May 2022
NNEST Newsletter

LEADERSHIP UPDATES

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

Mai Mowafy, Al-Azhar University, Cairo, Egypt


Dear NNEST-IS colleagues,

I was honored to serve as the chair of NNEST IS for (2021-2022) and as the Chair-elect for 2020-2021. This was really an enriching experience that enabled me to learn and exchange experience with English language teachers and scholars all over the world. First and foremost, I would like to thank the steering committee members for their great efforts and their invaluable input all through the past year. Special thanks are due to Dr. Doaa Rashid, the immediate past chair, for her help and sincere guidance. I would like to extend my gratitude to our newsletter editors, Mariana Hermandes Grassi and Merve Aydın for their great efforts and dedication.

Our world has experienced hard times with Covid 19 pandemic. Our thoughts and prayers go to those who have experienced loss and illness during these times. Despite the pandemic, I am proud of what NNEST IS has achieved this year. The NNEST-IS offered three webinars: the first one was on The Multi-layered Nature of Becoming Non-Native English-Speaking Teacher with Professor Jasper Kun-Ting Hsieh & Professor Xuesong (Andy) Gao. The second webinar was on Decolonizing English: why & how, with Professor K.N. Anandan, and the third one was on Decolonizing English: Recentering Practice in Professional Identity Constructions, with Professor Rashi Jain.

Moreover, the NNEST-IS steering committee organized two sessions at the 2022 TESOL Convention: the first one is NNEST IS Academic Session in 2022 titled "Dealing with Tensions as TESOL Practitioners or Teacher-Scholars" with Professor Zia Tajeddin & Professor Bedritten Yazan. The intersection session is titled “NNEST IS Intersection Session 2022- "Discriminatory Hiring Practices against NNEST: Practical and Ideological Concerns" with SunYung Song, Fatmeh Waleed & Basher AlHariri, as well as Aracili Salas, in collaboration with Social Solidarity IS and English as a Foreign Language IS.

We plan to expand our understanding of NNEST identities and praxis by attending to transnational intersectional aspects and decolonial perspectives. We also hope to reach out to a wider range of audience and engage them to participate with us so that we can raise the awareness on NNEST issues. The NNEST-IS executive board is committed to the cultivation of nondiscriminatory environments for all teachers and learners of English as a Second or Foreign Language.

Finally, We would like to invite you to join the community by filling in the form here. We would like you to join our Facebook group here to stay connected with us.

Best wishes,

Mai Mowafy.

Mai Mowafy is a lecturer of Linguistics & Translation at the Department of English Language, Literature and Simultaneous Interpretation, Faculty of Humanities, Al-Azhar University in Cairo. She was previously a visiting scholar at University of Maryland, Baltimore County & New York University. Her areas of research include discourse studies, critical discourse analysis, and multimodal discourse analysis as well as translation studies. She is also a freelance Interpreter and Translator who co-published eight translated books so far.

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR-ELECT

Cristina Sánchez-Martín, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA


Dear colleagues in the NNESTs IS community,

I hope this letter finds you and your loved ones well and safe in wherever part of the world you are.This year (2021-2022), I have served as Chair-elect under the guidance of Mai Mowafy NNEST-IS Immediate Past Chair, whose important role and contributions I want to acknowledge, especially as she took on the role of Chair during the pandemic. Mai has been a wonderful colleague and mentor during this year and I am honored to build on her work. I want to sincerely thank her for her guidance and support all through the year. I also want to thank Marina Hernandez Grassi and Merve Aydin, the newsletter co-editors, for their excellent work putting together this issue.

