Secondary EFL students' perceptions of native and nonnative english-speaking teachers in Japan and Korea

This survey study explores Japanese and Korean secondary school students' perceptions about their native English-speaking teachers (NESTs) and nonnative English-speaking teachers (NNESTs), concerning their competence in the target language and in language teaching, cultural and personal traits, teaching styles, and the classroom atmosphere the teachers establish. The purpose of the study was to examine and extend previous studies' findings concerning the characteristics of NESTs and NNESTs. Our study only partially supported the previous studies. While it corroborated the studies that reported language competence and cultural aspects as NESTs' strengths over NNESTs, anomalies were found when it came to personal aspects and competence in teaching language skills. Our findings suggest that students' perceptions about NESTs and NNESTs are situational, and contextual particularities and strengths and/or weaknesses of all teachers need to be understood on an individual basis rather than assumed as characteristics of any group of teachers.