Friedeman 1

Elizabeth Friedeman

C&T 598- Dr. Cho

12 June 2017

Nonnative Teachers in the Expanding Circle and the Ownership of English by Yoo

Quote: Having argued forrecognizing nonnative teachers as the only ideal teachers, I

would also submit that in practice, native teachers and nonnative teachers should maintain a

symbiotic relationship in which native teachers respect nonnative teachers for having

experienced the reality of English for people learning it and nonnative teachers in turn respect

native teachers for having the ownership of the language.

The authors call for a symbiotic relationship between native teachers and nonnative

teachers, recognizing their role as the ideal teacher and their ownership of English respectively,

resonates with what I have experienced at Kyunghwas EB High school. The native speaker

Dionne teaches the class alongside a nonnative faculty member, the co-teacher. These co-

teachers help Dionne and the class in negotiating meaning especially since the English levels of

the EB girls vary widely. I think that Dionne and her co-teachers have a symbiotic relationship

because the co-teachers give Dionne the floor in terms of what she teaches, or what and how she

corrects the students. Thus, the co-teachers recognize Dionnes English ownership as a native

speaker. The co-teachers presence, if he or she is doing a good job of facilitating English input

and output and not fostering reliance on their translation, tacks on the added benefits of

nonnative speakers as the ideal teachers. The co-teachers better understand the hardships the

students face, so they know what to emphasize and help with. Furthermore, it seems to me that

the co-teachers can serve as examples and inspiration to the students. They show that Koreans
 Friedeman 2

can learn to comprehend and speak English, which may help students when they find English

learning too daunting or impossible.

Regarding native ownership of the language, I often think about the EB co-teacher and

morning English presenter Ruth. Despite Ruth being a nonnative English teacher, I might

consider her an owner of the English language. Though I am not certain, I heard that she lived

abroad for a while and thus probably became very familiar with the nuances of the English

language. While I can see the authors point of ownership to inner and outer circle speakers, I

think delineating English ownership in such a black and white way does not exactly apply to

situations in which a Korean like Ruth, or other expanding circle teachers, can claim ownership

to English.

Question: If nonnative teachers are the ideal teachers for English in the EFL context, then does

this translate to other languages in the U.S.? For instance, nonnative Spanish-speakers teaching

Spanish in the American classroom? What are the advantages and disadvantages?