Acehnese students’ perceptions toward their native English speaking teachers (NEST)

Nurul Inayah (Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh)
Syamsul Bahri Ys (Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh)
Nandira Syahnaz (Department of English Education, Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Syiah Kuala, Banda Aceh)

Proceedings of Annual International Conference Syiah Kuala University - Social Sciences Chapter
Vol 7 (2017): 7th AIC in conjuction ICMR 2017 Universitas Syiah Kuala October 2017

This study intends to report the perceptions of 26 Syiah Kuala University students on the strengths and the weaknesses of their native-speaking English teachers (NESTs). Collected data include close-ended questionnaire with 18 (eighteen) questions and open-ended interview with 4 (four) questions.  Result of the study revealed that the students perceive the following as the NEST’s strength: creative in providing teaching materials, ideal model for pronunciation, and source of cultural information of the language. However some students were dissatisfied with the NEST’s performance in explaining grammars in the classroom. The result of the study indicates that even though NESTs are perceived as superior and a good model in teaching the target language, they also need to struggle with some obstacles in order to successfully teach the students.