Teaching In Thailand Research Articles

Applying CLIL to English language teaching in Thailand: Issues and challenges

Most countries in the world have been influenced by the trends of globalization and interculturality; accordingly, the English language and related cultures have come to play more important roles in global communication. Educational research, a primary source for language teaching and learning development, has increasingly emphasized the importance of integrating language and culture in teaching and learning processes. However, it is not easy for students who use English as a foreign language (EFL) to speak English fluently in an environment where English is rarely used outside the classroom. Teachers nevertheless try to find out the most appropriate teaching approach to develop their students’ English skills in order to serve the demands for English in the labor markets. This article discusses the application of CLIL in an EFL context—a case study in Thailand—with an emphasis on explanation of CLIL framework and principles and how these are implemented in Thailand as guidelines for developing EFL courses or curriculum. Both advantages and disadvantages of applying CLIL are examined and the difficulties of applying CLIL in the classroom are clarified to help EFL teachers plan their courses more effectively. Key words: Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL), English communication, language teaching and learning, EFL context

Initial Implementation of Constructivist Physics Teaching in Thailand: A Case of Bass Pre-service Teacher

The purpose of this study is to investigate a pre-service teacher’s initial implementation of constructivist physics teaching. A case study was used to explore the underlying constructivist-based physics teaching implemented by a non-experienced male pre-service physics teacher, Bass. A mixed-methods research design was used to monitor the development of constructivist classroom environment at different phases. To collect quantitative data, the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey (CLES) consisting of 5 elements: Personal Relevance (PR), Student Negotiation (SN), Shared Control (SC), Critical Voice (CV), and Uncertainty (UN) was primarily applied to reflect students’ perception toward the pre-service’s classroom learning environment after applying constructivist teaching scheme. The supplementary qualitative data were also obtained from classroom observations and interviews between Bass and the author as a teaching coach. The result showed that the pre-service teacher could reflect certain elements of constructivist physics teaching, especially PR, SN and SC. It was indicated that his physics lessons significantly became more personally relevant to students’ daily life. His students were likely to be more active in class discussion and allowed to question or criticize given class activities. The study contributes to several important implications for future research, particularly in the context of constructivist teaching in developing countries where knowledge concerning science and technology needs to be improved and for the pre-service teacher training program development for the Faculty of Education (Science Teaching) on behalf of Khon Kaen University. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n2p506

Inter Cultural Competence: Teaching in Thailand

All teachers face new challenges everyday and strive to be effective teachers and often they attain best practice in their field. In Thailand many are hired to teach with little or no previous teaching experience in an inter cultural setting or worst even of teaching in any setting. Foreign teachers find themselves confronted by a new set of challenges which often puts into question what they previously accepted and implemented as best practice. Teaching across cultures is no easy task and demands new strategies and ways of thinking. Many teachers are neither prepared for the reorientation needed or the consequences of such interactions and will struggle to adapt or fail to modify their behavior to take account of the new cultural setting in which they find themselves. Identifying and understanding the cultural dimensions that underpin the interactions in the new setting is a starting point. Applying cross cultural communication strategies can mitigate the difficulties encountered by both the foreign teacher and the hosts and both can obtain a broader perspective of their cultural positions to achieve not just a level of cultural awareness or sensitivity but the cultural competence to create relationships that maximise positive contributions and ensure effective productive relationships are formed to benefit all stakeholders.

Meeting the challenges of teaching in a different cultural environment – evidence from graduate management schools in Thailand

In this paper we describe the efforts of foreign university teachers in graduate schools in Thailand as they incorporate cultural knowledge into their classroom teaching styles and methodology. Through in-depth semi-structured interviews we have gathered qualitative data on the teachers’ concerns, mindsets and their proposed solutions. We build up our discussion in several stages. We set the scene by discussing the importance of cultural sensitivity in settings where teacher and learners have different cultural backgrounds. We then introduce the concept of cultural intelligence and use this to help us examine the literature on cultural sensitivity in teaching from a new perspective. We then describe the cultural context of teaching in Thailand and offer empirical data from our respondents’ experiences. From our research data we identified five main aspects of Thai culture where teachers felt the need to expand/adapt their existing teaching repertoires. These aspects are: fun/sanuk; hierarchy/kreng jai; authority with a kind heart/jai dee; collectivist group activities; and localized class content. We discuss our findings in relation to cultural adjustments that the teachers sought to make and, in conclusion, link this discussion to our earlier examination of cultural intelligence.

