Feedback please?!!

You probably have picked up from my writing already; I am not a native English speaker. I have been living in English speaking country for decades.  This is an encounter with another non-native English speaker who has a similar learning experiences in English. This person said to me,  'I think my English is very good because I am not hardly corrected by my boss these days.'

Congratulations! But could we take the face value of non-verbal feedback (=not being mentioned)?

One certain thing about the role of a line manager is - he or she is not there to correct every grammatical mistakes or word usage of his/her employee.  It is not his or her role. Never! 

Non-native English speaking employees also need to take this in consideration.  Your line manner is evaluating you on the basis of  productivity: hitting a target.  Your mistakes in English can be set aside until they become a major obstacle for this set target. So in terms of accuracy in your English expression at work, the situation can be a volcano about to be erupted. You just have not noticed at all.

So here is my advice to my fellow non-native English speakers.

If you would like to know how you really are doing with your writing/speaking abilities in English, you need to ask. Do not assume.  Learning will never end and be vigilant about proper English expression.

So does this mean non-native English speakers cannot be native English speakers in terms of fluency and accuracy in English expression?

I say no.

Firstly, native English speaker do make mistakes, too. I know handful of native English speakers who cannot spell the words with more than two syllables. We should not take this 'native' status as a seal of approval.

More importantly, expressing our ideas in English is not entirely about grammatical skills. Expression in English is about logical presentation of our thoughts or argument, backed up by justification. If non-native English speakers do not grasp this concept, they would have a hard time living in any of English speaking countries, often labels as 'not good at English'. Yet we non-native English speakers wonder why we are not good at English after taking English courses and passing required tests.

I would like to emphasise here that languages are just a tool to communicate with other people.

Even if non-native English speakers make mistakes here and there or sounds funny, it has nothing to do with their ability to think. Being a native speaker does not necessary make him or her superior to non-native English speakers. One professor at my work told me that the English culture values debates and discussion which enables new ideas to emerge. So why don't we - us scientists - appreciate what we have regardless of their country of origin and enjoy our debates in English with a little bit of patience?