Employing native english-Speaking teachers for english courses: Stakeholders’ perceptions

An Giang University Journal of Science – 2019, Vol. 6, 1 – 17 
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EMPLOYING NATIVE ENGLISH-SPEAKING TEACHERS FOR ENGLISH COURSES: 
STAKEHOLDERS’ PERCEPTIONS 
Nguyen Vu Phuong1, Nguyen Thị Bich Ngoan1 
1University of Economics and Law - Viet Nam National University, Ho Chi Minh City 
Information: 
Received: 18/04/2018 
Accepted: 07/07/2018 
Published: 02/2019 
Keywords: 
Native English-speaking 
teachers, communication in 
English, speaking skills 
ABSTRACT 
Native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) are needed to teach English at 
many universities in Vietnam because they are commonly regarded as 
models for communication in English. Yet, does this rationale correspond 
with the views of students who enrolled in high-quality programmes and 
administrators (departmental and functional leaders who are administering 
the programmes)? This article reports on research carried out with 
university students and leaders at University A (A pseudonym was used for 
the researched institution) in Vietnam, exploring stakeholders’ (specifically 
students and institutional leaders) perceptions of employing NESTs to teach 
English speaking skills. Data were collected through an open-ended 
questionnaire with 65 students and in-depth interviews with 40 students 
(those who participated in the interviews also responded to the 
questionnaire) and interviews with four leaders. Data were thematically 
analysed through an inductive approach. The major factors that could help 
NESTs meet students’ expectations were their teaching methods and the 
extent to which they could interact with students together with 
communicative competence and cultural knowledge. Students viewed NESTs 
as models for communicating in English but also had difficulty in 
understanding these teachers when there were differences in culture and 
language uses. It was indicated by leaders that NESTs are employed as a 
motivating and diversifying source of teaching staff and marketing 
communication figures for the institution. The findings suggest that to meet 
students’ expectations, it is necessary that NESTs improve their teaching 
methods, receive training and be under a screening procedure of recruitment 
and quality assurance. Employing NESTs is a trend in Vietnam, but quality 
procedures need to be established for assuring that these NESTs comply with 
the quality expectation at the institution. 
1. INTRODUCTION 
There has been a trend in many higher education 
institutions: employing native English-speaking 
teachers (NESTs) to teach English speaking skills. 
Native speakers are in need due to the lack of 
qualified local teachers of English to meet the 
rising demand for English as an international 
language (Alptekin, 1991). Thus, NESTs are 
employed for their fluency and accuracy in 
English no matter how skillful they are in 
teaching (Şahin, 2005). The use of NESTs has 
An Giang University Journal of Science – 2019, Vol. 6, 1 – 17 
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been a subject of debate. Some researchers claim 
that NESTs are more successful in teaching than 
non-native teachers. The premise for this 
argument is that a good oral English teacher 
should have a good command of English (Jie, 
1999) or being ‘foreign’ (Ma, 2012) to bring new 
styles in teaching methodology. For example, 
many NESTs have been teaching successfully in 
China (Jie, 1999). Another reason is from leaders’ 
assumption that the employment of NESTs could 
help increase learners’ enrolments and to stay 
competitive (Ardó, 1997). On the contrary, other 
researchers believe that having teaching skills is 
more essential than being a native speaker of the 
language being taught. In fact, it is motivation and 
enthusiasm, not nativeness or accent, of teachers 
that make a difference in teaching to support 
learners (Lee, 2000). 
The employment of NESTs at University A was 
based on the institutional leaders’ assumption that 
NESTs could make a perfect model for students to 
practice speaking English (a member of Board of 
Rectors, personal communication, 8 October 
2018). These teachers from English-speaking 
countries could provide an English-speaking 
environment. However, there have been students’ 
complaints about the quality of NESTs (students 
in high-quality courses, personal communication, 
17 October 2017 and 6 March 2018). The 
situation at this institution has led to the 
questions: Is the employment of NESTs helpful 
for students’ learning? What problems have 
students faced and what should be done to 
improve NESTs’ teaching? 
