Some improvement, but Thailand’s English proficiency remains low: report

[futsukayoi]

On 11/11/2017 at 12:05 PM, coulson said:

It's odd that Singapore which is a native English speaking Country has a lower proficiency than some European.

 

Anyway no surprise, the current head of state believes the world should speak Thai and wants Thai nationals to teach English over Native speaking teachers.

 

Some improvements is an overstatement. Education is not the reason, if any, that proficiency is improving. It is due to the tourism industry people are forced to interact in English.

 

Singapore is not a native English speaking country.  Many if not most of the population still have a Chinese language., an Indian language or Malay as their mother tongue and learn English as a second language.  English is usually the medium for communication between ethnic groups. 

[Jerico1]

That shouldn't surprise you cuz Cameroon is dominated by the 8 french speaking currupt provinces as opposed to just two English speaking regions. I bet the test was not taken in the two English speaking regions. The dominance is why they are fighting to seperate from cameroon.

[Jerico1]

On 11/11/2017 at 12:19 PM, JAG said:

Interesting that Cameroon is 75/80 - given the number of "Native English Speaking" Teachers in Thailand who hail from there!

Most of those teaching here are from the two English speaking regions. Cameroon is dominated by 8 French speaking regions and just 2 English speaking regions. I bet the test was taken in the french regions. The all sector dominance is the reason for the fight for seperation. Read about cameroon then u will understand

[thaibeachlovers]

On ‎11‎/‎11‎/‎2017 at 4:57 PM, Airbagwill said:

Degrees are not necessarily meaningless - they can indicate a level of ability, language skills - e.g. structure, gramma vocabulary, writing theses, any didactic abilities and the ability to learn and study...... very rare in those without degrees.

very rare in those without degrees.

x a million billion trillion.

[JAG]

9 hours ago, Jerico1 said:

Most of those teaching here are from the two English speaking regions. Cameroon is dominated by 8 French speaking regions and just 2 English speaking regions. I bet the test was taken in the french regions. The all sector dominance is the reason for the fight for seperation. Read about cameroon then u will understand

I've met some Cameroonian "native English speaking teachers" here in Thailand. Their English was appalling - for someone claiming to be a  "native English speaking teacher".

I am pretty sure I understand what is going on...

Edited November 19, 2017 by JAG

[EnlightenedAtheist]

On 11/11/2017 at 5:07 PM, brewsterbudgen said:

 

 

There is a lot more to English than grammar. Without decent pronunciation effective communication is very difficult. Non NES teachers are fine for teaching grammar but not so good for other aspects.

 

A decent TEFL course like CELTA or Trinity TESOL is far more important that just a degree.

 

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

 

 

 

Totally agree. The average English-speakers has no clue how difficult it is to pronounce words in English. Most vowels in English misrepresent the phoneme it or they represent. But, even more difficult is finding where is the word stress which is a unstressed schwa. Consider "photograph" and "photographer". Both of these words have different word stresses, but it is impossible to know by just looking at those words. Most English words are like that, unless they only have one syllable, of course. Still, often, the vowel is hardly representative of its sound. Most English-speakers don't like when someone points out that their language (pardon, their spelling system) is rubbish. How many are ignoring me? Bullying 101. Shooting the messenger? There is something rotten in the state of ...

[Jerico1]

I've met some Cameroonian "native English speaking teachers" here in Thailand. Their English was appalling - for someone claiming to be a  "native English speaking teacher".
I am pretty sure I understand what is going on...

The results are very questionable, so are your claims. I have seen quite a few countries ranking less than Thailand but my stay in those countries gave a totally different... English is the official language used in schools in that area and widely spoken, though they still have lots of dialects. Do some research.

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[Thian]

On 11/11/2017 at 1:54 PM, helloagain said:

Teach them to talk it first for 4 or 5 years. Then talk and how to spell it. Robinson or homepro staff follow you around you ask something and they not understand. Go away then. 

Even if they understand you they still don't know the answer...they even have no clue at all what's sold in the next alley...mai mee is the standard reply.

[JAG]

14 minutes ago, Jerico1 said:

The results are very questionable, so are your claims. I have seen quite a few countries ranking less than Thailand but my stay in those countries gave a totally different... English is the official language used in schools in that area and widely spoken, though they still have lots of dialects. Do some research.

Sent from my LG-H845 using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app
 

What more research? We are discussing English teaching in Thailand. And by extension "native English speaking teachers".

The individuals I met from the Cameroons, who claimed to be "native English speakers" were not by any stretch of the imagination "native speakers".

Apart from anything else they communicated amongst themselves in French!

That's quite simply my experience. I simply report it. If you choose to discount it fine - although perhaps it is better not to suggest it is "questionable"

 

Anyone with any experience of the "native English speaking teachers" community will be aware that there are a number of people, or groups of people, who are clearly not what they claim. These fellows fall squarely into that category.

[Airbagwill]

9 hours ago, JAG said:

What more research? We are discussing English teaching in Thailand. And by extension "native English speaking teachers".

The individuals I met from the Cameroons, who claimed to be "native English speakers" were not by any stretch of the imagination "native speakers".

Apart from anything else they communicated amongst themselves in French!

That's quite simply my experience. I simply report it. If you choose to discount it fine - although perhaps it is better not to suggest it is "questionable"

 

Anyone with any experience of the "native English speaking teachers" community will be aware that there are a number of people, or groups of people, who are clearly not what they claim. These fellows fall squarely into that category.

But the report is talking about adult English....this doesn't necessarily stem from the school system.