Instructional Context, Motivational Beliefs, Attitude and Strategies in Teaching Genetics for Conceptual Change

The research aimed to study context and strategies for Matayomsuksa 6 genetics teaching, Matayomsuksa 6 Students’ scientific concepts about inheritance, their level of understanding, their conceptual change of inheritance, their motivation toward instructional contexts, the relationship between Matayomsuksa 6 Students’ beliefs in motivation and their conceptual change of inheritance, and comparing students’ attitude between pre and post intervention. Research method consists of 2 phases. First phase was phase of studying context and teaching strategies. Target group included 10 teachers, from different schools, who were teaching about inheritance; 100 students. Second, the action research in a classroom was carried out for development and improving genetics teaching strategies. The findings revealed that context of genetics teaching; teachers and students perceived that inheritance was abstract concepts and technical terms. The lack of science instructional strategies seems to be the problem of the science teachers. The paper then discusses what lesson learned from changing and improving in action research phase. The issues of how genetics teaching strategies for conceptual change were applied and changing in students’ concepts, motivational beliefs, and attitude were discussed. This paper has implications for genetics teaching in Thailand.

Teaching Phonological Accuracy and Communicative Fluency at Thai Secondary Schools

The purpose of this investigation was to determine the opinions of secondary level Thai teachers who teach English. Their perspectives were collected and compared concerning phonological accuracy practice, communicative fluency activities, authentic teaching techniques and determining appropriate ways to solve the problems of phonological teaching and communicative English language teaching in Thailand. The subjects of the study were 96 teachers from 8 secondary schools in Bangkok, Thailand. The research instrument included a questionnaire with thirty items measured on a five point rating scale plus four open-ended questions seeking descriptive data. The data were statistically compiled according to arithmetic mean and percentage. The results showed that the teachers have very highly positive attitudes towards teaching phonological accuracy and highly positive attitudes towards communicative fluency activities. However, teachers’ attitudes do not relate to the pedagogy conducted in their classrooms as highly as expected. It was also found that the teachers considered themselves to have sufficient knowledge of the theoretical content on phonological accuracy and communicative fluency activity, but most of them also wanted to improve their teaching in these aspects. Many problems revealed by the data are discussed to establish appropriate solutions.

Role model behaviors of nursing faculty members in Thailand

Being a role model is very important in order for nurse teachers to promote students' competence and confidence. This descriptive study aimed at exploring the role model behavior of nursing faculty members in Thailand. The Self-Evaluation Scale on Role Model Behaviors for Nursing Faculty (Thai version) was used to collect data from 320 nursing faculty members in eight schools of nursing, four university nursing schools, one college under the Ministry of Public Health, one under the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, and two private schools of nursing. The results revealed that the mean score of the overall items in the role model behaviors of nursing faculty members in Thailand, as perceived by themselves, was at a high level. The scores on each subscale of the role model behaviors also were high and related to respect for students, enthusiastic and high-quality teaching activities, showing the value of nursing practice and the nursing profession, social appropriateness, and ongoing professional development. The results can be used to further develop nurse professionals and to improve the effectiveness of clinical teaching in Thailand.

Language learning, teaching and educational reform in rural Thailand: an English teacher's perspective

This article discusses English language teaching in Thailand through a biographical case study of a teacher working in a government school in the rural north-east. It explores a particular context of teaching and learning, showing how an individual comes to be a teacher and deals with the day-to-day demands of teaching, as well as reflecting on the place of English in a society where it is a foreign language. The article contends that case studies of this type have the power to illuminate the context of teaching, to enable us to come to a fuller understanding of the demands of being a teacher of English in societies where it is a foreign language, and thus to provide essential data on the realities of teaching in various contexts. This data may then be used to inform centralized programmes to reform English language teaching which at present rarely consult the principal change agents – teachers – prior to their implementation. Curriculum reform programmes in Thailand have been criticized for their lack of impact at the classroom level and the article maintains that, if these programmes are to be effective, they should be based on an understanding of the local contexts of teachers' work.

Korean Culture Education in Korean Language Education (with Special Reference to the Experience of Korea Language Teaching in Thailand)

Korean Culture Education in Korean Language Education (with Special Reference to the Experience of Korea Language Teaching in Thailand)

Enhancing Thai students’ learning of chemical kinetics

Chemical kinetics is an extremely important concept for introductory chemistry courses. The literature suggests that instruction in chemical kinetics is often teacher‐dominated at both the secondary school and tertiary levels, and this is the case in Thailand – the educational context for this inquiry. The work reported here seeks to shift students from passive learning to more active, student‐centred learning and involved some 413 first year undergraduate science students in Thailand. Drawing on inquiry‐based learning, the participants were asked to design an experiment investigating the reaction of acids and bases. The research findings suggest that participants were able to explain the changes of the rate of a chemical reaction, and developed good conceptual understanding of chemical kinetics both qualitatively and quantitatively. It also showed this more active teaching approach, which is radically different from normal teaching in Thailand, was an enjoyable experience for the students.

