Teachers’ and Students’ Attitudes towards Native and Non-Native English Language Teachers

The current study mainly aimed to identify students’ and teachers’ attitudes concerning native speaker (NS) English language teachers and non-native speaker (NNS) English language teachers, at the English Preparatory School (EPS) at Eastern Mediterranean University (EMU). In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of NS English language teachers and NNS English language teachers were noted. In this case study, a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection was employed. The participants included thirty EPS teachers and ninety-eight pre-intermediate and intermediate level EPS students. The data was collected through teacher and student questionnaires as well as interviews. The results of the study revealed that NS English language teachers and NNS English language teachers have various strengths and weaknesses. From the perspective of the students, the results indicated that the major strength of NS English language teachers is their pronunciation and accent, whilst their foremost weakness is their teaching abilities of English grammar. In contrast, the leading strength of NNS teachers is their teaching of English grammar and the main weakness is their pronunciation and accent. In relation to the teachers’ perspective, the results showed that the major strength of NS English language teachers is their pronunciation and accent, whereas, their leading weakness is their knowledge of grammar rules. Moreover, the key strength of NNS English language teachers is their previous experience in learning a second language, while their major drawback is pronunciation and accent. Overall, the students were found to have more positive attitudes about NS English language teachers. However, the teachers believed that it is irrelevant whether a teacher is a NS or a NNS, providing that they can teach effectively. Keywords: native speaker (NS) English language teacher, non-native speaker (NNS) English language teacher, students’ attitudes, teachers’ attitudes