As part of my role as Chair-elect during the 2021-2022 academic year, I had the opportunity to organize a webinar led by Dr. Rashi Jain and entitled “Recentering practice in professional identity constructions: practice-based perspectives from a transnational-translingual pracademic.” Drawing from her identity as a TESOL “pracademic”, Jain spoke about her own practice-based intersectional transnational and translingual professional identities, offering pedagogical examples that aim to democratize academia. My goal as the Chair-elect for the 2022-2023 academic year is to build on Jain’s example to expand on and make space for the many identities of NNESts practitioners, especially in ways that position them as agentive teachers in our field. More specifically, there will be a stronger focus on zooming into transnational intersectional identities that are oftentimes excluded from the categorical dichotomy of native/ non-nativeness. Likewise, we will showcase the strategic pedagogical negotiations that NNESTs practitioners put forth in various contexts across the world. We will also continue to collaborate with other intersect sections, in particular in shared efforts to promote social justice and equity-based education.

I look forward to participating in these conversations with everyone interested in such efforts and learning from the many experiences of difference that define the field of TESOL. I am hoping for a year of stronger connections and collaborations, and possibly, for more in-person reunions.

All the best,

Cristina

Cristina Sánchez-Martín is Assistant Professor of English at the University of Washington, Seattle. Her work revolves around investigating how humans understand and navigate composing and language practices in transnational contexts from de/anticolonial perspectives. Her work is published in TESOL Quarterly, Journal of MultilingualEducation Research, Journal of Second Language Writing, Computers and Composition, Poroi, and several edited collections.

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS

Merve Aydın, TOBB University of Economics and Technology, Ankara, Turkey
Mariana Hernandes Grassi, Loyola University, Chicago, IL, USA



Merve Aydın


Mariana Hernandes Grassi

Dear NNEST Newsletter Readers,

In our current issue, we are happy to share with you a couple of essays, including a feature article and a personal account from our readers from various parts of the world. We are extremely grateful to the two authors, Tabinda Khan and Romaisha Rahman, for their invaluable contributions to address various issues NNEST face in the field of TESOL.

Tabinda Khan shares her experiences as a Pakistani ESL teacher in the U.S. public schools. Originally from Pakistan, Tabinda Khan began her teaching career in 2009 after earning her M.A degree in TESOL from TCNJ. She started off working at a non-profit organization as an English as a second language teacher. Later, she taught English reading and writing to international students at Rutgers University for some time, before making the switch to P-Tech (Pathways in Technology Early College High School.) She currently teaches in the same high school.

Romaisha Rahman, PhD Candidate, University of New Mexico, shares her research on “Expanding the idea of native speaker fallacy in the writing center context”. Her research question is “Do international NNES students resist in working with international NNES peer tutors because they believe that the tutors’ nonnative English speaker status make them incompetent writing tutors?”. She attempts to answer this question by collecting qualitative data from the comment section of the survey that she sent out to self-identified international NNES students. The analysis of the data has been done with the lens of language ideology, with deciphering how monolingual ideology can give rise to native speaker fallacy.

Each article in this issue addresses a different aspect of NNEST-related topics. We hope that you find the articles insightful and thought provoking. We thank the authors who contributed to this issue. We are very grateful that they have shared their research, practice, and experiences with the NNEST community.

We welcome contributions at any time throughout the year. Please send your work in the form of a feature article (1,750 words), brief report (book, article, and presentation reviews; 900 words), or personal account and reader reflection (500 words). We also welcome any reviews of books relevant to the interests of our interest section. You may direct any questions you have about submissions to tesolnnestnewsletter@gmail.com.

We hope that you enjoy reading this issue.

Best wishes,

Merve Aydin and Mariana Hernandes Grassi

Merve Aydın holds BA and MA in the field of English Language Teaching. Currently, she is teaching English at the department of foreign languages at TOBB University of Economics and Technology. Her main research interest area is identity and language learning.

Mariana Hernandes Grassi holds an MA in TESOL from American University and is currently part of the Women’s Studies and Gender Studies graduate program from Loyola University. Her main research interests focus on investigating gender inequalities within educational institutions.

