An Introduction to Applied Linguistics

8 DIFFERING VIEWS
It may be that we cannot distinguish NSs and NNSs because our premises are
inherently flawed, as Hyltenstam and Abrahamsson (2000) point out, since there are
different views of what being a native speaker means. They include:
1. native speaker by birth (that is by early childhood exposure)
2. native speaker by virtue of being a native user
3. native speaker (or native speaker-like) by being an exceptional learner
4. native speaker through education in the target language medium
5. native speaker through long residence in the adopted country.
What is at issue is whether claiming to be a native speaker, to ‘own’ the language,
requires early childhood exposure. 
154
An Introduction to Applied Linguistics
02 pages 001-202:Layout 1 31/5/07 09:31 Page 154

---

Disputes and differences of opinion about the native speaker arise because the
concept is interpreted differently. That is why is has been referred to as both myth
and reality (Davies 2003a). Discussions of the native speaker concept get trapped in
the very different ideas of what is being talked about. One main type of approach
sees the native speaker as the repository and guardian of the true language – this
is the linguistic view. The other, the social view, concerns the native speaker as the
standard setter. The two views are related and merge into one another. But what they
reflect is that different positions can be taken on the basis of interest in and concern
for the same phenomenon, because what is at issue is the individual speaker in
relation to his/her social group, and to its community norms, that is the standard
language. 
World Englishes scholars propose that ‘native user’ should replace ‘native speaker’
(Kandiah 1998). Although theoretically insubstantial, the concept ‘native user’ gains
credibility by practical experience on the post-colonial and English-as-a-lingua-
franca ground. Evidence for this contradiction is said to be present in the bias against
local varieties of English found in international tests of English Language proficiency,
such as TOEFL and IELTS. In spite of claims of bias, the argument persists that
native-speaker not native-user norms matter, both practically (for language learning)
and theoretically (for grammaticality judgement tests). Ongoing research (Davies,
Hamp-Lyons and Kemp 2003, Hamp-Lyons and Davies 2006) seeks to clarify the
differences and attempt reconciliation between, on the one hand, the cognitive and
the sociolinguistic approaches and, on the other, the differing views as to which
norms are criterial for new varieties of English.