Critical Analysis of Research Article Notions of Non-native Teachers in Costa Rican Language Schools By: Ana Rodríguez. Question 1 Gonzalo Sierra Question 2 and 3 Esmeralda Bernard Question 4 Mitzy Castillo Question 5

What is the research topic? Notions of Non-native Teachers in Costa Rican Language Schools Provides the perceptions towards native and non-native teachers of different languages. the native speaker fallacy notion exists in these schools’ populations because most coordinators, teachers and students still believe the ideal language teacher is a native speaker of that language.

Why is this topic of interest to theorists and practitioners in language learning and/or teaching? Gives information for the need of equal treatment in the language teaching field. There is a strong belief that having native speakers as language teachers is the best policy.

What are the possible theoretical and/or practical contributions and implications? Raise awareness that it does not matter if the professor is native or non – native speaker the language is more valuable the experience and knowledge they have at the moment to teach the language.

What do we know about this topic from previous research?

What does the author of the study hope to add to what we already know? The assumption that native speakers are better language teachers than non-native speakers is a common myth in the teaching-learning field in spite of the language. There is a general misconception that anybody can become a language teacher as long as he or she is a native speaker, even if this person does not have the required degree or certification. However, it is not fair for a proficient, prepared and experienced non-native teacher to be rejected because a qualified or unqualified native speaker is believed to do a better job.

What were the research questions. Were these questions too general What were the research questions? Were these questions too general? Were they specific enough to answer? Research Questions Coordinators Teachers Students Specific

Question 2: Research Approach Research approach chosen: qualitative and quantitative Method of data acquisition: questionnaire and interview 272 participants (teachers, coordinators and students) in 7 institutions The right question never appeared in the instrument: “How is the nativeness [of the teachers] determined?”

Question 3: Data validity Data was collected and analyzed in an efficient and effective manner: by questionnaire and interviews Personally I liked how he cross-referenced his insights with other research studies, taking into account other people’s work Data had all angles covered, even revealing information beyond research questions

Side-note regarding the instrument At first, the research instrument appeared to be passive or weak, without including the research question However, it is important not to bias an opinion The solution for this is having a “passive” first page, with a more “inquisitive” second page This way we would kill two birds with one stone. Raising awareness as well as answering the research questions

FINDING Finding out what teachers, program administrators and students think of no native speaking teachers. It was found out that the requirements for hiring language teacher vary. In one it is an institutional policy to hire only native speakers teachers.

WHAT CONCLUSIONS DOES THE AUTHOR DRAW? They should hold a university degree although not necessarily relative to language teaching. They need to have a language certification because the school doesn’t provide any teacher training.

WHERE THE CONCLUSIONS DRAW BASED ON THE FINDING? Native speakers are experts in their mother tongue. They have the believe that with native teacher they will learn better. They think that a non- native teacher does not know the language well.

DID THE AUTHOR MAKE SOME CONCLUSIONS WHICH ARE MERELY BASED ON HIS GUESSES? Non- native speakers can also be good language teachers. There are non native teachers who can be more qualified and have more experience than native

DID THE RECOMMENDATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS FOLLOW LOGICALLY FROM THE FINDING? If the teacher really know English, his nationality does not matter. He went to Begin school and he learned French from a non- native teacher and she was very excellent. It depends on how they teach rather than were they are from. Non-native speakers are preferred to teach grammar and beginners while native speakers are favored to teach advance levels, oral expressions and culture.

5 What suggestion does the author make for future research?   More research about language teaching in different languages, especially those that are becoming popular. Investigate the perceptions toward native teachers and non- native teachers at the university level, in the country would be a great value. The number of language teachers increase day by day all around the world.

Were they justifiable?   I consider they were not justifiable because it is important being update about student learning results and the research they do it`s just about preferences of coordinators, students and teachers about native and non-native speakers of the language, with certifications or without it. Finally depend on schools policies on hiring teachers.

What questions about the study would you like to ask the author? Why does the author choose a total of 58 teachers to complete the questionnaire and 39 of them were native speaker of the language and 19 teachers were non-native speakers of the language? I think the result about native and non-native speaking teachers are not equal.

What critical observations would you make? In the appendix A for coordinators, B for teachers and C for students, the second questions should have written… who you think a student generally prefers to have as language teacher. A non-native speaker with certification, experience and speaking competence. A native speaker with certifications, and experience. No preferences It is a neutral example to collect data.