ESL students’ reverse linguistic stereotyping of English teachers

• Published in: ELT journal Vol. 75; no. 3; pp. 330 - 340
• Main Authors: Ghanem, Romy, Kang, Okim
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: UK Oxford University Press 01-07-2021
• ISSN: 0951-0893; 1477-4526
• DOI: 10.1093/elt/ccab011

Abstract
Reverse linguistic stereotyping (RLS) has been shown to affect students’ attitudes towards non-native teachers as well as their performance and retention of information. This study investigates ESL students’ preconceived ideas about non-native English teachers. Seventy-one students enrolled in an intensive English programme at a southwestern university in the United States listened to two speech samples produced by an advanced non-native speaker. Using a matched guise technique, students were led to believe that there were two speakers: a Caucasian teacher and an East Asian one. Students showed proclivity to RLS as measured by their speech evaluations, their comprehension scores, and their teaching competence ratings. These findings help better understand learners’ perceptions of language proficiency and teaching competence of a non-native teacher in the context of globalization.