Multilingual, multicompetent, and professional teachers needed: an analysis of English Language Teaching (ELT) job advertisements in US tertiary education

چکیده مقاله

While prior research has documented extensive native speakerism in job advertisements for primary and secondary ELT education, scant attention has been given to recruitment discourse in tertiary education. This study set out to investigate a corpus of 382 online advertisements collected from US higher education platforms for evidence of native speakerism. The analysis of the results conducted through the constant comparative method, highlighted several recurring themes in hiring practices at tertiary educational level: 1) US higher education prioritises qualifications, expertise, and professionalism; 2) US higher education aspires to inclusion, impartiality, and the enhancement of multilingual and multicultural competence; 3) US higher education demands multi-competent and multi-skilled educators; and 4) promotional strategies in US higher education target the unique attributes and accomplishments of academic institutions. Drawing on these results, the article argued that, unlike primary and secondary education, ELT in US higher education is shifting toward and placing greater value on professionalism, equity, diversity, and multilingualism. The findings were discussed with reference to the multilingual and multicultural fabric of educational institutions, and implications were proposed for teacher educators, governments, and recruitment agencies.