2.08 Competence in the target language
18 model for pronunciation item 2
, confidently answer students’ questions
item 3,explain the
material clearlyitem 4 ,
deliver the instruction fluentlyitem 5, use conversation in speaking class wellitem 6, explain vocabulary effectively and without difficultyitem 7, able to answer
the students’ questions
item 8, their abilities to address question is gooditem 9.
As shown in the Table 1, a majority of the respondents presented positive perceptions of their NEST and
NNEST concerning their competence in the target language. It is clear that from the results of nine questionnaire items about competence in the target language skill, the number of the
respondents who agreed to the statements for NNEST was 65.96 and 76.85 for NEST. According to the finding, the students demonstrated significant differences on NEST-
NNEST Item 1, NEST-NNEST Item 2, and NEST- NNEST Item 7, while they showed no significant differences on the other items in this category. It was found that the respondents
showed significant differences in their perceptions of their NEST„s and NNEST„s English language fluency and pronunciation, demonstrating preferences toward NESTs. It proves that
85 of the respondents agreed that their NEST was a fluent English speaker, but only 69 NNEST did so item 1. Moreover, talking about the student‟s opinion about their ideal model
for pronunciation item 2, the students showed more positive perception toward their NEST than NNEST for this statement. More than three quarters of the respondents favored NEST as their
ideal model for pronunciation 79 , but when it comes to the NEST, only 50 who did. This result was in accordance with previous studies
of student‟s perception of NESTsNNESTs that reported oral skill competence as NESTs „asset Arva Medgyes, 2000; Reves Medgyes,
1994; Moussu, 2006; Tang, 1997; Filho, 2002
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Moreover, as for the statement which the respective teachers explained vocabulary effectively and without difficulty table 7, it was found that students showed significant
differences in their perceptions of their NEST and NNEST. There were 77, 08 of students who gave positive perception to NEST and only 54,16 to NNEST for this statement. There were
more students who felt unsure toward NNEST 33,33. In other words, students tended to think that their NESTs were more competent in teaching vocabulary. This finding was supported by
previous studies that reported NESTs were more capable to teach vocabulary Mahboob ,2004; Lasagabaster and Sierra„s ,2002
However ,it was found that student ‟s perceptions of their NEST and NNEST in using
conversation NNEST6 – NEST6 and addressing question NNEST9 – NEST9 in speaking
class proved that the two groups of teachers were perceived similarly in terms of teaching using conversation and addressing questions, which did not corroborate with the previous studies. In
other words, the students thought that both teachers had the same competence. The technique used by both teachers perceived positive perception. It stated that 81 agreed that both NNEST
and NEST used conversation in speaking class well, also 69 agreed that the way NNEST and NEST to address the question is good.
From all those statements where NEST was always perceived higher positive opinion than NNEST, there was one notable finding that the students presented a much higher degree of
agreement in terms of their NNESTs explain about the material item 4 than NESTs. 75 of the respondents agreed toward their NNESTs and 69 did for NEST on the respective item. Their
perception toward their NEST and NNEST on this issue was supported by Sung‟s 2010 study of
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Hongkong students that they understood NNESTs better, and found it was hard to comprehend NESTs‟ in explaining materials.