Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

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Re: Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

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Vital Spark wrote:
barrys wrote:What amazes me even more is that this is being done in cooperation with the "British Council's English specialists" and the British Embassy.
You'd think these professionals would inform the Ministry of Education that a 6-week course will hardly make a dent in the problem.
Not when they're going to make a boatload of money running the courses. :wink:

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Re: Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

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There is nothing wrong with the Thai educational system in one way because it is doing and performing well at what it is actually designed to do. It has never been intended to produce critical thinkers or academics and those that think otherwise plainly cannot see things for what they are. Most academics have studied the degrees abroad.

I'm not saying there shouldn't be change or that it couldn't be done better...quite the opposite. However, the educational system here has always been about perpetuating the status quo and the patronage system, along side drilling old society values into students so that the elites can continue as is.

All about 'Know your place' etc. It is very accomplished at producing what it is designed to actually do.
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Re: Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

Post by Frank Hovis »

Spitfires post reminded of something I'd read before and it took me sometime to dig it out but here it is. This is from the UK some 200 years ago but could so easily be about the here and now.

When the Parochial Schools Bill of 1807 was debated in the Commons, Tory MP Davies Giddy warned the House that:
However specious in theory the project might be of giving education to the labouring classes of the poor, it would, in effect, be found to be prejudicial to their morals and happiness; it would teach them to despise their lot in life, instead of making them good servants in agriculture and other laborious employments to which their rank in society had destined them; instead of teaching them the virtue of subordination, it would render them factious and refractory, as is evident in the manufacturing counties; it would enable them to read seditious pamphlets, vicious books and publications against Christianity; it would render them insolent to their superiors; and, in a few years, the result would be that the legislature would find it necessary to direct the strong arm of power towards them and to furnish the executive magistrates with more vigorous powers than are now in force. Besides, if this Bill were to pass into law, it would go to burthen the country with a most enormous and incalculable expense, and to load the industrious orders with still heavier imposts.
The full Hansard notes can be found here http://hansard.millbanksystems.com/comm ... hools-bill

What strikes me is the way 'the poor' are discussed as if they were another species, and I suppose to those at the top of the pile they were (and probably still are)
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Re: Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

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Thais fear AC English barrier
The launch of the Asean Community (AC) on Thursday, and the integration of regional economies through the free movement of skilled labour in an English-mediated environment, has prompted fears among Thais, who worry their English competency is not up to par to compete in the labour market.

Thais' poor grasp of the English language has generated concern among students, teachers and policy-makers, and comes despite the vast new employment opportunities promised by the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

According to the EF English Proficiency Index 2015 conducted by Education First Language Institute, Thailand is a non-English speaking country with "very low" English proficiency.

The English abilities of Thai people are ranked at 14th out of 16 countries in Asia and 62nd out of 70 countries worldwide.

Tothsaporn Thongdee, 20, a second-year higher vocational student at the Eastern Technological College in Chon Buri said he worries about whether his English is strong enough for his future career as an accountant, a profession that is granted free movement under the AEC.

"I think I'm good at accounting but I'm not sure I can find a job after graduation since my English is not good," he said.

Under the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangements, professionals in eight fields are allowed free movement throughout the region.

The eight fields are accountancy, engineering, surveying, architecture, nursing, medical services, dental services and tourism.

More: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... sh-barrier
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Re: Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

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buksida wrote:Thais fear AC English barrier
The launch of the Asean Community (AC) on Thursday, and the integration of regional economies through the free movement of skilled labour in an English-mediated environment, has prompted fears among Thais, who worry their English competency is not up to par to compete in the labour market.

Thais' poor grasp of the English language has generated concern among students, teachers and policy-makers, and comes despite the vast new employment opportunities promised by the Asean Economic Community (AEC).

According to the EF English Proficiency Index 2015 conducted by Education First Language Institute, Thailand is a non-English speaking country with "very low" English proficiency.

The English abilities of Thai people are ranked at 14th out of 16 countries in Asia and 62nd out of 70 countries worldwide.

Tothsaporn Thongdee, 20, a second-year higher vocational student at the Eastern Technological College in Chon Buri said he worries about whether his English is strong enough for his future career as an accountant, a profession that is granted free movement under the AEC.

"I think I'm good at accounting but I'm not sure I can find a job after graduation since my English is not good," he said.

Under the Asean Mutual Recognition Arrangements, professionals in eight fields are allowed free movement throughout the region.

The eight fields are accountancy, engineering, surveying, architecture, nursing, medical services, dental services and tourism.

More: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general ... sh-barrier
:shock:
Wow! I knew Thailand was ranked pretty low, but I didn't it was that low. Almost dead last.
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Re: Thailand near bottom for English proficiency

Post by oakdale160 »

But ,of course, the children of the wealthy Thais are being sent ti the expensive International Schools where they are educated in English and have good reading, writing skills and are quite fluent.

As for the professions that are allowed to cross borders, I suspect it will be a one-way flow--Some Thais OUT but very few non-Thais allowed in.
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