The question of ‘who should teach my child Mandarin Chinese’ mostly revolves around deciding whether to work with a native Mandarin Chinese teacher or a non-native Mandarin Chinese teacher. The academic communities of foreign language and linguistics generally agree that a native language teacher’s command of their mother tongue cannot be matched by a non-native one.
Let us find out more!
Advantages Of Learning From A Native Speaker
The following points show why learning Mandarin Chinese from a native speaker is a good approach. A teacher that is a native speaker of the language has:
A subconscious understanding of language rules
An intuitive grasp of meanings
The ability to communicate in social contexts
A wide range of linguistic abilities
Linguistic inventiveness
Affiliation with a linguistic community
The ability to communicate fluently
Disadvantages Of Learning From A Native Speaker
Parents often choose to work with native speaking language teachers simply because it is considered an advantage to learn from someone that speaks a language natively.
However, fluency in Mandarin Chinese alone should not be the only selection criteria. A teacher needs to possess pedagogical skills to recognize what a student needs and how to use the most effective teaching methods for their specific requirements.
A successful teacher helps to lessen psychological barriers and facilitates a calm, empowering learning environment. According to second language researchers, it can happen that a native Mandarin Chinese teacher’s fluency immediately introduces language learners to a level of proficiency that is not yet achievable, resulting in frustration and demotivation to keep learning the language.
Advantages Of Learning From A Non-Native Speaker
Native Mandarin Chinese-speaking teachers may be unaware of the internal mechanisms at work in the process of language learning because language acquisition was unconscious for them
Non-native speaking teachers serve as role models for proficient users in the classroom
Non-native speaker teachers sometimes have more relevant training and experience
Every educator is responsible not only for imparting new information to their students but also for motivating them throughout the process. Due to the intrinsic complexity of second language learning, students frequently question the long-term significance of their studies.
Bilingualism is promoted by illustrating to students that learning a second language is a feasible task.
Disadvantages Of Learning From A Non-Native Speaker
The initial objections against non-native Mandarin Chinese-speaking teachers are recognizable: a lack of command of the target language, a lack of a native accent, and a fear of making mistakes when using the target language. These characteristics can lead to shortcomings in the classroom, such as giving students incorrect grammar instruction and providing learners with inadequate or incorrect pronunciation skills.
There is no doubt that the shortcomings of non-native Mandarin Chinese-speaking teachers can have serious consequences in the classroom. Students with advanced reading and listening abilities can benefit greatly from exercising with a teacher who is a native speaker.
Writing classes, on the other hand, would not draw attention to a non-native Chinese-speaking teacher's shortcomings as much.
Native Speaker Vs Non-Native Speaker
Let us look at a summary of the above-mentioned advantages and disadvantages.
Non-native Mandarin Chinese teachers disagree with the concept that a native language is required for efficient classroom instruction;
Native Mandarin Chinese teachers disagree with the notion that a native English is required for more effective classroom engagement, especially for beginners;
Native Mandarin Chinese teachers tend to talk around twice as much Mandarin Chinese in class as non-native teachers. When it comes to determining how to staff a class, this can have huge repercussions for administrators. If the course requires a lot of teacher-student interaction, a native speaker has an advantage.
Students of non-native Mandarin Chinese speaking teachers overall rated their reading and writing abilities as good but can lack listening and speaking skills.
Native Mandarin Chinese teachers tend to be better at arranging enthusiasm in classroom activities than their non-native colleagues.
The most realistic conclusion is that both of these teacher types bring a different and unique set of talents to the profession. The disparities in quality between native and non-native Mandarin Chinese-speaking teachers are limited to the situations in which they teach.
At LingoAce, we decided to work with native speaking teachers. To make sure we address the concern that native speakers sometimes do not possess the same level of pedagogical skills, we only work with professionally certified degree holders that have years of classroom experience and a passion for educating the next generation.
In addition, our teachers are all fluent in English and Mandarin Chinese and trained to create engaging and immersive learning experiences for both local and global learners.
What also sets us apart and ensures a high-quality learning experience is our best-in-class curriculum. Unlike other e-learning platforms, our curriculum is fully developed in-house by our global team of curriculum experts and creative designers. This means we provide the most enriching learning experience – fully personalized for your child.
If you wish for your child to also learn the Mandarin Chinese language through uplifting and educational programs, you are at the right place! We have carefully curated each lesson, spending around 100 hours of curriculum creation, mock teaching, courseware production, teacher training, and quality control (QC) rounds to ensure that your child learns accurately and in the best way possible.
Help your child experience Mandarin Chinese learning first-hand by signing up for a free trial lesson with us today.