ARTICLES

EXPANDING THE IDEA OF NATIVE SPEAKER FALLACY IN THE WRITING CENTER CONTEXT

Romaisha Rahman, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA


Introduction

The term “native speaker fallacy”, coined by Phillipson (1992), is the existence of the false belief in the field of language education that only native speakers of English (NES) can be ideal teachers of the language. Phillipson refutes the idea of native speaker and notes that teachers “are made rather than born, many of them doubtless self-made, whether teachers are natives or non-natives” (pg. 194); meaning, language learning and teaching ability does not solely depend upon nativism. In fact, nonnative English-speaking (NNES) teachers may have a better understanding about second language teaching due to their own language learning experiences (Crusan et al., 2016). Even after rigorous discussions on the subject, native speaker fallacy still seems to prevail in the field of education.

Sadly, the projection of native speaker fallacy is not limited from NES students toward their NNES teachers or tutors; it is pervasive among students who speak English as their second, foreign, or additional language (Canagarajah,1999). Here, I present qualitative findings on international NNES students’ perceptions of international NNES writing tutors in U.S. institutions. I collected this data in 2017 as part of a larger IRB approved mixed-method study to examine whether international NNES students exhibit native speaker fallacy in writing center context.

Research Question:

Do international NNES students resist in working with international NNES peer tutors because they believe that the tutors’ nonnative English speaker status make them incompetent writing tutors?

Methodology

Data Collection:

I collected a large portion of the qualitative data from the comment section of the survey that I sent out to self-identified international NNES students in five different Midwestern U.S. universities as part of the bigger research project. Among the 70 international NNES students (39 females, 31 males; 39 graduate, 31 undergraduate) who participated in the study, 17 filled out the qualitative portion of the survey and 3 of the 70, agreed for a one-on-one interview. The NNES students who participated in the study were predominantly from different Asian, African, and European countries. Among the three male interviewees, one was from China who spoke Chinese as their first language, one from Southern India who spoke Kannada as their first language, and one was from Northern India who spoke Hindi as their first language.

Data Analysis:

To analyze the qualitative data, I used the grounded theory methodology. Grounded theory is an inductive methodology in which a theory is constructed based on the systematic collection and analysis of data (Walsh et al., 2015). I looked for common themes in the data that showed either conscious or subconscious presence of native speaker fallacy at the participants’ ends. In this paper, I have analyzed, focused on, and presented the portions of the interview that: 1. showed a pattern on how NNES students perceive NNES tutors; 2: aided the study come to a conclusion. The analysis of the data has been done with the lens of language ideology that helped to decipher how monolingual ideology can give rise to native speaker fallacy.

Results and Discussion

Survey:

While some of the comments gathered from the survey showed blatant presence of native speaker fallacy, some were obscure and needed more careful analysis to point out the native speaker fallacy exhibited. For instance, comments like “I am more willing to work with native English speakers . . . I think a Native English speaker can be more trusted . . .” and “ . . . being an international student I would be more comfortable to work with a native speaker” left by the survey respondents plainly read that they would choose a domestic peer tutor over an international one because of the international tutors’ NNES status. Also, phrases like “more trusted” and “more comfortable” used for NES goes to show how these students deem international NNES tutors as untrustworthy and incompetent writing tutors just because of their NNES status.

One the other hand, comments like “. . . a native English speaker who is a writing tutor and a freshman will be less helpful than a non-native graduate student” and “It depends on when did the non-native tutor first learned English, the earlier, the better” at first glance look like a positive comment, but when examined closely displays the clear presence of a native speaker fallacy; the first comment compares a graduate NNES tutor with a NES freshman. The problem with this comment is that the commenter is drawing a parallel between two tutors who are at very different educational levels—the NNES being at the higher end of the level. This comparison leads to the inference that a graduate NES tutor would be a better writing tutor than the graduate NNES tutor.

With the second comment, the student is suggesting that the competence of a NNES “depends” on when they started learning the language. While this comment is somewhat true and seems harmless, competence in a language does not necessarily fully depend on the time length; it also depends on factors like available resources, personal and professional motivation, exposure to the language, and the frequency of the usage of the language. One cannot simply decide an NNES’ incompetence based on when they started learning the language. This mindset in itself can give rise to native speaker fallacy.

