astor, A (2000) A qualified nonnative English-speaking teacher is second to none in the field TESOL Matters, 10, 19 Brown, J D (2001) Using surveys in language programs New York, NY: Cambridge University Press Canagarajah, A S (1999) Interrogating the ‘‘native speaker fallacy’’: Non-linguistic roots, non-pedagogical results In G Braine (Ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp 77–92) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum 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Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press Davies, A (2003) The native speaker: Myth and reality Clevedon, England: Multilingual Matters Eagly, A H., & Chaiken, S (1993) The psychology of attitudes Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Edge, J (1988) Natives, speakers, and models Japan Association of Language Teachers Journal, 9, 153–157 764 TESOL QUARTERLY Edwards, J R (1982) Language attitudes and their implications among English speakers In E B Ryan & H Giles (Eds.), Attitudes towards language variation: Social and applied contexts (pp 20–33) London, England: Edward Arnold Graddol, D (2006) English next Retrieved from http://www.britishcouncil.de/pdf/ english-next-2006.pdf Greis, N (1984) Toward a better preparation of the non-native ESOL teacher In On TESOL ’84: Selected papers from the 18th Annual Convention of Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages (pp 317–324) Washington, DC: TESOL Hatch, E., & Lazaraton, A (1991) The research manual Design and statistics for applied linguistics Boston, MA: Heinle & Heinle Kachru, B (1982) Models for non-native Englishes In B Kachru (Ed.), The other tongue: English across cultures (pp 31–57) Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Press Kelch, K., & Santana-Williamson, E (2002) ESL students’ attitudes toward nativeand non-native-speaking instructors’ accents CATESOL Journal, 14, 57–72 Kresovich, B M (1988) Error gravity: Perceptions of native-speaking and non-native speaking faculty in EFL (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No 311 732) Krosnick, J A., Judd, C M., & Wittenbrink, B (2005) The measurement of attitudes In D Albarracin, B T Johnson, & M P Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp 21–78) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Liu, J (1999) From their own perspectives: The impact of non-native ESL professionals on their students In G Braine (Ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp 159–176) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Llurda, E (2005) Non-native TESOL students as seen by practicum supervisors In E Llurda (Ed.), Non-native language teachers Perceptions, challenges, and contributions to the profession (pp 131–154) New York, NY: Springer Ma, R (1993) Communication differences between native and non-native instructors as perceived by U.S students Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Speech Communication Association, Miami Beach, FL (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No 367 011) Mahboob, A (2003) Status of non-native English-speaking teachers in the United States (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) Indiana University, Bloomington, IN Maum, R (2003) A Comparison of native and non-native English-speaking teachers’ beliefs about teaching English as a Second Language to adult English language learners (Unpublished doctoral dissertation) University of Louisville, Louisville, KY McKay, S L (2003) Towards an appropriate EIL pedagogy International Journal of Applied Linguistics, 13, 1–22 doi:10.1111/1473-4192.00035 Medgyes, P (1992) Native or non-native: Who’s worth more? ESL Journal, 46, 340– 349 Medgyes, P (1994) The non-native teacher London, England: Macmillan Modiano, M (2005) Cultural studies, foreign language teaching and learning practices, and the NNS practitioner In E Llurda (Ed.), Non-native language teachers: Perceptions, challenges, and contributions to the profession (pp 25–43) New York, NY: Springer Moussu, L (2002) English as a second language students’ reactions to non-native Englishspeaking teachers (Unpublished master’s thesis) Brigham Young University, Provo, UT (ERIC Document Reproduction Service No ED 468 879) Moussu, L., & Llurda, E (2008) Non-native English-speaking English language teachers: History and research Language Teaching, 41, 315–348 doi:10.1017/ S0261444808005028 Nunan, D (1992) Research methods in language learning Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 765 Phillipson, R (1992) Linguistic imperialism Oxford, England: Oxford University Press Pride, J (1981) Native competence and the bilingual/multilingual speaker English World-Wide, 2, 141–153 Prodromou, K (2003) In search of the successful users of English: How a corpus of non-native speaker language could impact on EFL teaching Modern English Teacher, 12, 5–14 Purpura, J (1998) The development and construct validation of an instrument designed to investigate the selected cognitive background characteristics of test takers In A J Kunnan (Ed.), Validation in language assessment (pp 11–130) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Reves, T., & Medgyes, P (1994) The non-native English speaking EFL/ESL teacher’s self image: An international survey System, 22, 353–357 doi:10.1016/ 0346-251X(94)90021-3 Richards, J., & Lockhart, C (1994) Reflective teaching in second language classrooms New York, NY: Cambridge University Press Rubin, D., & Smith, K (1990) Effect of accent, ethnicity, and lecture topic on undergraduates’ perceptions of non-native English-speaking teachers International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14, 