How Therapists’ Perception of Native Speakers Weakens their Confidence
These three misconceptions about native speakers can shake your confidence as a multilingual therapist. Here’s how to spot them and reframe them so they don’t stop you from working with English-speaking clients.
Over the eight years I’ve taught English as a second language, I’ve heard my fair share of erroneous beliefs about languages and language learning. Many of them are explicit (e.g., you can only learn a language properly if you live in a country where it’s spoken). However, some myths are implicit, making them more insidious.
Misconceptions about native speakers, in particular, can decrease therapists’ confidence, negatively impacting their communication skills or even discouraging them from using English. Here are three of the main ones and why they can be so harmful.
The definition of “native speaker” is a clear-cut, objective concept.
Let’s do a short experiment. I’d like you to take a couple of seconds to picture a native speaker of English, in as much detail as you can. Allow the image to come to mind without overthinking or trying to control it.
What is this person’s name? What are their physical characteristics (e.g., eye colour, skin colour, height, facial features)? What’s their nationality? What kind of accent do they have? How do they express themselves? What feelings or thoughts appear as you see and hear them?
When I do this, my husband John pops straight into my mind. Blonde, blue-eyed, and British, he’s almost a walking prototype of a native English speaker.
Many of us assume that it’s easy to define who a native speaker is. The “common sense” definition is that of people born and raised in a limited number of English-speaking countries, such as the UK or the USA.
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, a native speaker is a person who has spoken a particular language since they were a baby, rather than having learned it as a child or adult. This definition is already a little broader. Technically, it includes native speakers of English in many countries known as the “outer circle” of World English (e.g., Singapore, Nigeria, and India).
In those countries, English is used for higher education, legal purposes, national commerce, and so on. According to some estimations, 20 million Nigerians speak English as a first language. This number is higher than Irish, Scottish, or Kiwi native speakers of English!
But the dictionary’s definition of a native speaker, while better than a layman’s definition, is still reductive. It doesn’t consider multicultural backgrounds. For example, a child may be exposed to two languages at the same time, a process known as simultaneous bilingualism.
This is what happened to me! I learned to speak both English and French at the same time. Living in countries such as Cameroon, Saudi Arabia, and the UAE, my parents and I spoke French, and I used English with everybody else.
Another common scenario is that a person’s first language is not their dominant language (the language they are most fluent in and comfortable using). A child may learn their first language in their country of birth, but then move abroad and ultimately feel like they have a poor grasp of their mother tongue. This is the case for heritage speakers of Spanish in the U.S. Many international English teachers share this experience too.
Why is this first myth about native speakers problematic? It’s overly simplistic, assuming that there are two separate and very different categories of English speakers: native speakers and speakers of English as a second language. You’re part of the select few in the ingroup or you’re in the outgroup.
But language proficiency is not either-or. It’s a highly nuanced and sometimes complex continuum.
2. Native speakers are all ideal or perfect speakers of a language.
Separating language speakers into two categories is reductive. It also assumes that all native speakers have the same (perfect) language skills and communicative abilities.
In any given language, this is simply untrue. Language skills are affected by many factors, such as a person’s age, socio-economic background, educational opportunities, confidence, and cognitive abilities.
What really makes the native speaker vs. non-native speaker distinction dangerous is that native speakers are often considered to be ideal communicators. The English that native speakers use is “good,” and the English that non-native speakers use is “bad.”
By default, then, non-native speakers (no matter their level of English) are considered inferior or deficient speakers. But as Heather Hansen says, “When five times more people speak ‘bad English’ than ‘good,’ how do we decide which language is best?”
Speaking “good” or “bad” English is not only about native speakers being outnumbered, though. In my opinion, it also has to do with communication skills. A “good” speaker of English fully understands and is understood by others.
Native English speakers (or at least those who only speak English) sometimes lack awareness about communication in multicultural environments. They may overuse slang, obscure expressions, and idiosyncratic cultural references. They tend to speak quite quickly or mumble and have trouble understanding foreign accents. This means they have trouble communicating in international work or business contexts.
Non-native speakers, on the other hand, have greater cultural awareness, as they speak multiple languages, so they often speak more purposefully and carefully.
But communication skills are quite broad, so what about language skills?
Well-educated native English speakers have an excellent command of the language. But, as truly perfect language skills don’t exist (we aren’t robots), they still sometimes make these mistakes. In some cases, non-native speakers of English occasionally make fewer mistakes!
3. You should learn to speak like a native speaker
If English learners assume there are just two categories of English speakers, and only native speakers use the language properly, then of course they buy into the idea that they should “speak like a native.”
But what kind of native English speaker should you speak like, exactly? Irish, Indian, Australian, Canadian, Singaporean, or Scottish?
The truth is that your language skills are not determined by your nationality, your skin colour, or where you were born. They are defined by your mastery of the language (or CEFR level).
The highest possible level of English is proficiency (a C2 CEFR level). A native speaker is not a better speaker than someone who has worked hard to pass the Cambridge proficiency exam.
Nerdy side note: To me, this is like the difference between Charlie Parker and John Coltrane. Charlie Parker was one of the most naturally gifted saxophonists in the history of jazz, showing tremendous talent from a young age. John Coltrane, however, wasn’t initially seen as a prodigy. After battling a heroin addiction, he worked relentlessly to become one of the greatest saxophonists of all time. Both musicians reached unparalleled heights in the world of jazz. Does it matter that Charlie Parker had an initial advantage?
To be a “good” English speaker, there is absolutely no need to sound more British or American. Trying to adopt a native speaker’s mannerisms or accent is incredibly difficult (even for professional actors), and often backfires.
More alarmingly, it erases a part of your personality, cultural heritage, and identity.
So, what should you do instead?
In my humble opinion, focus on building your language skills and becoming as proficient as possible, without losing your unique personality, communication style, and cultural heritage.
What’s more, take pride in the fact that you are a multilingual mental health professional. After all, speaking more than one language is a strength, not a weakness.
Take Esther Perel. She was born and raised in Antwerp, Belgium, and speaks nine different languages. Her use of English is incredibly precise and incisive, and distinctly non-American. To me, she is just one of the beautiful examples of a truly proficient, non-native speaker of English.
Unfortunately, idealizing native speakers’ use of English often makes non-native speakers more insecure about their own English language skills. If it gets to the point where they are hesitant to use the language, a vicious cycle is created. The less you practice speaking a language, the less confident you feel about using it.
That’s why it’s key to…
Cultivate a more nuanced and balanced understanding of what it means to be a native vs a non-native speaker of a language.
Neither automatically overestimate native speakers’ linguistic abilities nor underestimate those of non-native speakers.
Realize that even though there can be linguistic differences between the two groups, the concept of a native speaker is “really a political construct carrying a particular ideological baggage." (Stephanie Hackert)
Understand that the term “native speaker” is “historically situated in nationalist discourses and colonial regimes … and is often used to exclude or to police the boundaries of speakerhood” ( Devin Grammon and Anna Babel) and that it “ legitimizes the unequal power relations between 'native' and 'non-native' speakers.” (Neriko Musha Doerr and Yuri Kumagai).
Aim to work towards a proficient (C2) level of English whilst honouring your unique cultural background, personality and communication style.
If you’d like a safe space to practice working with English-speaking clients (whether they are native speakers or not), check out my 12-week program here. For free resources, tips and advice delivered straight to your inbox, sign up here.
