Resumo

PERAZA, Yvemar; SAULNY, Yvonne; ARRIOJ, Manuel  e  COLMENARES, Cruz. STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION ABOUT THE NATIVE SPEAKER IN ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE.. Paradígma [online]. 2012, vol.33, n.2, pp.142-157. ISSN 1011-2251.

In 1973, Dr. Elliot Woodaman, who was the Head of the English Department at IPMAR, started a native speaker recruitment policy (Álvarez & Tineo, 20072007) and some of these professionals remained as part of the university staff until the 1990s. In 2006, the Head of the English Department implemented the English Language Fellow Program, of Georgetown University, sponsored by the USA Embassy. Two years after, the British Council offers the Foreign Language Assistant Exchange Program, for students who are in the last semester of their career. In spite of this history, little seems to have been documented on the role of the native speaker in the learning process of EFL at IPMAR. This research paper was intended to determine the role of the native speaker in the learning process of EFL according to the perception of the IPMAR English students. To accomplish this objective, students who had taken classes with native speakers were asked to fill out a survey where their opinion about oral and written production, motivation and teacher’s performance was the main concern. The results of the study showed a positive perception from the students of all the aspects considered. Consequently, the authors concluded that programs which promote the inclusion of natives in the language departments of Venezuelan universities enrich the learning process of the target language.

Palavras-chave : perception; native speaker; programs; learning process.

        · resumo em Espanhol     · texto em Espanhol     · Espanhol ( pdf )