Still More on << native fever >>

Member Catherine's  contribution : 

Thank you Elena for sending this excellent interview with David Crystal, I fully agree with everything he says.

I also agree with Christa, BUT (and I imagine this 'but' is not going to make me very popular!) I would also add the following:

- It is clear that in order to teach a language it is not enough just to be a NS; I would have thought it's many years since employers in Spain hired teachers (native or otherwise) with no teaching qualifications, but I may be wrong.

- Graduates in English Philology/English Studies tend to think that this alone qualifies them to teach English. In my view, it doesn't; you learn a lot about English, but very little about how to teach it.

- After more than 30 years' teaching in both the private and public sectors in Spain, my own view is that a degree in English Philology/English Studies from a Spanish University is no guarantee, unfortunately, of a C2 level (or even C1), whatever the 'tablas de equivalencia' may say.

So without wishing to cause offence, I'd like to suggest the following scenario:

Suppose you wanted to hire someone to teach Spanish as a foreign language, in any country in the world, and you had to choose between two candidates. All things being equal (degree in Spanish, teaching qualifications and experience, references and so on) who would you choose: the NS of the students' own language with a degree in Spanish from, say, a British university? or the NS of Spanish with a degree in Spanish plus a good knowledge of the students' language?

To put it another way: would the Instituto Cervantes hire me, or a native Spanish speaker with equivalent qualifications and experience? Should I feel discriminated? (I don't :-) )

Just some food for thought.

Best regards

Catherine Miler Farrand

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