Interviews:

There was consensus among all interviewees that they would choose a NES over a NNES when individually asked “Who would you prefer to work with during your visit to the writing center?” However, a rather unexpected phenomenon was discovered when the participants were asked the “why” part of the above question. The international students who took the interview showed two discrete kinds of reactions to NNES as well as international peer tutors, making them fall into two separate groups and giving native speaker fallacy two different meanings.

The common understanding of “native speaker fallacy” is that of the false belief that only NES are ideal teachers of the language due to them being native to it (Phillipson, 1992). While the Chinese student in this study seemed to fit into the category of the people who agreed with the already established definition, the other two international students who were from different parts of India exhibited a slightly different yet another fallacious belief. This fallacy is different than the traditional understanding of native speaker fallacy but is linked more to the cognition that the students have of their own linguistic ability. This cohort of students mentioned that they tend to resist working with international tutors due to their own “pride” or “ego”.

When the interviewees were asked to elaborate on what they meant by their “pride” or “ego” taking over, their answer was rather interesting. They reported that they resist working with international tutors not because they think that the NNES tutors are incompetent in English, but because they believe that even though they themselves are NES, they are proficient in the language in comparison to many other NNES. Hence, their “ego” takes over when they are asked to work with a tutor for whom English is not the first language.

This unanticipated reason of why these students choose not to work with NNES gave the study a new insight into native speaker fallacy. This information also gave the study a new understanding of the thought process that some international students maintain when they resist working with international peer tutors. To find out why this group of international students held such a belief, I went back to the survey to look for further evidence that could shed light on the data collected during the interviews. Upon going through the participants’ demographic information that I collected as part of the bigger study and matching them with the comments left by the participants in the qualitative section of the survey, I found that the students who had a strong belief that they were highly proficient in English language belonged to the countries that fell into the Outer Circle of Kachru’s (1991) Model of World Englishes.

This Circle is occupied by the countries that were once British colonies (Kachru, 1991). The role that English plays in these countries is remarkable. English is considered to be the language of prestige and students are officially introduced to the English language as soon as they enter school. Students are exposed to English from a very early age and are expected to become sequential bilinguals, with their native language being their first language and English mandatorily being one of their second languages. The people of these countries believe English to be the only effective lingua franca, and thus use English as a tool to establish authority in both national and international platforms.

The international students from these countries have known English all their lives and identify themselves as good English language users. They take an unspoken pride in being proficient in the language. Hence, their “ego” may be hurt in seeking English-language related help from other NNES. They subconsciously want to avoid appearing “weak” in front of other NNES. Thus, they prefer domestic tutors over international tutors, widening the scope of native speaker fallacy.

Implications

The findings of this study make room for expanding our understanding of native speaker fallacy. It is essential that we acknowledge this new finding because it can help us understand the divergent thought processes of the different international student groups in regard to language, language learning, and language teaching and tutoring. This understanding is important for two major reasons: first, it allows institutions to accordingly plan specific interventions needed to address and mitigate native speaker fallacy; second, it assists educators in applying specialized teaching strategies and taking targeted instructional approaches that can enhance the learning process of each of the groups.

References

Canagarajah, A. S. (1999). Interrogating the “native speaker fallacy”: non-linguistic roots, non-pedagogical results. In G. Braine (Ed.), Non-native educators in English language teaching (pp. 77-92). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.

Crusan, D., Plakans, L., & Gebril, A. (2016). Writing assessment literacy: Surveying second language teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and practices. Assessing Writing, (28) 43-56. doi: 10.1016/j.asw.2016.03.001

Kachru, B. B. (1991). World Englishes and applied linguistics. In M. L. Tickoo (Ed), Languages & Standards: Issues, Attitudes, Case Studies. Anthology Series 26. Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/contentdelivery/servlet/ERICServlet?accno=ED347791

Phillipson, R. (1992). Linguistic imperialism. Oxford [England] ; New York : Oxford University Press.

