The concept of the "native speaker" as the model and measure for second language learners has been challenged from multiple angles since the 1980s. What was once an unquestioned reference point in linguistics and language teaching is now recognised as ideologically loaded, empirically problematic, and pedagogically limiting.
Traditional SLA positioned the native speaker as the target and the non-native speaker as a deficient approximation. This created several problems:
Paikeday (1985) declared "the native speaker is dead," arguing that the term is a linguist's fiction with no empirical referent. He proposed replacing it with "proficient user."
Cook (1991, 1999, 2016) developed the concept of Multi-competence: the compound state of a mind with two or more languages. L2 users are not failed native speakers but successful multicompetent speakers with a qualitatively different language system. Comparing them to monolinguals is like comparing apples to oranges.
Davies (2003) took a more moderate position, arguing that native speaker status can be achieved by exceptional L2 users, but acknowledging that the construct is idealised. His six criteria (childhood acquisition, intuitions, discourse competence, creative performance, translation ability, metalinguistic awareness) are themselves debatable.
The native speaker construct has real-world consequences in employment:
Many institutions worldwide still recruit based on passport rather than qualification. The NNEST movement (formalised by TESOL International's NNEST Caucus, now the NNEST Interest Section) has documented discriminatory hiring practices and advocated for professional standards over birthplace.
Research consistently shows that NNESTs bring distinctive strengths: shared L1 with learners, personal experience of language learning, greater empathy for learner difficulties, and explicit knowledge of grammar. Neither NEST nor NNEST status predicts teaching effectiveness.