Objectives this study examines prospective ELT teachers’ perceptions of native and non-native language teachers regarding the definition of NEST and NNEST, overall learning with NETSs and NNESTs, perceived weakness and strengths of NESTs and NNESTs and classroom behaviour and responsibility of NESTs and NNESTs . Material and methods The data will be collected through Likert scale questionnaire which was developed by Hadla (2013) and are going to be administered to ELT students studying at Aksaray University. The collected data will be subjected to descriptive analysis such as percentages, frequencies and statistically significant difference will be tested between the groups. Results This research provides valuable insights into pre-service ELT teachers’ perceptions on NESTs and NNESTS. Although the pre-service ELT teachers do not have a clear mind on the definition of NEST, it is important to note that most of them do not take the colour of skin as an indicator of it. Growing up in an English-speaking country and being raised with native speaking parents are, on the other hand, among the qualities of NESTs according to the participants. The findings also indicate that the participants that are prospective NNESTs themselves link being NEST with better development of speaking (fluency and pronunciation) and listening skill while they are not sure if it also brings better writing and reading abilities or more knowledge on the grammar and vocabulary. Conclusions The issue of NEST and NNEST perceptions differ on perceivers’ being learner or teacher and especially in Turkish context the perceptions might be standing as an obstacle in front of the system preveting it from successful language teaching. Therefore, important changes in language teacher education that helps to develop self-perceptions of NNESTs are required.