Non-native English-speaking teachers, context and English language teaching

Abstract This article contends that, in spite of a recent upsurge in writing on non-native English-speaking teachers (NNESTs) in the global discourse of English language teaching (ELT), the experiences of NNESTSs working within their own state educational systems remain seriously under-investigated. To help to redress this, the article explores, from their own perspectives, how a group of NNESTs experience English teaching in Thailand, where English is taught as a foreign language. Though the article only has space to consider two aspects of the teachers’ lives and careers – classroom methods and commitment to teaching – it is hoped that it will contribute to an understanding of the many and varied locally-based practices of ELT, as well as helping to correct a monolithic view of ELT based on western conceptions of practice. The importance of NNESTs of English being ‘native’ in terms of their situational teaching competence is, accordingly, given due weight.

Teaching international relations in Thailand: status and prospects

International relations (IR) as it is taught in Thailand possesses developmental characteristics that have curbed its growth in the past. Through a combination of institutional and trend analyses, it will be argued that IR teaching in Thailand is at a turning point where externally driven developments are compelling a certain level of professionalization and engagement with global debates.

Teaching of German in Thailand: Past, Present, and Future

This paper aims firstly to give an overview of the development of German language, teaching in Thailand at both high-school and, university levels from the past up to the, present time, since German has been taught, in Thailand for more than 80 years and its development has not been studied and documented systematically or continuously. The survey and analysis of German teaching, in Thailand in this paper deal with history, teaching approaches, curricula, the development of teaching materials, the number of German language teachers, students, and schools, the attitudes of German language teachers, the expectations of and attitudes towards German teaching among high-school students, and an analysis of the decreasing number of German language teachers and students. Furthermore, this paper also showcases other research works, support organizations, and activities for German language teaching in Thailand.

English In…Thailand

This account of English in the formal education system in Thailand traces briefly its historical background and then looks at the teaching of English today. The country itself has quite a complex sociolinguistic context and in order to understand the teaching and learning of English, one must understand the basic tenets of the culture. From this cross-cultural perspective, we can then understand some of the new initiatives that are presently being taken in English Language Teaching in Thailand.

Chinese Language Teaching in Thailand

This article is about the present day teaching and learning of Chinese in Thailand, particularly over the past seven to eight years. However, before dealing with the state of current teaching and learning, this article will present a concise historical version of Chinese language education in Thailand, so that readers will get a perspective and will be aware of diverse factors affecting Chinese teaching in the country.

English Language Teaching in Thailand Today

This paper traces the historical development of English Language teaching in Thailand, the reasons for the re‐thinking and the initiative in the new National Education Curriculum, and the problems experienced during the implementation of these initiatives.

Transforming the Profession of Teaching in Thailand

Transforming the Profession of Teaching in Thailand

A survey of the content of introductory biochemistry courses for different degree programs at Thai universities

Introduction Recently, we discussed the history, current status, and future trends of biochemical education in Thailand, 1 but noted that a discussion of biochemical curricula was not within the scope of the article. We have now carried out a survey of biochemistry courses at Thai universities to provide baseline information for a summer workshop on Approaches towards the Development of Curriculum and Teaching in Biochemistry organized by the Biochemical Section of the Science Society of Thailand at Srinakarintrwirot University, Prasarnmitr Campus, Bangkok, 6-8 May, 1992. The purpose of the workshop was to stimulate biochemists at universities to reconsider their courses in the light of recent advances in knowledge and the first revisions in 10 years of the secondary school curriculum (where biochemistry comprises about 10-20% of the biology and chemistry curricula of the last three years). As noted earlier, the number of students undertaking degree programs in biochemistry at BSc, MSc and PhD levels is still rather limited, 1 so that much of the biochemistry teaching in Thailand at universities is carried out as a service to other degree programs. Accordingly, we have tried to analyze the data to provide information on the common features and the distinctive elements of the first (and often the only) biochemistry course taken by students of different degree programs: typically these courses would be called biochemistry, basic biochemistry or general biochemistry courses.