Thai teachers of English in this study focused more on developing their own and their students’ productive skills
such as speaking and writing probably because of their weaknesses in these areas. It is widely accepted that
Thais, even university graduates, have much difficulty successfully communicating in English. According to
Suwanarak and Phothongsunun (2009), half of undergraduate students participating in their study pointed out
that they were unable to use English to communicate in real situations as they were weak in listening and
speaking skills. They attributed the failures to themselves – having made little effort in practicing English. These
students’ responses may, to some extent, give the answer to the following second discussion question.