Author : Rania Helal
Source : MA Dissertation
Date of Publication : 01/2010
Abstract :
The study investigated the perceptions of NESTs, NNESTs and administrators of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) at six Further Education (FE) Colleges in Tyneside area. The primary areas of investigation were “discrimination between ESOL NESTs and NNESTs”, “NESTs’ and NNESTs’ self- perceptions”, “Strength and Weaknesses of NESTs and NNESTs” and “Administrators’ beliefs and hiring practices”. Questionnaires were administrated to 33 NESTs and 12 NNESTs, as well as 7 administrators’ responsible for ESOL teachers’ recruitment at the colleges. Semi- structured interviews were also conducted with 5 NESTs, 6 NNESTS and 5 administrators. The results showed that overall; NNESTs did not feel direct discrimination in their workplace. An interesting finding was that the NNESTs’ responses showed that they were confident in their linguistic and teaching skills. Overall, the NNESTs were seen as grammar experts and their language learning experience was considered an asset for ESOL students.
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