Bursting the bubble

Native English speakers in high demand overseas

AMY WILLEY

Staff Writer

The recent recommendation of Luke Steinberg (04) by the United States Fulbright Scholarship panel for review by the panel in South Korea as a teacher brings to mind the interesting point that English is becoming an ever more important language. Steinberg, who volunteered to teach students in Thailand this past summer, illustrates the importance other countries place on learning English, particularly by a native English speakers. In many cases, native English speakers who are not actually qualified as teachers, or in other words who have no teaching certification or degree in English, are still preferred over non-native speak-ers. Steinberg, a History and Political Science major, is one such person, and says of his qualifications, “I qualify because I am a native English speaker.”

Native English speakers often don’t need to know the language of the country in which they will be teach-ing. Of his proficiency in Korean and Thai, Steinberg says, “I can say hello and that’s about it, and I can kind of read it.” He explains that globalization has made knowing English a necessity in many other countries, “English is the international language,” he says. Also, he explains that the students he taught in Thailand as well as the students he could be teaching in Ko-rea know some English, “The reason I didn’t need to speak Korean or Thai is because they [the students] already have a basic understanding of the language,” he says, “They just need help with pronunciation and conver-sational English.”

Patricia Vargas, a Teaching Assistant of Spanish/student at Alma College and a native Spanish speaker from Columbia further explains, “Obviously if you are a native speaker you understand the language more,” she says. She also notes that native English speaking teachers are in extremely low supply in Columbia but “If I could find an English class in Columbia taught by a native English speaking teacher, I would expect that they would speak English all the time,” she says. In contrast, although she is a Spanish teacher Vargas still must be able to speak English as well.

Of course fluency of the host lan-guage is recommended and preferred for programs such as those for which Steinberg applied, but it is not required. Steinberg further notes that cultural understanding has played a role in his success thus far, “Being an active member of the Alma College International Club has given me access to the cultures, beliefs, and customs of many different nations,” he says, “Especially the help of Ok-Jin Ahn (04) and Hyun-Jung Um (04) [visiting students from South Korea].”

Top