[etni] Re: native speakers
- From: "penny" <penny@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <etni@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 24 Jul 2004 19:57:20 +0300
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I'm usually a 'lurker' on the list, but goaded into a response by the latest
correspondence about native speakers.
The main issue is, as Fay rightly says, whether the teachers are 'good
teachers, who care about their students and do their best to get the kids to
get to the highest level of English the pupils are cabable of!' I agree that
the definition 'good teachers' includes being highly competent speakers of
English themselves, but not that it necessarily implies being a 'native'.
The generalizations that have been made about non-native speakers in the
recent correspondence, as if they are by definition inferior speakers of
English, are unjustified, and insulting to many teachers. There are
certainly non-native-speaker teachers who make mistakes; there are also many
who don't. I can think of several non-native-speaker teachers of my
acquaintance who speak English as fluently and correctly as I (a 'native
speaker') do.
Surely the vital point, as regards level of English, is whether a teacher
uses the language correctly and fluently, not whether or not they were
originally born or brought up in an English speaking country.
Penny
Penny Ur
Moshav Amnun 106
ISRAEL 12392
++972 4 6801460, ++972 51 917416
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