2. LITERATURE REVIEW 
Definitions of NESTs 
The term ‘nativeness’ has been viewed from 
different perspectives. From the standpoint of 
theoretical linguistics, the native speaker is 
viewed as one that is capable of judging the 
grammatical correctness of sentences (Chomsky, 
1965). In addition, the acquisition of English 
during infancy and childhood is a major attribute 
of a native speaker (Strevens, 1992). Besides 
childhood acquisition of the language, other 
attributes of ‘nativeness’ include the ability to 
comprehend and produce idiomatic expressions, 
understand regional and social variations within 
the language, and understand and produce fluent 
and spontaneous discourse (Davies, 2004). The 
term ‘NESTs’ used in this paper is based on the 
attributes proposed by Davies (2004). 
Studies of the employment of NESTs in the 
Vietnamese context 
NESTs have been commonly employed in 
Vietnamese higher education institutions, which 
has been critically examined through research. For 
example, Walkinshaw and Oanh (2012) examined 
the common belief that Vietnamese learners of 
Eglish prefer native-speaker teachers to non-
NESTs in learning English. The study was 
conducted on 50 students from two public 
universities in Vietnam though a survey and an 
open-ended self-report questionnaire. The finding 
was that the participants valued the qualities of an 
English language teacher (namely teaching 
experience, qualifications, friendliness, 
enthusiasm, the ability to interesting informative 
classes, understanding of students’ local culture, 
and advanced English communicative 
competence), and they believed that NESTs 
presented as ideal models of pronunciation 
(Walkinshaw & Oanh, 2012). Walkinshaw and 
Oanh (2014) studied students’ perceptions of the 
employment of native and non-native English 
language teachers in Vietnam and Japan through a 
qualitative short-response questionnaire. The 
Vietnamese group of participants comprised 38 
female and 12 male Vietnamese learners of 
English at an upperintermediate level at two 
universities in Vietnam. The student participants 
from the first university were taught by five 
NESTs (from Australia, New Zealand, and the 
United States), while those from the second were 
taught by three NESTs (from Australia and the 
United States) (Walkinshaw & Oanh, 2014). Their 
findings indicated both drawbacks (such as 
An Giang University Journal of Science – 2019, Vol. 6, 1 – 17 
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difficulty in explaining grammar and tension due 
to cultural differences) and benefits (such as being 
as models of pronunciation and repositories of 
cultural knowledge) in the employment of NESTs 
in teaching English. These studies provide 
background for the understanding of the 
employment of NESTs in teaching English to 
Vietnamese learners. 
Benefits of using NESTs 
The use of NESTs has derived from the possible 
benefits they may offer students. They have been 
believed to have good oral skills, a large stock of 
vocabulary, and knowledge about their own 
culture (Mahboob, 2003; Walkinshaw & Oanh, 
2014). NESTs were viewed by learners as models 
of pronunciation and correct language use with 
experience of their culture (Arva & Medgyes, 
2000; Walkinshaw & Oanh, 2014). Therefore, 
they could be viewed as motivating models for 
learners to imitate and use English (Benke & 
Medgyes, 2005) and have been believed to 
provide an authentic example in learning 
pronunciation and speaking skill (SuriatiJusoh et 
al., 2013). This premise means that NESTs 
provide learners with a native-like environment of 
English communication. 
A number of studies such as Benke and Medgyes 
(2005), Lasagabaster and Sierra (2005) and Wu 
and Ke (2009) on the employment of NESTs 
suggested that NESTs represent a motivating 
figure to encourage learning. For example, Benke 
and Medgyes’s (2005) study of 422 Hungarian 
learners of English at different universities 
revealed that NESTs were friendly lively good 
models for imitation that were skilled at 
encouraging learners to speak. 
Another advantage of NESTs is that they tend to 
put more emphasis on fluency than accuracy, so 
they push learners to use more English because 
NESTs may not be capable of using learners’ 
native language (Şahin, 2005). The findings from 
this study indicated that learners who were 
exposed to NESTs were more successful in 
English lessons than those who were not. 
In addition, NESTs may help learners develop 
positive attitudes towards learning English. 
Reviewing several studies, Şahin (2005) 
suggested that attitude and motivation may help 
learners gain achievement in foreign language 
learning. NESTs can be a source of 
encouragement to students (Wu & Ke, 2009). 
When learners find themselves successful in 
communicating with NESTs, they may have joy 
in learning (Miyazato, 2002). Thus, if learners 
have positive attitudes towards the target 
language, they may be motivated to learn and 
achieve objectives in learning the target language. 
