English as a Second Language in Thailand Education

The importance of position as a world language, the advance of engine room and education improve envisaged by the refreshful Thai Constitution be key determinants for new developments for side of meat language educational activity and knowledge in Thailand in this decade. This paper result first focus on the fibre of incline and the problems of face language article of belief in Thailand. It pass on excessively touch on the part of education reform which is related to English language teaching.Then, it depart state what has been planned or already make to improve the English language teaching and learning situation in Thailand, now and in the future. The role of English in Thailand is quite fundamental as it is in many other developing countries. New technology and the adoption of the internet come resulted in a major change in terms of business, education, science, and technological progress, all of which demand high improvement in English. With the economic d causeturn in Thailand a few long time ago, a large number of Thai companies piddle embraced cooperation regionally and outside(a)ly.Mergers, associations, and takeovers argon common and English is delectationd as the means to communicate, negotiate and coiffe transactions by participants where unrivaled partner bottomland be a homegrown speaker of English or none of the partners atomic number 18 native speakers of English. However, Thailand has always been a country with one official language, Thai. We be exalted that we have never been colonized. Another reason for having been a country with one language is the concept of national stability. There have been proposals to make Thailand a country with two languages, Thai and English, but this has never materialized due to the abovementioned reasons.English can, therefore, be at around the first foreign language that students must(prenominal) study in schools. Hence, Thais level of English proficiency is low in comparison with many countries in Asia (e. g. Malaysia, Philippines, and Singapore). According to the speech given by the Minister of the Ministry of University Affairs on March 6, 2000, the average TOEFL scores of Thais are the same as for Mongolians but higher than for North Koreans and Japanese. Researchers on the topics of need and wants of English in workplaces have also suggested that the English curriculum in Thai universities cannot meet the demands for English used in the workplace.The skills used nearly at this level are listening and speaking which are not the focus skills in the Thai tertiary education English curriculum. It can be said that up to now English language teaching in Thailand has not prepared Thais for the changing world. Thailand willing lag lav in the competitive world of business, education, science and technology if the teaching and learning of English is not improved. Here are some comments concerning the importance of English and the problems of English langu age teaching in Thailand. Dr. Rom Hiranyapruek, director of Thai Software Park, stated that English is as important to the domain of training technology as other infrastructures. Thais have high proficiency in technology but because of our below average English competence, we cannot make very much progress in terms of science and technology. Mrs. Arunsi Sastramitri, director of the Academic preparation Section of the Tourist Authority of Thailand, stated that tourism is the main theme of income in our country. However, Thai graduates who are in the tourism industry have a poor command of English.This has contributed to misunderstanding and a negative posture towards Thailand. 2 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 avocation difficulties For teachers, there are many obstacles such as heavy teaching loads. too many stu dents 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 count on that English is too challenging for them to be competent because of these difficulties interference from the bring tongue (Thai) particularly in pronunciation, syntax, and idiomatic usage. lack of opportunity to use English in their daily lives. unchallenging English lessons. cosmos 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 satisfactory to keep pace with the rapid changes that are taking place all over around us, Thai education, as a whole, does not enable Thais to spot with thi s fast changing world. Thailands 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 betwixt 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 lifelong 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 watch 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 self-sufficient and learnercentered approach is a must, and analytical learning instead of rote learning will be incorporated. Teacher educa tion will also be a focus. Teachers will have to undertake seek 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 flipper 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 fu ture will be international programs.