The study, which was conducted by researchers from Monash University, found that accent bias, credentialing challenges and increased testing often plague those who come to Australia to teach English at universities and schools.

Nashid Nigar, doctoral candidate in Monash’s education department, explained to The PIE News how some teachers can end up in prolonged unemployment because of discrimination in hiring processes.

“Over years, non-native English speaking teachers (NNESTs) often encounter difficulties in finding teaching jobs in Australia, before and after meeting the necessary qualifications and English language proficiency requirements.

“Unlike native English speaking teachers, many immigrant NNESTs find that their qualifications and teaching experience from institutions in non-English speaking countries are not always recognised or valued by Australian employers.

“They may need to obtain additional Australian qualifications, even if they have extensive teaching experience in their home countries,” Nigar explained.

“Employment discrimination experienced by NNESTs has long been addressed by the TESOL International Association… yet the goal to create a non-discriminatory professional environment for all TESOL International members has not yet been accomplished,” the study noted.

A “high proportion of immigrant ESL teachers” being forced to shift sectors due to unemployment was also mentioned in the study, which Nigar said indicates a “significant problem with teacher unemployment in the country.”

“This suggests that there may be an oversupply of teachers in certain areas or a mismatch between the qualifications and skills of teachers and the available job opportunities,” Nigar said.

It isn’t just employment and credential recognition that are impacted – one subject of the study reported feeling imposter syndrome – and even “self-othered” because of the anxiety that they may not be “as good as a native English-speaking teacher”.

One participant, Carlos “initially thought he ‘could be too pretentious to teach English in a country where the official language is English, and I was not even born here’”, the study quoted.

Another, Jasha, recalled an interview for a position as a TESOL instructor to work with international students.

“After just a couple of minutes came ‘unfortunately, the position has been filled’’.

“However, Jasha capitalised on her life experiences with English and teaching, and pursued various settlement and employment training programs, higher education, and other relevant jobs over the years to access the profession, albeit in the vocational sector, which is similar to the findings of Phillips’s study.

“She had been rejected in an interview as soon as her accented English was heard”

“Even recently, Jasha reflected, she had been rejected in an interview as soon as her accented English was heard,” Jasha said during the study.

Nigar stressed that ESL teachers that aren’t native English speakers need to be recognised as “hybrid professionals” considering many have many international qualifications; “their global perspectives should be seen as assets rather than barriers”, she said.

“On-arrival programs [are needed] to help NNESTs integrate swiftly into the Australian education workforce. These programs can provide orientation, training and support tailored to their specific needs,” she added.

The study noted specific policy changes could be made by “replacing the narrow requirement of knowing and teaching SAE with the broader requirement of knowing and teaching English as a language of global communication”.