Universty students' perceptions related to native and nonnative teachers of English

This study aimed to find out university students' general perceptions with regard to native English speaking teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs), the strengths and weaknesses attributed to these teachers, whom the students prefer, and the probable reasons for their preferences. In addition, it aimed to investigate whether certain variables such as number of years of English education students have had, their perceived level of English, and being abroad have an impact on students' perceptions. It collected data from English Preparatory Programme students of two private universities in Turkey. The questionnaire developed by Al Omrani (2008) was used as the main data collection tool. Two open-ended questions were added to the questionnaire. Of the quantitative research methods, survey-based research design was employed in this study. The study revealed that NESTs were considered to be better at oral skills such as speaking, pronunciation, and fluency. On the other hand, NNESTs were found to better teach grammar and vocabulary thanks to explanations in students' first language. Content analysis demonstrated that both NESTs and NNESTs are believed to have strengths and weaknesses, and both were considered to help students in various ways. Students preferred to have both groups of teachers.