Readers comment on Thailand's English language woes

Bangkok Post readers were quick to express their opinions on yesterday's story detailing the challenges Thailand faces in competing in the Asean Community where English is the official language.

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Readers comment on Thailand's English language woes

Bangkok Post readers were quick to express their opinions on yesterday's story detailing the challenges Thailand faces in competing in the Asean Community where English is the official medium of communication. It appeared in the newspaper, the main website and also on our own learning channel (AC English barrier), so it was widely read and commented on.

Today our Post Bag (Letters to the editor) section published three letters from readers commenting on the article, all from foreign residents. You might find them interesting. Feel free to agree or disagree on our Facebook page listed above.

TEACHERS TOLD YOU SO

Re: “Thais fear AC English barrier” ( BP, Jan 2).

The only surprise about your front page “special report” headline is that anybody could possibly be surprised by it. In fact, right across Thailand, English teachers and educationalists will be stifling a yawn and muttering: “Told you so.”

For some years I was the director of the language institute at a well-known vocational college. I ran tutorials for college executives, management and teachers on the Asean Community (AC) and its implications for Thailand. I always emphasised the opportunities that the AC could bring to Thailand, rather than the threats. But the opportunities, I told them, relied on accelerating and upgrading everybody’s English language skills, particularly the students, who would be graduating into a competitive AC world.

We had a good balance of native speaking and Thai English teachers, and I recruited a native English speaker to create and coordinate extracurricular English language activities to take English out of the classroom and put into the everyday lives of the students.

Unfortunately since my retirement there is now not a single native English speaker employed by this college and the English language activities officer has also long since left.

YOU’VE GOT TO TALK THE TALK

The photo accompanying your page one special report perfectly captures everything wrong with English as a second language (ESL) instruction in Thailand and much of Asia.

(Caption from the Bangkok Post story) An English language classroom at Chetupon Commercial College, which is preparing students for the Asean Economic Community.

We see no one talking, only listening to a lecture most likely in Thai (given the speaker’s Thai-language papers) and taking notes.

Just as no one learns to play football or the piano by watching matches on TV or listening to CDs, no one learns any skill, including language, without regular, dedicated practice.

Given the woeful lack of competent ESL teachers, it’s an open question when or whether Thailand can ever fully participate in the Asean Economic Community.

Note: Although the caption of the photo mentioned above says it was an English language class, a close look at the texts the students were using indicates it probably was not an English course, but a business course taught in English. In an "English programme," much of the student's coursework is in English.

GRASS ISN’T ALWAYS GREENER

In the special report in the Bangkok Post about the launch of the Asean Community (AC), a student is quoted as having said that after studying further in Switzerland she would then “like to work in Singapore because the salary over there is better than here in Thailand”.

Yes, that is true, but her thinking is sadly naive because she seems unaware that the cost of living, such as accommodation, food and transport etc, can be as much as three or four times that of Thailand.
Before rushing to work overseas, I suggest that people first do a little homework; they might find that although overseas salaries appear higher, their take-home pay goes further in Thailand.

And, as also mentioned in the report, Thais should be aware of the requirement for strong English language skills in most of the AC. These skills are often lacking with Thais. To improve this is the often mooted but never carried out idea of permitting expatriates residing here, whose first language is English, to teach and pass on their language skills — a possibly win-win situation.

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