Students' Views Toward Native and Non Native English Speaker Teachers: A Small Scale Study in SMP N 1 Salatiga

Abstract

The study was conducted to investigate students' views toward Native English Speaker Teachers (NESTs) and Non-Native English Speaker Teachers (Non-NESTs). The participants were a hundred students of third grade of SMP N 1 Salatiga. This study used quantitative research using a questionnaire. The result of this study is summarized in four findings. The first finding showed that the majority of the participants defined NESTs as people from English speaking countries who use English as their mother tongue, first language or main language. The second finding, all participants defined non-NESTs as those from non-English speaking countries which referred to bilingual users of English. The third finding showed that most participants preferred Non-NESTs in teaching and learning English. The main reasons for preferring Non-NESTs were because Non-NESTs serve imitable models of the successful learner of English, teach learning strategies more effectively, and benefit from sharing the learners' mother tongue. The last finding showed that the participants preferred NESTs as the role model in speaking skill because NESTs serves a good model of English pronunciation.This study was worth conducting to give ideas about the demand of students in expanding circle countries that were represented by Junior High School students in Indonesia.