Native speakerism in EAP: the voice of an ethnic Chinese teacher

Abstract

Triggered by a critical incident that led the author to question her legitimacy as an English language teacher, this essay presents her critical reflection on native speakerism within the EAP sector in the UK. Identifying as a social anthropologist and thus straddling the discourse communities of anthropology and English language teaching, she attempts to be ‘on the inside and looking in’ to discuss the issues of discrimination pertaining to recruitment, career advancement, and professional development as a ‘non-native’ speaker.