Providing Business English Instruction: Thai Instructors’ Practices and Students’ Perceptions

Panadda Pratoomrat,Krich Rajprasit

doi:10.5539/elt.v7n9p144

Abstract

The present study aimed to examine how Business English courses conducted in the Thai Higher Education, and to investigate students’ perceptions toward the instructional management of the courses in their universities. The participants were four instructors, and one hundred and forty students enrolling in the courses of four universities in the Bangkok metropolitan areas and the suburbs. The course syllabuses were analyzed, and the questionnaire was administered for data collection. The results revealed that the current situations of the instructional management of Business English courses in their universities were different in terms of course content, a primary focus on learners’ development, and instructional materials. Despite the difference among those institutions, Thai learners have positive perceptions toward the instructional management. The results may benefit Business English instructors and course designers in terms of improving and revising the course in the right direction which respond to the present professional world and the trend of Business English instruction.

Highlights

In the changing professional world where directly influences educational institutions, at the tertiary level, instructors of Business English as a trainer have encountered a great challenge on the instructional management which has to be practical and relevant to the realistic workplace communication
The present study aimed to examine how Business English courses conducted in the Thai Higher Education, and to investigate students’ perceptions toward the instructional management of the courses in their universities
The results revealed that the current situations of the instructional management of Business English courses in their universities were different in terms content, a primary focus on learners’ development, and instructional materials

Summary

Introduction

In the changing professional world where directly influences educational institutions, at the tertiary level, instructors of Business English as a trainer have encountered a great challenge on the instructional management which has to be practical and relevant to the realistic workplace communication. The issues seeming to be problematic are that the contents provided are not appropriate to the demands of professional world (Bouzidi, 2009; Freihat & Al-Machzooni, 2012; Makassar, 2010; Thomas, 2007), a heavy focus on developing knowledge and skills from textbooks or books tend to be incomplete, and more theoretical (Nicoleta, 2008), there is no balance between essential knowledge and skills such as business communication skills, domain-specific terminology, and basic business concepts (Strelchonok, 2012), and thinking skills such as analytical, critical or creative are not greatly enhanced (Talmacian, 2008). Because of the linguistic diversity, English language seems to be merely a communicative tool, facilitating those people during communication, in particular in professional or business context

Objectives

Discussion

Conclusion