Brainstorming English ...

[george]

Brainstorming English

BANGKOK: -- The Education Ministry will invite 100 experts to a brainstorming session on August 27-28, with the aim of finding strategies to improve the standard of English education in schools across the country.

Khunying Kasama Varawarn na Ayutthaya, permanent secretary at the ministry, said the sessions would focus on reaching a mutual understanding of what quality English-teaching methods consist of, what results should be deemed to be satisfactory, and how to develop teachers’ abilities.

“We have discovered that schools still have different views about what quality English classes actually consist of,” she said.

She added that the sessions were in response to Education Minister Chaturon Chaisang’s announcement of a policy to improve English education.

Kasama was speaking after she met with a working panel Chaturon appointed to improve the quality of English education.

“Basically, we plan to shift the focus from English grammar to communication skills and we need to develop teachers’ abilities continuously. Just using native speakers would not be the right solution,” she said.

--The Nation 2005-08-18

[Boatabike]

Brainstorming English

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“Basically, we plan to shift the focus from English grammar to communication skills and we need to develop teachers’ abilities continuously. Just using native speakers would not be the right solution,” she said.

--The Nation 2005-08-18

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

At last, this is something I have been saying for ages, so much effort is spent on grammar that the kids just get so confused they are to scared to speak, if they can be taught to speak English first at lower levels they will be able to grasp grammar later at a higher level of education. Native English speakers learn to speak, and then learn grammar my poor kids are so concerned to get it right they will rather say nothing than risk getting it wrong I am sure many teachers have the same problem. I know my fellow Thai teachers have almost as much of a headache trying to teach grammar as the kids get trying to understand it. At a higher level of education it is important to have an understanding of grammar, but I for one would rather have my students talking badly than not talking at all, at least with talking badly there is room for improvement.

[withnail]

How about not just 'using native speakers' but actually asking their opinion and God forbid maybe taking their advice once in a while.

[Ijustwannateach]

If anybody (farang) here gets invited or even knows anyone who gets invited, please post here. I'm betting it will be all Thais.

[Rumpole]

How about not just 'using native speakers' but actually asking their opinion and God forbid maybe taking their advice once in a while.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Couldn't agree more. It will never happen, though. Thai way, or no way (usually the latter).

If they looked at what other countries in the region have done to try and improve their education systems, they might just happen to notice that teachers, both local and expat, are generally paid salaries that you can actually live on, together with (heaven forbid) additional benefits, in an effort to attract candidates of a reasonable calibre. Pay cheap, and cheap is precisely what you get. They might also like to try and get their heads around the fact that working your staff like coolies whilst offering working conditions closely akin to indentured serfdom, is similarly not an ideal blueprint for attracting and retaining quality personnel.

Unfortunately, this is never going to happen either.

[chownah]

I have a an idea which makes sense to me but I'm probably not understanding the problem correctly. My idea is that people teaching English should be able to speak it...at least a little.

[JustAnotherFarang]

I agree, its preposterous that Thai teachers who cannot speak English are teaching children to speak english and instilling into the students the same lack of confidence that the teachers have because the children cannot even speak and understand stock phrases properly. I am often told that the teachers do not speak to me because they are scared of making mistakes, thus losing face, but surely they have to make mistakes to learn by them and then teach the students properly. Here is a simple example of how the thai teachers are asking the children to communicate with me.

Teacher...... Wha you er (sic) name

Student....... I name Supasasin

Teacher....... How Aghhh you

Student....... I fine an u

Teacher....... I fine tank you

And then when they meet me

Me......... What's your name (it is the proper pronunciation after all)

Student...... pood mai bpen

Me.......... How are you ?

Student........ I 10 year old

Me........ Mai chai nong, how are you (khun sabaii dee mai)

Student.......Sabaii dee khrap/ka

And god forbid that when I hear the same stock questions over and over again that I should answer anything other than the stock phrase answers. In my life, I rarely if ever say "I am fine" unless I am being polite and dont really care to engage in conversation with that person. So when a student of other teachers ask me "how are you" and I say I am good, I am happy, I am ok they just look at me stunned. They are taught robotically and the result is a generation of automatons who give Thailand that superficiallity of speaking and understanding English.

Alas, its the Thai way or the highway in this 2D cartoon country and sometimes I get to thinking that its time to hit the road but I perservere as I am teaching the acorns and not the weak saplings that are brittle in confidence or the older students rooted in the culture of losing face instead of thinking that practise and mistakes help us to learn better. I am proud of my young students and only wish I could follow them through the years so that they will have the very best education but sadly when they reach year 3 they are sent back to the Thai teachers and I am given a new batch of students to perform miracles with because the parents will pay good money (in brown envelopes) based on the reputation of the schools previous intake of students.

Forgive my ranting but its all smoke and mirrors