Preparing NESTs and NNESTs for Team Teaching at the Pre-Service Level

Teacher collaboration is a key feature of effective professional development and is a necessary element for improved student achievement. This study investigated pre-service non-native English teachers (NNESTs)’ attitudes toward and concerns about team teaching with native English speaking teachers (NESTs). The results reveal that the participants show a great interest and willingness to team teach with NESTs, and believe that this collaborative model has pedagogic benefits. However, they are concerned about being ‘marginalized’ by NESTs and potential communication problems with NESTs. The results show that there is an urgent need to prepare both pre-service NESTs and NNESTs for team teaching. Key words: NESTs, NNESTs; Team teaching; Preservice teacher education