Improving English language teaching in Thailand

The teaching of English in Thailand is a matter of national concern. The national government believes that the ability of Thai people to use English for effective communication is very important for the continuing economic development of Thailand. However many students who have had primary, secondary and university exposure to English find it difficult to conduct a conversation with a native speaker of English. The reasons for this include lack of student motivation and contextual support, large classes, the dominating effects of assessment on what is taught, and the English language competency of the teachers. The research in this thesis focuses on the teaching of English as a foreign language in secondary schools in Khon Kaen. The research reported here consists of one major and three minor studies. In the major study some of the principles of action research were used to explore strategies that would improve the teaching of English in a number of secondary schools in Khon Kaen in Thailand. In the first phase of the major study I worked with two teachers to design and implement a series of classroom activities that encouraged lower secondary students to use English. In the second phase I worked with a group of teachers to design and deliver a professional development program for twenty school teachers interested in improving their English language teaching. In the third phase I used data from the first two phases to design five new activities that were used in classrooms by two teachers. Findings from the three phases indicated that working collaboratively with school teachers can be a mutually beneficial professional experience and can improve student interest and learning. In the first minor study I used interview-conversations to investigate the perceptions that subject co-ordinators and teachers have towards English language teaching. The conversations covered the merits of detailed curricula and curricula frameworks, professional development, assessment, resources, and integration of English language with other subjects. It was clear that the teachers were aware of the national government s policies for the improving English language teaching and accepted the need for change. It was equally clear that the preparation of teachers and the resources available were major limiting factors in schools to teacher effectiveness. In the second minor study I examined the teaching of Mandarin in an Australian school that suffered from some of the same resource problems as Thai schools. Although there was only one teacher available for all of the Mandarin classes in the school she was extremely effective. Her teaching was an example of best practice. It included thorough preparation, the ability to manage lessons at the pace of the learners, active classes and individual attention, detailed assessment records, and the integration of language and culture. Some or all of these could be used in Thai schools. The third minor study was an investigation of the professional development experiences of English language teachers in Thai schools. In most schools there are consultative and administrative mechanisms, acceptable to principals and teachers, in place to support professional development. Access to native speakers was seen as very important. However, the schools in Khon Kaen province have little or no access to native speakers of English. Even if they were available, the schools do not have the funds to employ them. Findings from the four studies indicate that it is quite possible to use interactive, participatory or student-centred pedagogies to teach English as a foreign language in Thai classrooms. However, one cannot expect teachers to adopt such pedagogies unless they are convinced of their value. This can be achieved most effectively through a systematic and sustained program of professional development.

Imagining future selves

This thesis reports how a vision of an ideal self as a speaker of English in the imagined global community where English is being used as lingua franca (ELF) by a vastly growing number of non-native English speakers (NNESs) for a wider communication alongside their L1, positively influences Taiwanese students' engagement in learning English in an exam-dominant context.

Accommodating College ESL Learner Communication Needs: Perceptions, Policies, and Practices

The purpose of this qualitative inquiry was to determine how the Practical Nursing and Pharmacy Technician programs in one southern Ontario community college could more effectively accommodate ESL learners' communication needs. The literature review examined (a) linguistic issues, such as language testing and second-language learning theories, (b) organizational matters, such as ESL curriculum and teacher training, and (c) affective issues, such as motivation for second-language learning, learning styles, and the student-teacher relationship. I gathered perceptual data from the programs' administrators, faculty members, and ESL learners. Eleven participants took part in individual interviews or a focus group session. The results suggest that ESL learners need assistance with discipline-specific vocabulary and cultural nuances. College ESL learners' weak communicative competence, together with misleading acceptance standards for ESL learners and limited support available to faculty members and to students, decrease opportunities for successful completion of the programs. The results point to re-assessment of the college's admission policies and procedures, program evaluation practices that consider the needs of ESL learners, discipline-specific language support, and strategies to enhance the ESL student-teacher relationship. The study highlights theory relating to ESL learners' self-perception and engagement, as well as the importance of including the voice of college ESL learners in educational research. The results suggest that despite ESL learners' perseverance in completing their studies, power imbalances remain. The college has yet to implement organizational strategies such as discipline-specific communications and ESL courses and extended language support that could meet the communication needs of ESL learners in the two programs.

Optimal models for the provision of postgraduate programmes in TESOL for tertiary teachers of English in a developing country

Investigates the major theoretical and practical issues related to distance education and English language teacher retraining. Suggests a number of models for the provision of Australian postgraduate programmes in TESOL for the upgrading of the teaching qualifications of Vietnamese tertiary teachers of English.

Comprehension strategies of above average English as a foreign language (EFL) readers

The study reported in this thesis is a single-shot case study, which aims to provide a detailed description ofthe reading comprehension strategies used by fifteen student teachers ofEnglish from Indonesian- and Javanese-speaking backgrounds in the last year of their four-year Strata-One study at a university In Yogyakarta, Indonesia. These readers were above average among their peers in that their average indexes of grades in Reading and Speaking classes were 3.22 and 3,34 respectively, while the average indexes ofthe peer group were 271 and 2.63, respectively, out ofa scale of 0 to 400. In addition, while students in this university may complete their study by course work or by research, these readers were all enrolled as research students. As studying comprehension strategies involves complex issues, a multi-method approach is required, not only for breadth of coverage, but also to allow for a check on the validity of individual methods. To achieve the goal of the study, thinka1oud tasks, retellings, a reading comprehensIon test, indepth interviews and observations were employed to explore the strategies used. An analysis of the recorded data indicates that these readers used thirty strategies classified under five clusters: infomiation gathering, information processing, text interpretation, comprehension monitoring, and comprehension utilisation. In general, readers started gathering information by silent reading, interpreted the text by an inference or a paraphrase, and ended the task by making selfreflections relevant to the text. Most readers managed to identify problems when they occurred, and monitored their comprehension when they doubted their interpretation, as could be seen from their rereading the text or vocalising its pail(s). When direct interpretation was difficult, readers associated the text with prior knowledge or interrelated parts of the text, The readers in this study share characteristics of both poor and good native readers, in the sense that there was evidence ofgood strategy use butthe readers did not manage to maintain it consistently. As a result, even the successful readers were not able to maximise their potential. The implication is that in order to develop students into independent readers, strategy instruction should be part of and appropriately embedded in, the reading instruction. There is a need not merely to teach strategies as such, but rather to teach flexibility in strategy use. While there was sufficient evidence that thinkaloud tasks and their complementary methods worked to achieve the goals ofthe present study, similar studies with different cohorts are suggested for crosschecks.

Identifying language needs of ESL students in a Canadian university based intensive English language program

This study investigated the needs of adult ESL learners intending to pursue higher education in Canada. Its chief purpose was to enable educators and administrators to design ESL programs that would prepare students to function at optimal levels in academic and social settings during their university studies. The study adopted a mixed research method that was predominantly qualitative in its orientation and narrative in its implementation. It focused on an Intensive English Language Program (IELP) offered at an Ontario university. Using a holistic approach, the study sought to represent the various perspectives of all the participants in the program: the students, the instructors, and the administrators. Analysis of both qualitative and quantitative data gathered from 17 students, 6 instructors, and 1 administrator in the IELP showed that to a large extent the academic needs ofESL learners in the IELP were generally not being met. Most notably, the study found that learners were not receiving sufficient training in speaking and listening skills, a factor that contributed to their sense of insecurity and lack of confidence in their ability to communicate successfully in academic and social settings. The study also revealed that the solutions to many of the problems it identified lay not in the classroom but in the way the ESL program was structured administratively. One major recommendation to come out of the study is that programs like the IELP should be restructured so as to give them greater flexibility in meeting individual needs. While the study labored under certain limitations and did not achieve all of its goals, it did succeed in creating awareness ofthe problems and in establishing a methodological approach that can serve as a framework within which future research may be conducted in this somewhat neglected area.