Walsh, I., Holton, J. A., Bailyn, L., Fernandez, W., Levina, N., & Glaser, B. (2015). “What grounded theory is… a critically reflective conversation among scholars,” Organizational Research Methods 18(4), Sept. 2015, pp. 620-628.

Romaisha Rahman is a doctoral candidate in Language, Literacy, and Sociocultural Studies in the College of Education and Human Sciences at the University of New Mexico. She is a multilingual international student, educator, and journal editor in the U.S. who was formerly a writer, teacher, and journalist in Bangladesh.

EXPERIENCES OF A PAKISTANI ESL TEACHER IN THE U.S. PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Tabinda Khan, P-Tech and Adult Literacy Center, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA


Although I learned English from kindergarten in Pakistan, my first introduction to the term ESL was when I applied to a college in Atlanta, GA, in 1992. I was under the impression that I knew English and I would resume my studies in the U.S. with ease. After taking ESL for a semester, I learned about my strengths and weaknesses in the English language. English as a second language (ESL/ELL) is the first course taken by international students in the U.S. before taking the regular English course in college. This course helped me improve my pronunciation and writing skills- two important things you need in the American workforce. ESL students learn English for a variety of reasons: to get and keep jobs, get promoted at work, or receive higher college education as I did.

Depending on the district, ESL teachers’ roles do not just end in the classroom but go beyond schools. Adult ESL students need help in finding jobs, learning about the healthcare and education system, and in simpler tasks, such as getting to important places in town. In addition to these responsibilities, non-native English speaker teachers must also face the challenge of connecting to students in spite of differences in educational and cultural backgrounds and less fluency in social language. Fortunately, the non-native English as a Second Language teacher can easily transcend these barriers and avail from their personal experiences to empathize with students and help them succeed.

After teaching ESL for almost 13 years, I would say that my degree (M.A) in TESOL solely depended on the content knowledge of language development. I took courses in sociolinguistics, the foundation of education, psychology, and curriculum development. I performed well academically but my real challenges began when I started searching for my first teaching job. With no prior teaching experience in hand, I began teaching at a non-profit organization where I was responsible for ESL Civics and Citizenship classes. Most of my students were refugees from Burma, Thailand, and Karen. As a first-generation Pakistani immigrant in the U.S, I felt quite distant from my students because I was not familiar with their cultural and economic backgrounds.As stated by Shin in the article: 'Preparing non-native English-speaking ESL teachers', “[p]erhaps a central challenge to educating children from minority groups living in low-income families is the teacher’s lack of knowledge of the discourses and worlds of their students” (Shin, 2008, p. 61).Understanding demographics would make it easier for teachers to connect with their students effectively. In one of my class observations, the observer said that my examples did not represent the students I was teaching. The students belonged to a lower socioeconomic status (SES) whereas my examples pertained to high SES students. The visuals I used depicted luxury and wealth. This feedback helped me to reflect on my practice, leading me to realize that I need to find relatable examples that pertain to my student population. Moving forward, I took this advice by taking the time to find and implement resources that better represented my student population. This inevitably led to higher engagement and learning in my class. Although it took me time to learn about the specific student population, I was able to adapt my teaching effectively due to my heightened sense of empathy for these students, whose experiences, although different, could relate to mine as I thought back to my first time in this country.

