This essay should be written BEFORE you start any readings (including the syllabus and other course information, if possible), in order to capture your thinking prior to the course. In approximately 500 words, discuss: 1. If you consider yourself a NES (native English speaker), and why/why not 2. What other languages you speak, if you consider yourself a native speaker of those languages, and why/why not 3. What questions you currently have and hope to find answers for/explore in this course 4. Any additional thoughts you have, if any, on the topic at this point

As per the Cambridge dictionary, the definition of a native speaker is someone who has spoken a particular language since they were a baby, rather than having learned it as a child or adult. Therefore, I don’t consider myself a native English speaker, simply, because I wasn’t speaking English as a baby and I wasn’t born into an English-speaking family, i. e. none of my parents is a native English speaker. Another reason is that I was introduced to English in Kindergarten so I learned it as my second language. Thus, the English I speak today has developed from both learning at first and acquisition through daily interaction with the language. Additionally, I wasn’t born or have lived in an English speaking country as a child (I was once an exchange student in the US though). In fact, English is considered a foreign language in most Arab countries. I am from Yemen and my first language or so-called mother tongue- is Arabic which is vastly different from English in phonology and orthography. However, I consider myself a native Arabic speaker because I acquired it from birth and it was the first and only way of communication with my family during childhood. Acquiring my L1 was effortless because everyone else around me was speaking it. Though I acquired English at an early age around 4-5 years old, it doesn’t validate me as a native speaker but more of a bilingual speaker. The term Native speakerism is really confusing especially after reading about it seems that no one is truly able to provide a definitive explanation of it. Hopefully, this course will help me better understand what native speakerism is exactly and find answers to questions I have in my mind at this moment. Some argue that the native language doesn’t exist as there is no one born speaking, so they prefer to use the term first language of communication. As for me, I use the two terms interchangeably and would like to know if there is a clear distinction between the two. Moreover, As we know, people who are born and live in an English speaking country are considered native speakers. Do they have to be from the core English speaking countries (core Anglosphere: US, UK, Canada, Australia, and NZ) to be considered NES? How about the people who are born in the other countries where English is the primary language, such as Nigeria, South Africa, Jamaica …etc? Are they considered NES? Another question I hope to find an answer to is immigrant children. Children who moved to live in English speaking countries tend to speak English fluently more than their first language. They feel comfortable and more proficient using English than their L1 language both verbally and written. Are they considered NES given the fact that their L1 is not English? Another scenario is when two languages are introduced at an early age, for example, both parents are speaking different languages than each other which language is considered native? Can a person have two first/native languages? I also want to explore the prejudice and the stereotyping of both categories NES and NNES by reading potential research studies on this matter and how to tackle the influence of Native Speakerism in the job market in the field of TESOL and its effect on nonnative English-speaking teachers.