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Against the Non-native Argument

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I read a lot on the native v non-native argument. If you are not familiar with it, it is the argument that non-native English teachers are discriminated against in favour of native speaker teachers. I personally am against this discrimination inasmuch as I think that a native-speaker teacher is not a better teacher than a non-native speaker teacher simply by means of being a ‘native’ speaker. Although I am in principle against this discrimination, I am also against much of what I read on the argument in defense and promotion of non-native speakers. There are several reasons why I think we need a change in strategy in this argument, irrespective of our individual view on it. Native and non-native don’t exist. To lose this distinction we need to stop using these terms, not use them more. Once we try to define what a ‘native’ speaker is and what a ‘non-native’ speaker is we can’t reach a firm idea which encompasses all the messy realities of our lives today. They are helpf