What has caused the difficulties in English language teaching and learning in Thailand especially in the primary and secondary schools? According to Biyaem, 1997, the teachers and learners face the following difficulties:
For teachers, there are many obstacles such as :
- heavy teaching loads.
- too many students in a class (45 – 60)
- insufficient English language skills and native speaker cultural knowledge.
- inadequately equipped classrooms and educational technology.
- university entrance examinations which demand a tutorial teaching and learning style.
As for the learners, they wish they could speak English fluently but most of them think that English is too challenging for them to be competent because of these difficulties:
- interference from the mother tongue (Thai) particularly in pronunciation, syntax, and idiomatic usage.
- lack of opportunity to use English in their daily lives.
- unchallenging English lessons.
- being passive learners.
- being too shy to speak English with classmates.
- lack of responsibility for their own learning.
However, it is not only the level of English competence that inhibits Thailand from being able to keep pace with the rapid changes that are taking place everywhere around us, Thai education, as a whole, does not enable Thais to cope with this fast changing world. Thailand’s new constitution, adopted in 1997 has, therefore, established the National Education Act which creates the most radical education reform in Thai history.
This education reform to be implemented between 1996 and 2007 involves four main areas: school, curriculum, teacher and administrative reform. Its main concern is that learners have the ability to learn and develop. Learners are the most important component and life- long learning must be encouraged. A twelve-year basic education will be provided free to all Thai students. In 2005, there will be an Office of Quality Assurance, whose task is to oversee the quality control of education at every level and in every aspect. Schools are to be given more autonomy. There will be greater involvement by families and local communities in school policy and administration. An independent and learner–centered approach is a must, and analytical learning instead of rote learning will be incorporated. Teacher education will also be a focus. Teachers will have to undertake research and develop teaching abilities as well.
With the importance of English as a world language and the changes that come with the National Education Act, plus the challenges of new technology, what follows will discuss the English language teaching and learning scenario in Thailand in this decade.
1. More international programs
As of last year, there were 56 international schools around the country. There
were three foreign colleges and universities in Thailand. In private Thai universities, there were 77 undergraduate, 30 graduate and five Ph.D curricula using English as the language of instruction. In governmental higher education institutions, there were 143 undergraduate, 205 graduate and 77 doctoral international programs in English which have been established either independently by Thai institutes or have links with overseas institutes. It is expected that most new programs to be opened in universities in the future will be international programs.
What has caused the difficulties in English language teaching and learning in Thailand especially in the primary and secondary schools? According to Biyaem, 1997, the teachers and learners face the following difficulties:For teachers, there are many obstacles such as :- heavy teaching loads.- too many students in a class (45 – 60)- insufficient English language skills and native speaker cultural knowledge.- inadequately equipped classrooms and educational technology.- university entrance examinations which demand a tutorial teaching and learning style.As for the learners, they wish they could speak English fluently but most of them think that English is too challenging for them to be competent because of these difficulties:- interference from the mother tongue (Thai) particularly in pronunciation, syntax, and idiomatic usage.- lack of opportunity to use English in their daily lives.- unchallenging English lessons.- being passive learners.- being too shy to speak English with classmates.- lack of responsibility for their own learning.However, it is not only the level of English competence that inhibits Thailand from being able to keep pace with the rapid changes that are taking place everywhere around us, Thai education, as a whole, does not enable Thais to cope with this fast changing world. Thailand’s new constitution, adopted in 1997 has, therefore, established the National Education Act which creates the most radical education reform in Thai history.This education reform to be implemented between 1996 and 2007 involves four main areas: school, curriculum, teacher and administrative reform. Its main concern is that learners have the ability to learn and develop. Learners are the most important component and life- long learning must be encouraged. A twelve-year basic education will be provided free to all Thai students. In 2005, there will be an Office of Quality Assurance, whose task is to oversee the quality control of education at every level and in every aspect. Schools are to be given more autonomy. There will be greater involvement by families and local communities in school policy and administration. An independent and learner–centered approach is a must, and analytical learning instead of rote learning will be incorporated. Teacher education will also be a focus. Teachers will have to undertake research and develop teaching abilities as well.With the importance of English as a world language and the changes that come with the National Education Act, plus the challenges of new technology, what follows will discuss the English language teaching and learning scenario in Thailand in this decade.1. More international programsAs of last year, there were 56 international schools around the country. Therewere three foreign colleges and universities in Thailand. In private Thai universities, there were 77 undergraduate, 30 graduate and five Ph.D curricula using English as the language of instruction. In governmental higher education institutions, there were 143 undergraduate, 205 graduate and 77 doctoral international programs in English which have been established either independently by Thai institutes or have links with overseas institutes. It is expected that most new programs to be opened in universities in the future will be international programs.
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