Recruiters’ beliefs regarding the employability of native and non-native English-speaking tertiary-level teachers: The case of public universities in Thailand

Abstract

This mixed-method study explores the criteria that recruiters in Thai public universities consider important when hiring English language teachers and the importance they attach to the native speaker criterion. The data were collected through an online questionnaire with ninety-four recruiters and semi-structured interviews with ten recruiters. The questionnaire data revealed that the participants considered ten criteria important, including English language proficiency, performance in an interview, teaching demonstration, educational background, teaching qualification, area of academic expertise, application documents, pronunciation, teaching experience, and visa status. Moreover, the participants viewed the native speaker criterion as somewhat important. The interview data yielded rich data about the thinking behind the use of the criteria. Particularly, it showed different positions towards the native speaker criterion, ranging from the strong preference towards native English-speaking candidates to the rejection of the native/non-native dichotomy which favors the competent bi-/multilingual speaker of English as a target and pedagogical model.