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The Attitudes of University Students towards Non-native Speakers English Teachers in Hong Kong

Purdue University USA, ycheung{at}purdue.edu

George Braine

The Chinese University of Hong Kong, georgebraine{at}cuhk.edu.hk

Although non-native speakers (NNS) English teachers have taught alongside native speaker (NS) teachers for centuries, studies on the effectiveness of NNS teachers, their self-perceptions, or the attitudes of students towards these teachers, have only been conducted recently. Most of these studies have been conducted in the USA in ESL contexts. However, the majority of students worldwide learn English in foreign language (EFL) contexts, and, consequently, most English teachers work in such contexts too. This paper reports on a study conducted in Hong Kong which investigated the attitudes of university students towards their NNS English teachers. The students were queried through a questionnaire and interviews. On the whole, the students had a favorable attitude towards their NNS English teachers, although some shortcomings were indicated. Third (final) year students appeared to have a more favorable attitude than first year students. The reasons for the students' attitudes are discussed.

Key Words: Effectiveness • EFL • English teachers • ESL • native speaker • non-native speaker.

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RELC Journal, Vol. 38, No. 3, 257-277 (2007)
DOI: 10.1177/0033688207085847


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Ling, C. Y. Articles by Braine, G. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?