drafts and in reading, to read and reread.
3. Learning is an interactive process
among the text, teacher and the student.
Therefore, the students are encouraged to respond
to the reading text according to their background
knowledge.
4. Summary writing can be used to
bridge reading and writing.
5. Errors are idiosyncratic; therefore,
a one-to-one conference between the teacher
and the student is recommended.
Criticisms
1. It is time-consuming
2. It works with a small group of
students.
Mass Education
All approaches work best with small
groups of students. However, problems in
Thailand exist because English is taught as mass
education.
1. In big classes, students do not
receive frequent and appropriate feedback from
the teacher.
2. The university entrance exam is a
major influence to orient the teaching and
assessing tasks in English to be of a multiplechoice
type.
3. Writing is not feasible for a big
class. Without writing, the teaching of English
tends to fail.
4. Because of the teaching load and
other administrative tasks, teachers are
overwhelmed.
5. With big classes and a heavy
workload, the salary is not attractive enough to
draw in many competent teachers.
Buddha says in the process of learning,
a student should listen, think, ask and then write.
However, in mass education where writing is
mostly left out, the process of learning is not
complete. It also explains why English teaching
is a failure in this country.
The Outlook of English
Teaching in Thailand
There are many attempts to address the
problems.
1. At the university level, the number
of credits for English for general education is
increased from 6-12. Six are devoted to general
education (foundation courses) and the other six
for English for specific purposes or academic
English.
2. In the mainstream education, a
learner-centered approach is stipulated, but
without extensive training and facilities such as
a resourceful library or teachersû assistants to
assist the teachers, it is hard to to achieve the