Competence & Legitimacy in English Language Teaching
Student Name: James Corcoran
Statement of the Problem
“I went for this job interview and so did a British teacher. They hired him of course and paid him like
fifteen reais [$8] more just 'cause he was a native [speaker of English]” (Corcoran, 2008).
During my career as an English as a second language (ESL) and English as a foreign language
(EFL) teacher and researcher in Canada and Brazil, I have benefited as a Native English-speaking
teacher from the widely held belief among administrators, teachers and students that Native Englishspeaking teachers (NESTs) are better teachers of English than Non-native English-speaking teachers
(NNESTs). A large body of recent theoretical and empirical research has shown this assertion to be
highly problematic yet many teachers in global English language teaching (ELT) are still adversely
affected by such beliefs. Findings from my SSHRC-sponsored MA research point to being a native
speaker or like a native speaker, or “nativeness/near-nativeness”, central to positive administrator,
teacher, and student beliefs regarding EFL teachers. Stemming from these findings, questions arise, such
as, is being a native English-speaking teacher or "nativeness" a valid competency?; which other
teacher competencies are considered important to administrators, teachers, and students?; and do
these competencies match pedagogical research on effective teaching practices?
My proposed study explores the intersections between sociological issues of legitimacy and
pedagogical ones of competence in English Language Teaching by investigating the extent to which
teacher assessment is based on ideological constructs (e.g. nativeness) as opposed to pedagogical
research. My study aims to increase understanding of phenomena surrounding practicing ESL/EFL
teachers’ competence and legitimacy in Canadian and Brazilian ELT by investigating administrator,
teacher, and student beliefs at private Canadian and Brazilian ESL/EFL schools.
Theoretical Context
Robert Phillipson’s Linguistic Imperialism (1992) first outlined what would become a widespread
critique of the hegemonic nature of the global English Language Teaching enterprise, specifically the
notion that English is best taught by a native English speaker. Building on Phillipson’s critique of global
ELT, many researchers have since expanded on the description of sociopolitical and socioeconomic
consequences of this fallacy (Braine, 2003; Canagarajah, 1999; Pennycook, 1994). Despite a welldocumented subordinate role for NNESTs in global ELT (Canagarajah, 2005; Pennycook, 2001),
research points to the many cognitive and affective advantages of NNESTs over NESTs in ESL/EFL
contexts (Cook, 2005; Medgyes, 1994; Schweers, 1999). In the past 15 years there has been an
expanding body of research into the practice of NEST versus NNEST practitioners in ESL/EFL contexts
(Arva & Medgyes, 2000; Blyth, 2003; Dormer, 2006), including large-scale quantitative studies
revealing administrator preference for hiring NESTs (Clark & Paran, 2007; Medgyes, 1994). My
proposed study aims to address a lack of descriptive research into the pedagogical phenomena
surrounding "nativeness" and its connection to teacher competency and legitimacy, thereby
contributing to the knowledge base regarding global English Language Teaching by focusing on
the Canadian ESL and Brazilian EFL contexts.
Research Questions
1) What is the nature of administrator, teacher, and student beliefs regarding which factors
(competencies) contribute to a "good" ESL/EFL teacher?
2) What do stakeholders think are the most important competencies for teachers and why?
3) Which teacher competencies can be considered valid for inclusion in a teacher assessment rubric for
private ESL/EFL institutions?
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Competence & Legitimacy in English Language Teaching
Student Name: James Corcoran
Research Methodology
The sites for this proposed comparative study are two private ESL/EFL schools (that employ
both NESTs and NNESTs) located in cosmopolitan centres in Central Canada and Southeastern Brazil.
The sample size (N) will be approximately 16 teachers, 16 students, and 8 administrators. A mixed
methods approach will be used with qualitative data collection tools complementing quantitative ones,
thereby gaining greater insight into the issues than is possible from a single method approach (Greene,
Caracelli & Graham, 1989). The first phase of data collection will consist of teacher and student online
surveys distributed to two different schools in Canada and Brazil, leading to the selection of participants
for observations, interviews and focus groups. From the two selected schools, eight teachers of adults,
four administrators, and eight adult students will be chosen for comprehensive, semi-structured
interviews. The eight teachers will comprise of two NEST and NNEST sub-groups. Following
interviews, administrator and teacher focus group discussions will be held, consisting of one with the
two sub-groups as well as one with the group of teachers as a whole. The comprehensive administrator,
teacher and student interviews and focus groups will provide rich, detailed qualitative data to
complement quantitative data collected in the online surveys. Online surveys, interviews, and focus
groups will be administered in English or Portuguese, depending on the participants’ preferences and
English proficiency. NVivo 8 software will be employed in order to aid in qualitative and descriptive
statistical analysis of the findings.
Significance
Each year, hundreds of thousands of students study at the thousands of private English as a
second language/foreign language (ESL/EFL) schools in Canada and Brazil. Among other nationalities,
Canadians are among the thousands who teach English in the private language industry both at home
and abroad. Research at such for-profit educational institutions is scarce, however, and my proposed
research promises a significant contribution to knowledge benefiting the academic community,
practitioners, and the participating institutions. This comparative, mixed methods research will (a)
provide insight into the possible gap between the pedagogical research and the actual administrator,
teacher and student beliefs regarding teacher competence; (b) allow for a greater understanding of the
variables that contribute to administrators', teachers’, and students’ positioning regarding competent
ESL/EFL teacher practice; and (c) provide insight into the differences between an ESL and EFL context.
For participating institutions, it will (i) provide a better understanding of what teachers, students, and
administrators view as competent/effective EFL teaching practices; and (ii) contribute to producing a
just, uniform in-service teacher assessment rubric(s). In addition, through dissemination of findings, this
research has the potential to influence teacher assessment and teacher education policy at participating
institutions as well as in the broader Canadian, Brazilian, and international ESL/EFL milieux.
Qualifications
My ten years’ experience as an ESL/EFL teacher and teacher educator in Canada and Brazil,
intricate knowledge of the teaching and learning context under investigation, and Portuguese fluency
ideally suit me to carry out this research. Further, during the past four years, internal and external grants
have afforded me the chance to present my work at international conferences where I have established
meaningful contacts with academics, teachers, and administrators at private Canadian ESL and Brazilian
EFL schools. My research and teaching experience, multilingualism, and professional connections put
me in good stead to significantly contribute to academic knowledge through my research under the
supervision of Dr. Jim Cummins and Dr. Antoinette Gagne.
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Student Name: James Corcoran
Bibliography
Abrahão, M. H. & Barcelos, A. M. (2006). Crenças e ensino de línguas. Campinas, Brazil: Pontes.
Arva, V. & Medgyes, P. (2000). Native and Non-native teachers in the classroom. System, 28 (3), 355372.
Blyth, C. (2003). The Sociolinguistics of foreign language classrooms: Contributions of the Native,
Non-native, and Near-native speakers. Boston, MA: Heinle.
Bohn, H. (2003). The educational role and status of English in Brazil. World Englishes, 22 (2), 159-172.
Braine, G. (2003). Non-native educators in English language teaching. Newark, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Braine, G. (2005). A history of research on non-native speaker English teachers. In E. Llurda (Ed.) Nonnative language teachers: Perspectives, challenges and contributions to the profession.
New York: Springer.
Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Resisting linguistic imperialism in language teaching. Oxford, UK: Oxford
University Press.
Canagarajah, A. S. (2005). Interrogating the native speaker fallacy. In E. Llurda (Ed.) Non-native
language teachers: Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession. New York:
Springer.
Caracelli, V. J. & Green, J. C. (1997). Crafting mixed method evaluation designs. In J. C. Greene & V.
J. Caracelli (Eds.), Advances in mixed-method evaluation: The Challenges and benefits of
integrating diverse paradigms. New Directions for Evaluation. 74, 19-32. San Francisco, CA:
Jossey-Bass.
Clark, E. L. and Paran, A (2007) 'The employability of non-native-speaker teachers of EFL: A UK
survey', System 35, 407-430.
Cook, V. (2005). Basing teaching on the L2 User. In E. Llurda (Ed.) Non-native language teachers:
Perceptions, challenges and contributions to the profession. New York: Springer.
Corcoran, J. (2008). L1 in the L2 Classroom: Framing Brazilian EFL teacher beliefs and practices.
MA Thesis: University of Toronto.
Creswell, J.W. & Plano-Clark, V.L. (2007). Designing and conducting mixed-methods research.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Dormer, J. (2006). The perfect blend? Native and non-native English-speaking teachers in Brazil and
Indonesia. Doctoral dissertation: University of Toronto.
Greene, J. C., Caracelli, V. J. & Graham, W. F. (1989). Toward a conceptual framework for mixedmethod evaluation design. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 1, 255-274.
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Student Name: James Corcoran
Howatt, A. (1984). A history of English language teaching. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Llurda, E. (2004). Non-native speaker teachers and English as an international language. International
Journal of Applied Linguistics, 14 (3), 314-323.
Medgyes, P. (1994). The non-native teacher. London: Macmillan.
Miles, M. B. & Huberman, A. M. (1994). Qualitative data analysis: An expanded source book.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Pennycook, A. (1994). The Cultural Politics of English as an International Language. Longman:
London
Pennycook, A. (2001). Critical applied linguistics: A critical introduction. Longman: New York.
Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Rajagopalan, K. (2000). Critical pedagogy and linguistic imperialism in the EFL context. TESOL
Journal, 9 (4), 5-6.
