ABSTRACT
Recently, researchers have been taking a “bottom-up” perspective, examining how teachers make sense of language-in-education policy (LEP) innovation (Jennings 1996; Menken & García 2010; Stritikus 2003). Rarely taken into consideration, however, is how language proficiency, identity and teaching expertise intersect with teacher agency in LEP reform. In her influential work on the teaching of English as an international language (EIL) in the twenty-first century, McKay (2012) states that what constitutes a qualified teacher of English needs to change in the English language teaching (ELT) industry in order to legitimize the value of all teachers – whether a native English-speaking teacher (NEST) or a non-native English-speaking teacher (NNEST). Research literature on the pedagogy of EIL has stridently called for the empowerment of NNESTs (McKay 2012; Renandya 2012) and views their agency as central to the implementation of pedagogical practice. Conversely, literature in ELT has now revealed that ideologies of native speakerism (Holliday 2006; Houghton & Rivers 2013), often thought to position NESTs as ideal teachers, may also constrain and marginalize them in their institutional roles (Geluso 2013; Jeon 2009; Stanley 2013). Taking into consideration these two perspectives, examining teacher agency through the lenses of the NEST–NNEST dichotomy offers a valuable opportunity to more deeply explore agency in LEP change.
