4. Discussion
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:
Question 1: Although many English test results of Thai people or Thai students were unsatisfactory as
mentioned earlier, why were problems involving teachers, curricula and textbooks, assessment, and factors
contributing to successful teaching seen at a moderate level in the current study?
It is likely that two main reasons are involved in answering this question. First and foremost, the Thailand
Education Reform Project, 2002, may have helped subside the seriousness of the problems as cited in Tantranon
(2009):
In the year 2006, several projects have been undertaken to enhance the quality of education and the quality of
teachers. Resources and investment for education and development of teachers, faculty staff and educational
personnel have been allocated to raise the standards and professionalism in terms of ethics, as well as academic skills. There were large number of teachers and education personnel who attended conferences and training
courses to support their continuing professional development (CPD) in Local Education Service Areas across
the country. The Ministry of Education (MOE) also supports CPD activities in schools and the use of computers
and access of internet for networking between teachers to share new teaching and learning techniques. These
collaborative networks both online and face-to-face activities facilitated interaction and sharing of experiences
and common interests and lead to further improvement in the classroom. (p. 31)
This means that each English teacher should have experienced some kinds of PD, and most secondary schools of
today have probably been better-equipped with facilities necessary for language learning and teaching. This may
support the findings that the respondents disagreed with the statements that they disliked teaching English orthey had problems with their qualifications. Nor did they agree that the problems about facilities supporting
teaching were serious.
The second reason that may help explain the situation of English-language teaching is that Thai teachers of
English seem to cope surprisingly well with presumed common problems such as overly large classes, limited
and impractical curricula and textbooks, difficulties with language assessment, and limited availability of
computers and other instructional aids. They have made do with what they have and rated the problems as
moderately serious. In addition, they seem to have been doing well in some particular areas. For example, they
disagreed that they had serious problems concerning teaching and constructing the tests of vocabulary, grammar
and structure.
However, the skills focus that teachers of ten years ago perceived important were reading and writing skills,
while teachers of this current study wished to improve teaching strategies for communication skills. As the
findings revealed, the teachers’ top five problematic areas, although at a moderate level, involved teaching
writing, incorporating experiential learning into English classes, their own minimal use or exposure to English,
teaching listening and speaking, and using games and songs effectively in English classes. Also, the teachers’ PD
needs shifted from those of Noopong’s teachers, who requested strategies for teaching reading, writing, and
knowledge of psychology in teaching respectively, to the needs of equipping teachers with strategies for teaching
listening-speaking or conversation and writing.
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.
Question 2: Why were the problems involving students seen at a high level by both studies?
While the problems involving teachers were assessed at a moderate level, the problems involving students were
rated high. Above all, the respondents thought that students did not practice English enough in their own time,
students thought in Thai before translating it into English when struggling to communicate, and students had
problems with writing and pronunciation. Moreover, students lacked patience in practicing English and had little
exposure to English outside class, which may in turn contribute to their lack of confidence in speaking English.
Nevertheless, the teachers perceived that students could see the importance of English, and some of them wanted
to study English with native speakers. Still, from the open-ended question section, about ten teachers mentioned
that students did not pay enough attention to English studying, and nor did they have enough practice of English
in their own time. A teacher wrote: ‘Students usually came back to my English class the following week with
‘blank eyes’ as if they had never at all heard anything I was trying to review and link with the new lesson.’
The findings from teachers’ perceptions in both studies similarly indicated the students’ lack of patience
practicing English and students’ minimal exposure to English outside class. These two causes of failure seem
impossible to solve in Thailand context. Many researchers (e.g. Dodds, 1994; Williams and Burden, 1999;
Whitley and Frieze, 1985 – cited in Suwanarak & Phothongsunun, 2009) emphasized two factors contributing to
success or failure of learning and teaching: the students themselves, and the teachers. The former - regarding
their motivation and attitudes - is regarded as an internal factor affecting learning. It outweighs the latter, an
external factor, which involves teaching contexts and the learning environment. In other words, no matter how
well teaching strategies are employed, success seems out of reach without student perseverance. This seems to
be real worrying because if English study results are still unsatisfactory internationally as mentioned earlier,
English will be a great barrier for future Thais to be competitive in employment to economists, engineers and
scientists from Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines. The agreement of the ‘Free Flow of Skilled Labor’ or
‘Mobility of professions in ASEAN community’ set out in 2015 will be advantageous to other ASEAN nationals
who are more fluent in the ASEAN lingua franca and the international language of science, business, tourism,
etc.: English. The teacher-respondents have shown their real concern and awareness in improving the learners’
and their own communication skills. Thus, in terms of professional development, a training course that gives
priority to such skills should be valuable. Also, the findings revealed that the teachers seemed to have greater
difficulties with the assessment of listening-speaking skills, writing, and listening; therefore, organizers of PD programs should be aware of such needs.