Discriminated Against or Uniquely Advantaged? Non-Native English-Speaking Teachers on Online Tutoring Platforms

A wide variety of studies have documented the discrimination in job hiring faced by non-native English-speaking teachers, including in both offline and online contexts. Online tutoring platforms have been recognized as one potential avenue by which non-native English-speaking teachers can bypass institutional barriers and directly engage with potential learners. On online tutoring platforms, non-native English-speaking teachers compete directly against native speakers in an open market, with a wide range of potential implications for how non-native English-speaking teachers understand their position in the market vis-à-vis native speakers. However, thus far relatively little research has discussed non-native English-speaking teachers’ position on online tutoring platforms. Focusing on a popular online teaching platform, this study draws on interviews to explore how Mainland Chinese non-native English-speaking teachers view their competitive advantages and disadvantages on online tutoring platforms. The findings indicate that the teachers tend to see themselves as possessing unique advantages that allow them to successfully compete against native speakers. At the same time, many teachers view native speakers as inherently more appropriate instructors of English. We conclude by discussing the implications of our findings for future research.