Finally, learners can benefit from learning 
communication skills and cultural knowledge with 
NESTs. In addition to being a model of language, 
NESTs were viewed by learners as a model to 
provide immersion culture (Meadows & 
Muramatsu, 2007). Findings from a study by Ha 
Nam (2010) indicated that the students confirmed 
that regular exposure to NESTs’ teaching helped 
them gain insight into the Western culture. These 
NESTs were viewed as repositories of cultural 
knowledge (Walkinshaw & Oanh, 2014). In other 
words, native speaker teachers appear to be a 
model in learning the culture and speaking. 
Drawbacks of employing NESTs 
Being a native speaker of English does not 
necessarily mean that NESTs can explain the 
linguistic aspects of English. Although NESTs 
were good at spoken communication, they could 
not facilitate good grammar use and could have 
difficulty explaining complex concepts 
(Mahboob, 2003). Findings from a study by 
Wong (2009) indicated that inexperienced and 
untrained NETs were being incapable of 
explaining grammar and vocabulary, and their 
confidence could last for a short period of time 
with anxiety about the length of the course. 
Learners found NESTs poor at explaining 
grammar (Walkinshaw & Oanh, 2014). These 
An Giang University Journal of Science – 2019, Vol. 6, 1 – 17 
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native teachers may find it troublesome to deal 
with lexis and grammar because “sometimes they 
haven’t got the knowledge to explain it” 
(Lasagabaster & Sierra, 2005, p.230). This matter 
means that being able to produce fluent English is 
not necessarily being capable of teaching English 
(e.g., explaining linguistic aspects of the 
language). 
Although NESTs’ cultural background can be 
motivating to learners, it sometimes constrains 
communication. As Arntsen (2017) argued that, 
regards of communication, NESTs may be 
incapable of clearly communicating complex 
ideas and structures to learners in case they lacked 
understanding of the local language. Then, their 
different cultures created tension because learners 
experienced a cultural and communicative gap 
(Walkinshaw & Oanh, 2014). Thus, their 
knowledge about their own culture (e.g., language 
use and cultural values), which is different from 
that of second language learners, can be an 
obstacle to the learning process. (Benke & 
Medgyes, 2005; Millrood, 1999). For example, 
NESTs’ lack of sharing of linguistic and cultural 
background made learners fear NESTs, as found 
in a case study on 13 Japanese university students 
by (Miyazato, 2002). Furthermore, NESTs’ lack 
of insights into the local educational context made 
them fail to establish rapport with learners (Han, 
2005). 
Being able to pronounce English correctly does 
not always imply that NESTs can help learners 
with their pronunciation. Although learners of 
English affirmed that they could benefit NESTs’ 
pronunciation (Benke & Medgyes, 2005), they 
often struggled to comprehend NESTs’ speech. 
Lasagabaster and Sierra’s (2005) participants 
appreciated the exposure to NESTs’ pronunciation 
but pointed out that NESTs often fail to correct 
learners’ own pronunciation. 
Examining the advantages NESTs may offer 
learners and the problems learners may face 
suggests that the employment of NESTs may be 
useful for students’ learning English. The extent 
to which NESTs are helpful to learners depends 
on their quality, whether they possess a body of 
pedagogical knowledge, knowledge of English 
linguistics, learners’ local cultures, and teaching 
experience. 
Possible solutions 
Although NESTs may benefit learners as 
aforementioned, there exist problems that need to 
be solved. First of all, it is necessary to provide 
them with training on pedagogical methodology 
and learners’ culture and difficulties in learning. 
Findings from Ma’s (2012) study suggested that it 
is crucial to increase NESTs’ understanding of 
students’ learning difficulties. NESTs can teach 
effectively if they are qualified with experience 
and appropriate training (Wong, 2009). 
Another solution to the weaknesses of NESTs 
may be engaging them in co-teaching with local 
teachers of English (i.e., non-NESTs). In Chun’s 
(2014) study in Korea, NESTs were attributed to 
linguistic competence while Korean teachers of 
English were viewed as psychologically helpful to 
students and sensitive to students’ needs for their 
shared mother tongue and experience as learners. 
In a review, SuriatiJusoh et al. (2013) also found 
that the learners value “the collaborative teaching 
of native and non-native speaker teachers of the 
language when learning the target language” (p. 
30). These findings suggest that learners can 
benefit from being taught by both NESTs and 
non-NESTs. Liu (2008) suggested that for 
dynamic co-teaching, close attention should be 
paid to “effective collaboration between co-
teachers, their desire to improve learning 
outcomes for their students, and support from 
school administrators and other colleagues” (p. 
