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Foreign Language Teacher Recruitment: Theoretical Perspectives and Empirical Findings



Author(s)

Seyyed Ali Ostovar-Namaghi, Seyyedeh Mobina Hosseini

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DOI:10.17265/1539-8072/2015.11.006

University of Shahrood, Shahrood, Iran

In some contexts such as private language schools of Iran language teachers are recruited mainly on the basis of their speaking fluency and in other EFL contexts they are recruited simply because they are native speakers. Moreover, previous studies mainly focus on comparing the effectiveness of native and non-native language teachers by exploring learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of native and non-native language teachers. Since recruitment criteria are theoretically unjustified and the results of previous studies are subjective and inconclusive, this study aims at making a case in the opposite direction. That is, the researchers argue that there should be: (1) a shift away from recruiting language teachers on the basis of their speaking fluency and native language background towards hiring language teachers on the basis of their professional performance in the language classroom; (2) a shift away from exploring learners’ and teachers’ perceptions of native and non-native teachers towards studying the effect of teachers’ native language on learners’ proficiency, accuracy, fluency, and achievement. To pave the way for these shifts, this study first reviews the theoretical perspectives and empirical findings concerning effective language teachers and then draws conclusions and implications which help interested stakeholders, i.e., supervisors, make informed decisions when they recruit language teachers.

teacher effectiveness, native language teachers, non-native language teachers, recruitment criteria