A Comparison Study of Native English-Speaking Teachers (NESTs) and Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers (Non-NESTs) in the Oral English Classroom

The study examines the teaching behavior of five NESTs and five non-NESTs in the oral English classroom through the researcher's observation of the participants' lessons, aiming to find out the similarities and differences between the teaching behavior of the two types of teachers. Moreover, through analyzing students' questionnaire, the study shows the students' attitudes and preference. The study finds that NESTs and non-NESTs vary mainly in their English language competence, cultural knowledge, grammatical awareness, classroom atmosphere, use of textbooks, empathy with the students and theme-based teaching method. The study also finds that 81% of the student participants prefer to have a NEST as the oral English teacher due to four major reasons: superb target language, abundant cultural contents, lively atmosphere, and authentic environment to speak the target language. The study suggests that both NESTs and non-NESTs would be worth more to the learners if each type can borrow the strong points from their counterparts and minimize their weaknesses.