According to Phillipson (1996),“NNESTs can be potentially the ideal ESL teachers because they have gone through the process of acquiring English as an additional language. They have first-hand experience in learning and using a second language, and their personal experience has sensitized them to the linguistic and cultural needs of their students. Many NNESTs, especially those who have the same first language as their students, have developed a keen awareness of the differences between English and their students' mother tongue. This sensitivity gives them the ability to anticipate their students' linguistic problems”(pp. 23-30). I had the opportunity to work with South Asian students (who spoke Urdu, Hindi, andPunjabi) during my student teaching semester. As a South Asian myself, I can personally attest to the fact that the teaching/learning process was very smooth and quick. Knowing students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds results in students’ motivation and intellectual development. My ability to connect to the students resulted in earning their trust, which is a key component of the teacher-student relationship. I got to know their stories, what brought them to the U.S., what they hoped for, and what they needed to get there. In fact, one of my students is now a successful restaurant owner in New Jersey, U.S. Whenever I see him at his restaurant, he doesn’t hesitate to stop by. To see him achieve success in what he loves continues to serve as a moment of pride and honor for me. While this was the last time I taught at a school with a South-Asian dominant population, I strived to foster these connections with students from other cultural backgrounds, as well.

The challenges of teaching students from different cultural backgrounds also come with certain advantages. My current job is at a high school where the majority of ESL students are Spanish speakers. One of the advantages of not knowing your student’s first language is the opportunity to come up with multiple effective strategies to deliver my lesson. Also, students automatically try to speak to their teacher in English. I try translation, visuals, and peer assistance in class by using students’ L1 (first language) for developing student-teacher and student-student bonds. For example, some of my students in their freshman year would type or write a sentence in Spanish when they need extra help. Oftentimes, a peer would help to translate, resulting in positive student-centered learning. To further boost my students’ self-esteem, I share stories from my educational career in the U.S. or find examples of Latinx figures to discuss. These success stories of immigrants give them confidence and motivation. Representation plays a key role in increasing student learning and achievement.

Humans learn more by interacting with each other and engaging in first-hand learning. I am grateful to my students today whose curiosity and enthusiasm mentally stimulated me to come up with more engaging lesson plans. However, I wish there was more support to develop and learn the English language outside the classroom when I was taking courses in college. Recently at work, I took my adult ESL students to the pharmacy, library, train station, and motor vehicle commission offices. These students need help with such basic survival needs, and being able to guide them through the process with specific sentence starters and scenarios is vital.

Learning about diversity in America is an ongoing process that requires more opportunities in school where non-native teachers and native teachers are encouraged to expand their linguistic range by discussing social customs and culturally-appropriate behaviors. They become beautiful memories for our students. As a NNEST, I hope to continue to expand my repertoire of social language so that I can connect to and communicate with students from a wide range of cultural backgrounds.

References

Phillipson, R. (1996). ELT: The native speaker's burden. In T. Hedge & N. Whitney (Eds.), Power, pedagogy & practice. (pp. 23-30). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Shin, Sarah J. (2008) 'Preparing non-native English-speaking ESL teachers', Teacher Development, 12:1, 57 - 65

Tabinda Khan is currently teaching high school students as well as adult ESL students. She received a Masters of Arts degree in TESOL from The College of New Jersey in 2009. Her area of interest is NNES teachers working in the US and believes that good teaching requires learning, unlearning and relearning continuously to serve the ESL students best.

ABOUT THIS COMMUNITY

NNEST NEWSLETTER CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS


Do you have some thoughts on the status of nonnative English speakers in TESOL (NNEST)? Have you done some preliminary studies on any NNEST-related issues? Do you have personal stories to share that are related to NNEST issues? Do you have some helpful tips for other NNESTs? If you do, please consider submitting an article to the NNEST Newsletter.

Submission Guidelines

The following types of submissions on topics related to NNEST issues are welcome:

  • Feature Articles (1,200–1,750 words) related to teacher education, research, professional development, program administration, and sociocultural issues.
  • Brief Reports (600–900 words), such as book reviews and reports on conference presentations and papers.
  • Personal Accounts (500–700 words) related to NNEST issues.
  • Announcements (50–75 words) of forthcoming presentations and meetings on issues related to NNESTs as well as forthcoming articles and books on issues related to NNESTs.
  • Readers' Thoughts (500 words). This section gives you the opportunity to share your reactions to and thoughts about articles published in our newsletter.


