Learner satisfaction and perceived instructional effectiveness of non-native English-speaking teachers in Thai university efl classrooms

Native-speaker preference continues to shape assumptions about English teacher legitimacy despite critiques of nativeness as a measure of instructional quality. This explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examined 432 Thai undergraduates’ satisfaction with non-native English-speaking teachers across teaching competence, communication, English proficiency and knowledge, and pedagogical skills, including variation by gender, self-rated proficiency, and academic programme. Questionnaire data were analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics, while reflective essays underwent thematic analysis. Students reported consistently high satisfaction, with no significant differences by gender or programme, but significantly higher satisfaction among more proficient students. They valued teachers’ support, clarity, intercultural exposure, interactive pedagogy, and confidence-building practices, while identifying challenges involving pacing, accents, workload, and mutual intelligibility. These findings challenge nativeness-based assumptions about teacher legitimacy.