115). 
Based on the problems with NESTs as 
aforementioned, it may be necessary to have a 
process for quality assurance of English courses 
taught by NESTs. This is an administrative 
procedure that leads to continuous improvement 
An Giang University Journal of Science – 2019, Vol. 6, 1 – 17 
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of teaching. The process may include establishing 
standards for recruitment, monitoring their 
teaching practice through the use of students’ 
formative feedback, and support for improvement. 
3. RESEARCH METHOD 
NESTs have been employed to teach English for 
high-quality programmes at University A, which 
is a member university of Vietnam National 
University – Ho Chi Minh City (considered as the 
centre of high-quality tertiary education 
institutions in Ho Chi Minh City). It has about 
360 academics and administrative staff. In 2018, 
the number of students was around 6,800, ranging 
from undergraduate to postgraduate levels. The 
study institution’s organisation includes the Board 
of Rectors as top management which administers 
faculties, departments, and centres. The 
Department of Foreign Languages is responsible 
for teaching Business English and Academic 
English to all students. 
The institution’s high quality programs are of two 
types: the first programme (called C) includes 
40% of basic and specialised courses delivered in 
English; the second one (called CA) most courses 
(except Marxism and Leninism) delivered in 
English. NESTs are employed to teach intensive 
English (generally speaking skills) to help 
learners in these programmes prepare for other 
courses in English. The speaking course lasts 45 
hours. The courses of intensive English recruit 
learners (mostly freshmen) from various 
disciplines. These NESTs are from English 
speaking countries such as Australia, Britain, the 
United States of America, and Ireland. The 
research question the study aims to answer is: 
What are stakeholders’ (students and relevant 
administrators) perceptions of employing native 
English-speaking teachers to teach English in 
high quality programmes? 
The study used a qualitative case study which 
provides insights into the meaning of social 
phenomena in natural settings (Merriam, 2001b). 
It examined what the stakeholders perceived of 
employing native English-speaking teachers to 
teach English in high-quality programmes. 
Because it was exploratory in nature, the study 
was conducted within the constructivist paradigm, 
which depicts relativist reality, a subjectivist 
epistemological stance, and a naturalistic 
methodology (Denzin & Lincoln, 2011). The 
study aimed to understand the meaning 
constructed by these stakeholders through their 
experience with NESTs in the process of teaching 
and learning academic English. In other words, 
the authors acknowledged that “knowledge is 
socially constructed” by the participants (Mertens, 
2005, p. 12), which suggested diverse 
interpretations of the reality (Mertens, 2005; 
Stake, 2010). Therefore, the research context 
facilitates a case study within the constructivist 
paradigm (Yin, 2009). 
The employment of NESTs has raised concerns 
on teaching quality. University A was chosen 
because it employs NESTs, which provides 
convenience in sampling. For recruiting the most 
productive sample to address the research 
question, purposive sampling was used (Marshall, 
1996). The criteria to select the student 
participants included their attendance in the 
speaking course of academic English taught by 
NESTs and their registration for the high quality 
programme. Participants were 65 freshmen (15 
males and 50 females aged 18) who enrolled in 
2017 high quality programmes, namely the so-
called CA programmes whereby most courses are 
delivered in English. Students from different 
disciplines registered for the intensive courses in 
Academic English. These students’ level of 
English proficiency varied, around 54 of the 
participants had scored from 5.0 to 5.5 on IELTS 
tests while 11 others were at pre-intermediate 
level (around 4.0 scores on IELTS tests). Leader 
participants included four leaders including a 
member of Board of Rectors (MBR), two 
administrative leaders in quality assurance (LQA) 
and academic affairs (LAA), and a departmental 
leader (DL). These leader participants’ 
An Giang University Journal of Science – 2019, Vol. 6, 1 – 17 
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responsibilities included administering the high 
quality programme and have assessed to student 
feedback on NESTs’ teaching. Therefore, their 
administrative viewpoints could be relevant for 
being triangulated with data from student 
participants. 
Data were collected for the study through a self-
report questionnaire in English (see Appendix A) 
which were delivered to 65 students. The 
questionnaire focused on the participants’ 
expectations from learning with NESTs, benefits, 
problems, and solutions. These guided open 
questions were relevant to elicit these 
stakeholders’ general perceptions of employing 
NESTs. The themes that mi