Hi Sarah

as we have some handy, I thought I would ask a specialist, her reply was as quoted below, I hope it's helpful
regards, Deb



Hi Deb,

With pleasure.

"Native" is a term without any clear definition - "native" speakers of English range widely in the varieties they speak and the ranges of styles and registers they use. The only area where there is a clear notion of what it means to have "native" competence is written language, because there is a fixed set of rules that can serve as a reference point. This competence, however, is not "native", but acquired to a particular form of education that even "native" speakers may lack.  "Native" is also problematic because there are many speakers who could claim to be "native" speakers of more than two languages. Till today, there are no good definitions of bilingual or multilingual speakers, because the circumstances of acquisition vary so much, the domains in which the languages are used are often not the same and impede proficiency tests, and language repertoires change over an individual's lifetime. In the extreme case, one could argue that there are also speakers without a "native" language. In today's mobile world, wordings like "native", which rely on idealised monolingual speakers, are more difficult to apply than ever.

I agree, however,  that "fluent" is by no means clearer.

In my most recent job ads, I used the following phrasing: "Excellent oral and written communication skills in English are required." In other sections in the job description, the exact nature of these communication skills was described, fo instance with paragraphs like 

"Oral communication:
  • Ability to summarise and interpret complex, conceptual and specialist matters to suit different audiences with varying levels of understanding and ability
  • Ability to adjust content of information that needs careful explanation or interpretation to suit the needs of different audiences

Written/Electronic Communication:

  • Ability to summarise and interpret complex, conceptual and specialist matters using a range of styles and media selected to meet the needs of a diverse audience
  • Ability to adjust the level of content and use a range of formats, to meet the needs of different audiences ensuring their understanding"

While this is as open to interpretation as any verbal description of a skill that cannot be directly tested, it moves away from "native", and is more precise in the sense that also a native speaker could lack in oral and written communication skills in one or more of the domains required - they could suffer a speech disorder, speak a substandard variety of English not suitable for academic contexts, be dyslexic, etc. Because of excluding these cases, I am happier with our solution than with the contentious "native".

I hope this is helpful.

Best,

Friederike

Prof. Friederike Lüpke
Crossroads Project
SOAS, University of London
Russell Square
Thornhaugh Street
London WC1H 0XG
United Kingdom of Great Britain

Friederike Lüpke & Anne Storch: 2013. Repertoires and choices in African languages. Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 

"Crossroads - investigating the unexplored side of multilingualism" - Leverhulme Research Leadership Award
 









On 12 February 2014 15:08, Guise, Sarah <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

Hi everyone,

 

Just wanted to do a quick straw poll. We’ve had quite a few queries in the past few months from our modern language departments wishing to publish job adverts on jobs.ac.uk asking for people who are “native speakers or have native speaker competence in …”

 

Jobs.ac.uk take issue with this phraseology but our academics are adamant it is the correct linguistic term and don’t wish to change their adverts. “Fluency” has a slightly different meaning when talking about language learning i.e. the ability to speak relatively quickly and smoothly, but not necessarily accurately. I can see both sides as ‘native’ certainly has a connotation but is qualified by the addition of ‘native speaker competence’.

 

Have others had this issue? Did you create a policy on it? Any other thoughts? Thanks!

 

Best wishes,

Sarah

Sarah Guise
Head of Equalities and Diversity

 

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An exciting programme of events has been organised to celebrate diversity and examine the ongoing and evolving challenges some groups face in education, work and the wider society http://www.ucl.ac.uk/hr/equalities/diversity_month2014.php

 

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Deb Viney, Diversity Advisor,
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