Rajagopalan, K. (2005). Non-native speaker teachers of English and their anxieties: Ingredients for an
experiment in action research. In E. Llurda (Ed.) Non-native language teachers: Perceptions,
challenges and contributions to the profession. New York: Springer.
Rajagopalan, K. & Rajagopalan, C. (2005). The English language in Brazil—a boon or a bane? In G.
Braine (Ed.) Teaching English to the World.
Schweers Jr., W. (1999). Using L1 in the L2 classroom. English Teaching Forum, 3, 6-13.
Tajino, A. & Tajino, Y. (2000). Native and Non-native: What can they offer? ELT Journal, 54 (1), 3-11.
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Student Name: James Corcoran
Research Contributions
Refereed Contributions
Corcoran, J. N. (Forthcoming). Social capital and birthright: Gringo English and English teaching in
Brazil. In The Gringo Studies Reader (Ed) Samuel Veissiere. Durham, NC: Duke University
Press.
Other Refereed Contributions
Corcoran, J. N. (2009). The Political Economy of English Language Teaching. Latin America Studies
Association Conference Proceedings, pp. 221-239. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh
Press.
Corcoran, J. N. (2009). Rethinking L1 Use in the ESL/EFL Classroom. Contact, 35(1), pp. 8-13.
Corcoran, J. N. (2008). L1 in the L2 Classroom: Framing Brazilian Teacher Beliefs and Practices. MA
Thesis. Toronto: University of Toronto.
Corcoran, J. N. (2007). L1 in the L2 Classroom: Framing NNES EFL Teacher Beliefs and Practices—
Thesis Proposal. The 1st International ABRAPUI Conference Proceedings, pp. 16-29. Belo
Horizonte: Prensa Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais.
Corcoran, J. N. (2007). What do they know of English, those who only English know? NNES teachers
in ELT. The 7th Annual Ontario Institute for Studies in Education-University of Toronto Dean’s
Graduate Student Research Conference Proceedings, pp. 41-68. Toronto: University of
Toronto Press.
Corcoran, J. & Galindo, M. (2010, September). L1 Use in the SL/FL Classroom. Paper presented at
The European Second Language Association Conference, Reggio Emilia, Italy.
Corcoran, J. (2009, October). Critical Language Teacher Education. Paper presented at the Southern
Cone TESOL Conference, Santiago, Chile.
Corcoran, J. (2009, June). The Political Economy of English Language Teaching in Latin America.
Paper presented at the Latin America Studies Association Conference, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Corcoran, J. (2009, May). Rethinking L1 Use in the ESL Classroom. Paper presented at the British
Columbia Teachers of English as an Additional Language Conference, Vancouver, B.C.
Corcoran, J. (2009, March). NNESTs in Focus: L1 Use in the EFL Classroom. Paper presented at the
American Association of Applied Linguistics Conference, Denver, CO
Corcoran, J. (2008, July). L1: Why do we use it? Paper presented as a guest lecturer at The State
University of Bahia, Salvador, Brazil.
Corcoran, J. (2008, July). L1 in the L2 Classroom: Teacher beliefs and practices. Paper presented
at the Brazilian Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Conference, Federal
University of Ceara, Fortaleza, Brazil.
Corcoran, J. (2008, June). L1 in the L2 Classroom: NNES teacher beliefs and practices. Paper
presented at the Canadian Association of Applied Linguistics Association Conference, UBC,
Vancouver, B.C.
Corcoran, J. (2008, April). Linguistic Imperialism Reinvented: Asymmetrical Power Relations in
Brazilian ELT. Paper presented at the 9th Annual Texas Foreign Language Education
Conference, Austin, TX
Corcoran, J. (2008, April). L1 in the L2 classroom: Framing Brazilian teachers of adults’ beliefs and
practices. Paper presented at the MLC Informal Seminar Series, OISE, Toronto, ON
Corcoran, J. (2008, March). Linguistic Imperialism in Brazilian ELT: Myth or match? Paper presented
at the 52nd Annual Comparative and International Education Society Conference, New York,
NY
Corcoran, J. (2008, March). L1 in the FL Classroom: Brazilian Teacher Beliefs and Practices. Paper
presented at 7th Annual McGill Education Graduate Student Society Conference, Montreal, QC
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Corcoran, J. (2008, February). Brazilian ELT: Market demand or linguistic imperialism? Paper
presented at the 8th Annual OISE Dean’s Graduate Student Research Conference, Toronto,
ON
Corcoran, J. (2007, October). L1 in the L2 Classroom: Framing NNES EFL Teacher Beliefs and
Practices (Initial Findings). Paper presented at the 5th International ANUPI Conference, Puerto
Vallarta, Mexico
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