Looking for Native Speakers of English: Discrimination in English Language Teaching Job Advertisements

Abstract

This paper investigates if and how job advertisements for English language teachers discriminate against candidates with particular backgrounds. Based on an analysis of 77 advertisements (42 from East Asia and 35 from the Middle East), the paper identifies seven factors that are included as key requirements in these advertisements. A number of these factors, such as age, gender, nationality, nativeness and race, are ―biographical‖ in nature and may be used to discriminate against particular populations of candidates. While discriminatory issues were observed in advertisements from both East Asia and from the Middle East, there were some differences between the two regions. The findings of this study suggest that the discriminatory practices that the field has been trying to eliminate are still visible and that more work needs to be carried out to make TESOL an equitable profession.