Self-perceptions of Greek teachers of English regarding their effectiveness and employability opportunities as non-native English language teaching professionals

Sammanfattning

The aim of the present study is to find out what the self-perceptions of Greek non-native speaking teachers of English (non-NESTs) are regarding their effectiveness as foreign language teachers. What is more, the study aims to explore the Greek non-NESTs’ perceptions about their teaching employability opportunities, in positions for which NESTs also apply. More specifically, in the present study, 32 non-NEST Greek participants were asked to answer a questionnaire regarding their self-perceptions as non-NEST teachers, their experiences with issues of equality in teaching employment opportunities, on the basis of their non-nativeness, and their self-perceived teaching differences and/or similarities with native speaking teachers of English. The results of the study revealed that, in general, the participants are confident in teaching the language. However, they seem to be sceptical about the possibilities of a Greek non-NEST to be preferred for a private school teaching position, over a native-speaking teacher candidate. The study also showed that the Greek participants claimed grammar and syntactic knowledge, as well as the opportunity to use their and their students’ first language (L1) during lessons, to be their most significant teaching assets -with the latter possibly further contributing to the development of the target language, as long as the non-NEST knows the appropriate mechanisms to enhance L2 literacy development through the use of the L1. At the same time, the English language levels where they report needing stronger proficiency are pronunciation and vocabulary.