Native or Not: Unpacking Bias in China’s English Classroom

When we talk about common or widespread beliefs surrounding language acquisition, we most likely base them on our surroundings and what people around us perceive as common. I am sure some of those beliefs are widespread and quite similar in different locations around the world, while others might be unique to a certain country and rooted in its culture, history, or stereotypes.

Here, I would like to share and discuss probably the most common belief I have encountered since I started working in China about nine years ago – that only native English speakers could teach English properly. This idea has been backed up by many theories that painted “nativeness” as the goal of English language learning – just to mention a few, there is Skinner’s (1957) Behaviorist Theory, Chomsky’s (1965) Universal Grammar, Selinker’s (1972) Interlanguage Theory, and more. And even though we now live in a world where communicative competence prevails over native-sounding speech (Canagarajah, 2007), it is still hard to get rid of the idea cultivated for decades that achieving native-like proficiency is what we should strive for.

If we look at teaching job advertisements in China, we will definitely see that most schools are looking for native English-speaking teachers (NESTs), preferably from the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. This can be quite discouraging for people from other countries who majored in teaching English but are still seen as inferior.

I, myself, for a long time assumed that I was a secondary option compared to a native English speaker. That changed when I read an article highlighting the advantages of non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs). It argued that people who learned English as a foreign language can be better teachers because they understand the specifics of the language, its difficulties, and the struggles learners go through. Therefore, they can put themselves in their students' shoes, show more compassion, and be better at explaining how the language works. Recently, I read some articles that also mentioned such benefits (Bergstrom, n.d.; Colquhoun, 2023; Kawasaki, 2020) and made me realize another one – NNESTs serve as a motivational example that fluency and proficiency in English can be achieved by a non-native speaker (Colquhoun, 2023).

While other studies acknowledge these benefits, they also argue that NESTs facilitate a better learning process and provide wider learning opportunities with higher-standard outcomes (Zhang & Solarz, 2022). NNESTs usually have accents that differ from desired native English ones, and some students perceive instructors with strong accents as having poor teaching skills (Rubin & Smith, 1990). These biased conclusions and assumptions of incompetence can create a negative attitude toward teachers and, as a result, decrease students’ comprehension (Major et al., 2002).

Even though NESTs are usually considered more preferable in China, not all of them are equally so. Mostly, it is European-looking teachers who are at an advantage. I do not necessarily think this is racism; that preference might stem from cultural and historical aspects. Traditionally, people with lighter skin were seen as the upper class – educated people who did not have to work outside in the sun – while dark skin was associated with working in the field, meaning poverty and lack of education (Lee, 2012; Salvá, 2019). To this day, many Chinese people prefer fair skin and spend a lot of money on skin-whitening products. This deeply rooted, historically based obsession with white skin still transcends to other aspects of daily life in China and creates a desire for having white English teachers. Just to give you an example – I have a friend who is a native English speaker with a major in education and child psychology, and she is black. At her first job in China, she worked with a girl with no educational background who was a non-native English speaker, but she was white. Can you guess who was getting a higher salary? Not my friend; she actually was getting about 10% less than her colleague.

I do not want to put labels on teachers and categorize them into groups by their country of origin, their experience, or other metrics. I think it is impossible to simply take one group and name them as superior based on their nativeness or another single parameter. In my practice, I have met many NESTs and NNESTs, and both categories had great and not-so-great teachers. In the end, it comes down to not only their country of origin, qualifications, looks, or accents – it is more about the passion and dedication they bring into their work. I think if we try to describe what a “real” teacher is by using stereotypes, prejudices, and biases, we will fail because this term is as diverse as the global community of English language speakers.

 

References:

Bergstrom, B. (n.d.). TEFL: Unleashing the Hidden Gems - Strengths of Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers. TeacherRecord. https://teacherrecord.com/blog/tefl-unleashing-the-hidden-gems-strengths-of-nonnative-englishspeaking-teachers

Canagarajah, S. (2007). Lingua Franca English, multilingual communities, and language acquisition. The Modern Language Journal, 91(s1), 921-937.

Chomsky, N. (1965). Aspects of the theory of syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

Colquhoun, K. (2023, July 26). The advantages of being a Non-Native English Teacher - the TEFL Academy. The TEFL Academy. https://www.theteflacademy.com/blog/the-advantages-of-being-a-non-native-english-teacher/

Kawasaki, J. (2020, November 13). Advantages of Non-Native English speaking teachers in the TEFL classroom. BridgeUniverse - TEFL Blog, News, Tips & Resources. https://bridge.edu/tefl/blog/advantages-non-native-english-speaking-teachers/

Lee, M. (2021, July 31). Colorism in Chinese beauty standards. Fresh Writing. https://freshwriting.nd.edu/essays/colorism-in-chinese-beauty-standards/

Major, R. C., Fitzmaurice, S. F., Bunta, F., & Balasubramanian, C. (2002). The Effects of Nonnative Accents on Listening Comprehension: Implications for ESL Assessment. TESOL Quarterly, 36(2), 173–190. https://doi.org/10.2307/3588329

Rubin, D. L., & Smith, K. A. (1990). Effects of accent, ethnicity, and lecture topic on undergraduates’ perceptions of nonnative English-speaking teaching assistants. International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 14(3), 337–353. https://doi.org/10.1016/0147-1767(90)90019-s

Salvá, A. (2019, December 9). Where does the Asian obsession with white skin come from? The Diplomat. https://thediplomat.com/2019/12/where-does-the-asian-obsession-with-white-skin-come-from/

Selinker, L. (1972). Interlanguage. International Review of Applied Linguistics in Language Teaching, 10(1-4), 209–232.

