When compared the study results to the findings reported by Noopong (2002), the perceptions of both groups of
teacher-respondents were similar and different in many ways. For example, Nopong’s study similarly revealed
that most of the problems concerning teachers, curricula and textbooks, and student assessment were at a
moderate level, while most of those concerning students were at a high level. However, while the current study
found that other factors contributing to successful teaching such as lack of English native speakers, inadequate
budget for teaching materials, insufficient financial support for teachers’ PD and students’ extra-curricular
activities, and inaccessibility for language resources were seen as moderately serious problems, Noopong
reported them as the most serious problems for language teaching. The findings of the current study may
attribute to two main questions to be discussed: