In this article about the history of preferential hiring practices favoring native English-speaking teachers over non-native speakers, the authors explain the development of this discriminatory tendency in the English language teaching (ELT) field. In addition to documenting the history and research findings, the article summarizes some of the different linguistic, sociocultural, and pedagogical strengths and weaknesses offered by both native English-speaking and non-native English-speaking teachers.
It also includes a discussion of effective strategies that help combat the practice. The strategies include advocacy within regional and national associations to raise awareness of the practice; proactive efforts to address and disrupt discriminatory hiring practices by employers; campaigns to build networking opportunities to increase equitable employment opportunities; and strong commitments by employers to promote non-discriminatory professional environments for all English language teachers regardless of their native language or place of birth.
