Non-Native English Teachers and Accent Diversity in Global English Education
AUTHORS
Laura M. Bennett,School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Deakin University, Australia
Daniel R. Holloway,College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University, Australia
Priya K. Nair,School of Education, Curtin University, Australia
ABSTRACT
This paper presents a theoretical examination of accent diversity among non-native English teachers and its implications for English language education in a global context. Although non-native teachers constitute a substantial proportion of the English teaching workforce worldwide, their professional legitimacy—notably in international and English-speaking settings—is often questioned based on accent rather than pedagogical competence. This paper argues that non-native accents that do not impede intelligibility should be understood as a normal feature of Global English rather than as a professional limitation. The concept of global English accents is proposed to describe the range of native and non-native accent varieties that remain mutually comprehensible in international communication. From this perspective, exposure to accent diversity is increasingly important for both native and non-native speakers of English in multilingual and mobile educational environments. The paper positions non-native English teachers as a pedagogical resource in supporting learners’ adaptation to accent variation and in promoting tolerance toward diverse spoken English forms. The discussion outlines implications for teacher education, employment practices, and collaborative teaching models involving native and non-native teachers. It concludes that recognizing accent diversity as an educational asset may contribute to more equitable and contextually responsive approaches to English language education.
KEYWORDS
Global Englishes paradigm, Native-speakerism ideology, Language ideology, Accent perception theory, Sociophonetic variation, Listener-based evaluation; English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) framework
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