We also welcome submissions in the following categories:

  • Research-in-Progress (600–900 words)publishes short reports of ongoing research of interest to NNESTs.
  • Research Notice-Board (up to 300 words)publishes short statements concerning research in progress.
  • Innovative Practice (up to 500 words)publishes short accounts of innovative classroom practice by frontline practitioners.


All submissions need to

  • be formatted using Microsoft Word (.doc);
  • be carefully edited and proofread and follow the style guidelines in the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, Sixth Edition (the APA manual);
  • include a short teaser (no more than 50 words) and 2- to 3-sentence author(s) biography;
  • have the title in capitals;
  • list a byline (author’s name, affiliation, city, country, email, and author photo); and
  • contain no more than five citations.


Also, all figures, graphs, and other images should be sent in separate jpg files.

The specifications for the author photo are:

  • a head and shoulder shot
  • jpg file
  • width = 120 px and height = 160 px
  • clear, clean, professional photo that is appropriate to the article


For more details, please visit the Newsletter section of the NNEST-IS website.

Please send any queries and your submissions to the editors at tesolnnestnewsletter@gmail.com.

ABOUT THE NONNATIVE ENGLISH SPEAKERS IN TESOL INTEREST SECTION (NNEST IS)


The Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL was first established as a caucus in October 1998 to strengthen effective teaching and learning of English around the world while respecting individuals' language rights. A decade later, in July 2008, it became an interest section.

The major goals are

  • to create a nondiscriminatory professional environment for all TESOL members regardless of native language and place of birth,
  • to encourage the formal and informal gatherings of nonnative speakers at TESOL and affiliate conferences,
  • to encourage research and publications on the role of nonnative speaker teachers in ESL and EFL contexts, and
  • to promote the role of nonnative speaker members in TESOL and affiliate leadership positions.


Membership is open to all interested TESOL members, both native and nonnative speakers of English alike.

Web Site: http://nnest.moussu.net/.

NNEST IS NewsletterMission Statement

Purpose
The NNEST IS Newsletter is the official newsletter of the Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL Interest Section (NNEST IS). The purpose of the NNEST Newsletter is three-fold: to inform, to inspire, and to invite. First, the newsletter informs NNEST IS members about issues, developments, and activities that are related to the professional status of nonnative English speakers in TESOL and related professions. Second, the newsletter inspires current and prospective NNEST IS members by providing stories of successes and struggles of NNEST professionals as well as of students, colleagues, and administrators who may be native or nonnative speakers of English. Third, the newsletter invites NNEST IS members to share information, insights, and experiences related to NNEST issues.

Audience
The primary audience of the NNEST IS Newsletter is the members of the NNEST IS. The IS members are native and nonnative speakers of English from various geographic and institutional contexts. They are teachers, researchers, and administrators as well as graduate students at various stages of professional development. All of them are interested in and concerned about issues surrounding the professional status of nonnative English speakers in TESOL. The audience also includes potential members of the NNEST IS who wish to gain insights into the NNEST IS and its activities.

Vision
The NNEST IS Newsletter contributes significantly to TESOL by addressing issues that affect a significant portion of TESOL members: nonnative English speakers. To native English speakers in TESOL, the newsletter offers resources for understanding and addressing NNEST issues in ethical, effective, and informed ways. In order to enhance its appeal to native English-speaking (NES) members and to facilitate mutual understanding between native English speakers and nonnative English speakers, the newsletter seeks to increase submissions from native English speakers in the profession. It also seeks to further raise the awareness of the issue of diversity by encouraging submissions that address how NNEST issues interact with issues faced by other interest sections.

Because NNEST issues affect all members of TESOL directly or indirectly, the NNEST IS Newsletter will continue to contribute to the overall mission of TESOL by

  • promoting a better understanding of the status of nonnative English speakers in TESOL
  • prompting the discussion of NNEST issues among all TESOL members
  • providing resources to NNEST IS members as well as TESOL members in general