Итоги конкурса «Inspiring Teachers-2021»
20 декабря 2021 г. профессиональным жюри были подведены итоги конкурса творческих эссе для преподавателей английского языка «Inspiring Teachers-2021».
В конкурсе приняли участие 148 человек из 76 самых разных точек России: из Калининграда и Петропавловска-Камчатского, из Анапы и Нового Уренгоя, из маленьких поселков Аскино и Нагорный, из стольных городов: Казань, Санкт-Петербург, Москва.
Председатель жюри Dave Clark высоко оценил работы участников конкурса:
«I have always had great admiration for the comprehensive knowledge of the English language displayed by all the Russian teachers of English I have met; the very high level of competition entries is further evidence of this. I have enjoyed reading all the essays.
As a result: Svetlana Vorobyeva is the winner!
I think it’s clever in its use of an extended metaphor which it brings full circle at the end. It has a good, balanced conclusion. It is clear and easy to follow with a wide use of vocabulary.
Other two essays which particularly merit praise — Margarita Sokolovskaia and Marina Ostrosykaya.
Also I would say that Svetlana Dimitrieva added an interesting historical perspective to the debate, that Irina Krug writes with fluent and effortless humour about her frustrations in dealing with outmoded attitudes, and Polina Bochkareva draws thoughtfully on her own experiences to suggest how students can benefit from both native- and non-native-speaking teachers of English.
With my congratulations to all the entrants who made it as far as the last 20, and my best wishes for the holiday.»
Итак, победителем конкурса «Inspiring Teachers-2021» стала Светлана Воробьева.
Лауреаты конкурса:
- Бочкарева Полина Владимировна, г. Екатеринбург
- Дмитриева Светлана Николаевна, г. Чебоксары
- Круг Ирина Тимофеевна, г. Сыктывкар
- Островская Марина Игоревна, г. Санкт-Петербург
- Соколовская Маргарита Анатольевна, г. Курган
Подарки для лауреатов конкурса:
- бесплатная публикация эссе в журнале «Учительский журнал» и персональный сертификат о публикации
- ценные подарки — коды к on-line курсам повышения квалификации преподавателей от Издательства Кембриджского университета Cambridge University Press
- оригинал диплома лауреата конкурса «Inspiring Teachers-2021»
Эссе победителя конкурса:
«The benefits and drawbacks of native vs non-native speakers of English»
Or
My notes on gastro tourism
Oh, yes, my dear Reader, we are going to get foody today. Just as books are understood to be «food for the soul», we need to have a decent command of a language to be able to dine and wine at this table of knowledge. If one is fluent in several languages, it sufficiently widens their horizons, opens doors to new strata of knowledge and boosts their cultural competence to infinite levels.
Being a competent non-native speaker myself (non-NEST), I cannot but notice that despite all my internationally recognized qualifications, I can never enjoy the same level of income and treatment as my NEST colleagues. As ambiguous as the term «native speaker» is becoming today, the native/non-native dichotomy only makes sense if people with comparable variables are examined, so I have my native-speaking teacher counterparts in mind.
Partially due to my country’s communist past, some default reverence for anything foreign is existent. I worked for different schools: schools that hire NESTs in order to justify the fees from parents and those which don’t use their services at all and I’ve lived to tell the tale. I have also witnessed, and still do, how families send their children to summer/winter schools abroad to give exposure to natural flow of the language.
There is an opinion that non-natives are deficient because of the imitative nature of their language competence. I prefer to apply the term «observational learning» here and it’s one of the most effective learning strategies out there. Non-NESTs can serve as imitable models of the successful learner of English, as well as anticipate language difficulties.
But let’s go back to gastro parallels: non-natives are prone to intersperse instructions in English with instructions in their mother-tongue. This technique received a name «sandwiching». Do you like sandwiches? Well, it’s a quick fix, a lunch option. Can be nutritious and delicious but can one live off sandwiches day in day out? In the food paradigm, native-speakers are like a big, juicy Texas steak. Note: Texas steaks are at a premium and some people are vegetarians; in the case with language acquisition, they have made peace with the idea that they either have no access to native speakers or they cannot afford them.
I for one believe in diversity: both NESTs and non-NESTs can be successful ESL teachers — it’s just that they arrive at their destination via different paths. I am sure that some people like gin and others like tonic but hedonists have long before mixed the two and created GIN TONIC. So keep calm and enjoy your cocktails!