Native English speaking teachers and Taiwanese English teachers' professional identity

The study found that Native English Speaking Teachers (NESTs) helped Taiwanese English teachers define their weaknesses, strengths, roles and values through relationality. NESTs brought competing discourses to the profession. In addition, team teaching has become a site of tension threatening Taiwanese English teachers in activating their professional agency.

Emagining change : English teachers and technology

This textually playful study focuses on gaining a deeper understanding of teacher beliefs about English and the influence of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs). Because English is in transformation, these insights into teachers' perpectives of their subject, technology and change will contribute to the productive rethinking of the profession. It employs narrative research, diaglogics and Actor Network Theory techniques.

An evaluation of the Victorian Certificate of Education common study of English

This paper traces the development of the Victorian Certificate of Education and in particular the common English Field of Study demonstrating that the VCE is the culmination of many forces acting both within and from outside education. Changes in education are traced and the stimuli for these changes are shown to be economic, social, political and educational.

Developing english skills through reflective portfolios in Hong Kong universities

This research concerns the use of portfolios by teachers of English (L2) to assist non-native speakers in Hong Kong universities to complete their studies in English. Portfolios as an English learning tool have yet to win converts from the ranks of language teachers in Hong Kong chiefly because of concerns about reliability and fairness. Two recent initiatives in Hong Kong have, however, prompted a reappraisal of the place of portfolios in English language learning. They include the use of learning portfolios in secondary school and ePortfolios by university students for learning and employment purposes.

As an English (L2) teacher of many years, I initiated my research to investigate the experiences of seven university students in Hong Kong in using reflective portfolios for English learning. Three research questions framed my research: 1) in what ways can reflective portfolios impact on L2 learning strategies? 2) what are the effects of reflective portfolios on progress in L2 acquisition as perceived by students? 3) what are the perceptions of university students towards reflective portfolios as a method of L2 learning?

To gain a holistic understanding of the complex phenomena under scrutiny, a case study methodology and grounded theory were utilised, the former to organise and generate qualitative data, and the latter to analyse data from three sources provided by the seven participating students: semi-structured interviews, portfolio artefacts, and weekly learning diaries.

There were two levels of data analysis. For the first level, analysis focused on coded data from portfolio artefacts, diary entries and interview transcripts as reported by students. The second level involved analysis from the Confucian and sociocultural perspectives. I pursued interpretation and continuous refinement of the data by using techniques drawn from grounded theory. The findings revealed that students generally employed a wide spread of L2 learning strategies in the cognitive, meta-cognitive, and socio-affective domain, reported increased awareness of effective language strategies, and considered portfolios a means of supporting time management and record-keeping, and a site for extended writing practice through reflection.

The findings suggest that students display a cyclical, context-specific shift in learning conception from quantitative to qualitative. Connected to this is students’ apparent ability to formulate strategic responses to externally imposed demands. It is found that such responses are culturally triggered, underpinned by Confucian beliefs. Although the Confucian tradition emphasises respect for established authority, the findings point to students’ creative re-configuration of mental schemata to engender change in role enactment and power relations, with the portfolio as a mediating tool of their experiences.

Based on the findings, I argue that my research has addressed the three research questions and contributed to two crucial aspects of L2 learning. The first pertains to the need for a balanced view of individual effort and social context in second language acquisition, corroborating the significant link between context and learner engagement. Another contribution centres on an enhanced understanding of the relationship between portfolios, reflection and L2, where students’ diaries in English and portfolio artefacts enable them to engage in critical reflection and to identify strategies for L2 improvement.

P(ICT)ures of English : teachers, learners and technology

The increasing challenges presented by information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the need for English curriculum to prepare young adults for the digital world are raised in this work. Viewed from the standpoint of current theoretical debates on the subject among educators, it draws on a wide range of classroom and real-world experiences to explore how technology affects the instruction of English. Teachers' knowledge of these technologies and their practices in assimilating them into English curriculums are celebrated and exciting scenarios for the future are presented.