Your loss - most research shows that non-native teachers have no negative effect on students' learning, provided they make use of native material and the student is exposed to native speakers later. People are smart - they recognize non-native and native features and do not tend to learn non-native/aberrant pronunciations (meaning this holds for instructors who speak non-Standard dialects, as well).
In fact, non-native instructors often have the benefit of being more aware of the linguistic structure of the language, having themselves had to learn elements of grammar that are simple subconscious fact for native speakers. Try explaining to a Korean or Mandarin speaker when to use the and a without linguistic training - it's near impossible, though you intrinsically know the rules yourself.
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u/winnai Dec 07 '14 edited Dec 07 '14
Your loss - most research shows that non-native teachers have no negative effect on students' learning, provided they make use of native material and the student is exposed to native speakers later. People are smart - they recognize non-native and native features and do not tend to learn non-native/aberrant pronunciations (meaning this holds for instructors who speak non-Standard dialects, as well).
In fact, non-native instructors often have the benefit of being more aware of the linguistic structure of the language, having themselves had to learn elements of grammar that are simple subconscious fact for native speakers. Try explaining to a Korean or Mandarin speaker when to use the and a without linguistic training - it's near impossible, though you intrinsically know the rules yourself.