337–353 doi:10.1016/01471767(90)90019-S Samimy, K., & Brutt-Giffler, J (1999) To be a native or non-native speaker: Perceptions of ‘‘non-native’’ students in a graduate TESOL program In G Braine (Ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp 127–144) Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum Schuman, H., & Presser, S (1996) Question & answers in attitude surveys London, England: SAGE Publications Seidlhofer, B (1999) Double standards: Teacher education in the expanding circle World Englishes, 18, 233–245 doi:10.1111/1467-971X.00136 Tang, C (1997) On the power and status of non-native ESL teachers TESOL Quarterly, 31, 577–580 doi:10.2307/3587840 Wegener, D T., & Fabrigar, L R (2003) Constructing and evaluating quantitative measures for social psychological research In C Sansone, C C Morf, & A T Panter (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of methods in social psychology (pp 145–172) Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications APPENDIX A Student Questionnaire The English version of the student questionnaire is provided here Translations are available upon request I YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER Please answer the following questions about your teacher in this class What country is your English teacher from? Your English teacher is (please put an X in the space corresponding to your answer): - i a NATIVE speaker of English - ii a NON-NATIVE speaker of English - iii not sure 766 Would you encourage a friend to take a class with THIS English teacher? (a) yes(b) no(c) _ not sure TESOL QUARTERLY This is an example My English teacher is a good English teacher I would enjoy taking another class with this English teacher I am learning a lot of English with this teacher My English teacher is the kind of teacher I expected to have here My English teacher is an ideal teacher for me My English teacher explains difficult concepts well 10 My English teacher is able to simplify difficult material so I can understand it 11 My English teacher teaches in a manner that helps me learn 12 My English teacher motivates me to my best to learn English 13 My English teacher is a good example of the ideal English speaker 14 My English teacher looks like a native speaker of English 15 My English teacher looks like a typical American person 16 My English teacher knows the English grammar very well 17 My English teacher rarely makes grammar mistakes when he/she writes 18 My English teacher rarely makes grammar mistakes when he/she speaks 19 My English teacher explains grammar rules very clearly 20 I understand what my English teacher is saying without a problem 21 The English pronunciation of my English teacher is good 22 I understand my English teacher’s pronunciation easily 23 English teachers should all speak with a perfect American accent 24 NATIVE English speakers make the best English teachers 25 I can learn English just as well from a NON-NATIVE English teacher as from a NATIVE English teacher 26 I don’t care where my teacher is from, as long as he/she is a good teacher for me strongly DISAGREE Disagree Not sure Agree strongly AGREE 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 ATTITUDES TOWARDS NATIVE- AND NONNATIVE-ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS 767 Please answer the following questions about YOUR ENGLISH TEACHER AND THIS CLASS by FILLING IN the numbers that correspond to your feelings, according to the following scale: 1: strongly DISAGREE 2: disagree 3: not sure 4: agree 5: strongly AGREE 27 What you think makes a ‘‘good’’ English teacher? Please explain below II BACKGROUND INFORMATION Please answer the following questions about yourself 28 Name of country from where you came: _ 29 Name of city/town/village where you were born: 30 Birth date (day/month/year): _/ _/ _ 31 First language(s): _ 32 Gender: (a) male(b) female 33 Name of school/ IEP where you are studying right now: _ 34 Subject of this class (grammar, reading, etc.): 35 Level of this English course (please choose one option): (a) beginner(b) intermediate (c) advanced 36 Including your current teacher, —how many NATIVE English teachers have you had while learning English in the U.S.? _ —how many NON-NATIVE English teachers have you had while learning English in the U.S.? 37 Do you intend to leave the United States after you finish your studies in this school?(a) _ _ yes(b) no(c) not sure 38 Your most important reason for learning English is (choose ONLY ONE answer): to go to an English-speaking school or IEP to get a better job in your country to live in the U.S because English is very important in today’s society because you like the English language and culture very much because you are a U.S citizen or immigrant for fun and personal pleasure for other reasons (please explain): _ 39 The overall grade you expect to receive in this class is: very high (A+, A, or A2) (90%–100%) high (B+, B, or B2) (80%–89%) average (C+, C, or C2) (70%–79%) low (D+ D, or D2) (60%–69%) fail (E or F) (below 60%) 768 TESOL QUARTERLY ... differences (accents, etc.), and social conventions and connotations (Alford & Strother, 1990; Edwards, 1982) 750 TESOL QUARTERLY Albarracin, Johnson, and Zanna (2005) explained that behaviors can be... explained, English today is no longer owned and dominated by the traditional inner circle (Kachru, 1982) colonial powers, but rather by a multitude of speakers from diverse linguistic and cultural... models Japan Association of Language Teachers Journal, 9, 153–157 764 TESOL QUARTERLY Edwards, J R (1982) Language attitudes and their implications among English speakers In E B Ryan & H Giles (Eds.),