It’s not just what we say but also how we say it: How non-native English-speaking teachers use their linguistic repertoire in the EFL classroom

Abstract

[eng The primary goal of this study was to shift the geographical focus of research away from Europe and North America and into Asia. This was done to highlight the unique struggles faced and strategies employed by non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in Thailand while providing them with the opportunity to engage with theoretical frameworks that originated in Europe. This was done through a small, ethnographic study that focused on two teachers and how they use their linguistic repertoires in the classroom. It was found that while teachers are partially aware of the factors that impact what language they choose for specific classroom tasks, it is often their perceptions of their own proficiency that plays the largest role. It was also found that students often respond in the language that the teacher used to engage them in a communicative task. This leads to the conclusion that more should be done to promote NNESTs sense of identity as L2 users as well as their sense of agency as professional language instructors to promote greater use of the target language (TL) in the classroom.