Skinner, B. F. (1957). Verbal behavior. Appleton-Century-Crofts.

Zhang, Q., & Solarz, D. (2022). Advantages and Disadvantages of Native and Nonnative English-Speaking Teachers. Journal of Student Research, 11(2). https://doi.org/10.47611/jsrhs.v11i2.2624

 

AI tools (DeepSeek) were used for checking grammar and punctuation; all content was researched and composed by the author

Comments

  1. Nina ZJanuary 5, 2026 at 6:49 AM

    Hi Alex,
 I really enjoyed reading this - it captures so well the nuance of the native/non-native debate.
    In my experience, those who really know modern language education - heads of department, academic directors - rarely start from passports or appearance. They ask about classroom practice, register awareness, and how teachers work with learners’ full repertoires. Almost without exception, these decision-makers are plurilingual themselves, and they focus on how learning actually happens, not imagined “nativeness.”
    This fits with current theory. Scholars like García (2009) on translanguaging remind us that learners don’t switch between discrete languages - they navigate meaning across shifting registers, drawing on all their linguistic resources. Teachers who understand this, regardless of passport, are often far more effective.
    Your post is important because it opens space for this conversation. When expertise is real and up to date, the focus naturally shifts from nationality to pedagogical skill, awareness, and linguistic justice, and that’s where English education needs to go.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. AlexJanuary 5, 2026 at 8:24 AM

      Thank you, Nina, for your comment. It is always interesting to hear other people’s perspectives and experiences on this topic. Since my entire teaching background is based in China, it is especially valuable to learn how teachers are hired in other parts of the world. That is one of the best things about talking with people from different countries - sharing our experiences and viewpoints helps us see how they differ, so we do not assume that the way things work in our own context is the only way they do elsewhere.

      Delete
  2. Nina ZJanuary 5, 2026 at 10:32 AM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Nina ZJanuary 5, 2026 at 10:34 AM

      Haha, Alex, I hear you. My story actually started very differently, and I ran into my fair share of prejudice along the way. I left the UK after years of living there—partly for adventure, partly because of the weather—but also because the sentence I repeated the most often in my life was: “No, I'm not Polish but Hungarian. Completely different."
      Ironically, I ended up teaching in gorgeous Poland and proving the haters wrong.🫶🏻
      These days, I feel lucky to work with real experts who care about skill and awareness, not passports. It’s funny how things come full circle, isn’t it?

      Delete
    2. AlexJanuary 7, 2026 at 5:47 AM

      Hi, Nina. I am glad you ended up in a place where your skills and experience are valued more than your nationality. That’s very inspiring — I’m really happy for you! ;)))

      Delete
    3. NajJanuary 13, 2026 at 2:07 PM

      Hello Alex,
      I’ve been thinking about this post since I read it, particularly your moment of realizing you weren’t a “secondary option” at all. That shift must have been profound going from internalizing that hierarchy to recognizing the actual pedagogical advantages you bring to the table.
      What gets me is how the hiring practices you describe reveal such a strange disconnect. We know theoretically that communicative competence matters more than native-like pronunciation. We know that understanding the learning journey from the inside gives teachers invaluable insight. And yet the job ads keep asking for passports from specific countries, as if geography determines teaching ability.
      The accent bias piece is particularly insidious because it operates on such circular logic students expect poor teaching, so they perceive poor teaching, which then “confirms” their bias. It’s not about actual comprehension at all; it’s about preconceived notions doing the work before the lesson even begins.
      But here’s what I keep coming back to: you are living proof that the ideology is wrong. Nine years in China, navigating this bias while also being the kind of teacher who lets students use their L1, who understands the struggle because you’ve lived it, that’s not secondary. That’s essential.
      Thank you for writing this. It needed saying.
      Najlae

      Delete
    4. AlexJanuary 15, 2026 at 5:27 AM

      Hello Najlae,
      Thank you very much for your comment.
      It is definitely unfair that some people perceive non‑native speakers as incapable of teaching English. I still face situations where parents want to move their child to another class simply because it is taught by a native speaker. It hurts – and not just on a personal level. It hurts because parents often do not understand how children learn. Teaching is not only about pedagogical approaches; it is also about the ability to connect personally with students, which is especially crucial with kindergarteners. Sometimes I want to sit down with parents and explain some basics of language acquisition so they look beyond passports and focus instead on how a teacher connects with students, keeps them engaged, and makes learning interesting and enjoyable.
      While researching for this post, I came across an article that was heavily biased against non‑NESTs, describing them as boring teachers who just follow textbooks and show no initiative. I was shocked by the level of ignorance and the desire to promote such a false narrative. Seeing articles like that makes it clear why many people still hold biased views against non‑native English teachers. But I still hope that, little by little, the situation will change for the better.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular Posts