ABSTRACT
Student Attitudes Towards Nonnative ESL Teachers in the Hybrid Context of Quebec
Lilioara Radu
This study examined students’ attitudes towards native-speaking anglophone and nonnative francophone and allophone ESL teachers in Quebec, a hybrid context that encompasses characteristics of both EFL and ESL settings. This three-pronged inquiry focused on unveiling students’ attitudes towards their teachers in relation to teachers’ effectiveness in the instruction of specific linguistic skills, such as speaking and grammar, teachers’ pedagogical styles, and teachers’ professional characteristics. A sample of 150 participants representing Grade 10 and 11 high school intermediate-level francophone and allophone students from Montreal rated three teacher types (anglophone, francophone, allophone) in a questionnaire administered over a 75-minutes class period. The results showed that, despite their reduced experience with native-speaking anglophone teachers, students have a more positive attitude towards these teachers than towards nonnative ESL teachers, especially in relation to teacher effectiveness in the teaching of linguistic skills. Also, considering teachers’ and students’ affiliation to the majority (francophone) and minority (allophone) groups, an in-group preference—more clearly visible in the case of francophone students—emerged from the study. Francophone students displayed a more positive attitude towards nonnative francophone teachers. In contrast, allophone students largely did not display stronger preferences towards allophone teachers, most probably because of the heterogeneous makeup of both allophone student and teacher populations. The results generally suggested that, in a hybrid context like Quebec, a shared language between students and teachers, students’ familiarity with teachers’ variety of spoken English, and students’ social identity and accommodation-related behaviours may all impact students’ attitudes towards their teachers.