A reason to stay home

With classes smaller than at many universities, teachers like Cindy M. Stewart, a lecturer in the PC programme, have time to get to know their students.

The home of the International Programme on the Salaya campus.

Sitting with a view over the palms to distant Bangkok seems like a good start to any interview. The impressive menu and elegant surroundings also help. It is hard to believe that this is not some famous hotel, but Mahidol University’s International College (MUIC), situated on the Salaya campus. Except, of course, the impressive Salaya Pavilion, as it is called, is a real hotel open to tourists and university visitors alike. A real hotel staffed and run by students in their third year of the Travel Industry Management degree.

Over a delicious club sandwich lunch Acharn Santapong Kovong, Manager of MUIC’s Pre-College programme provides learning post with an overview of the Salaya programme.

Acharn Santapong Kovong, manager of the Pre-College programme, believes that the preparation students receive in Pre-College is the foundation of the International Programme's success.

“We offer a range of social science, hospitality, business and science degrees as well as a Bachelor of Nursing,” Acharn Santapong explains. “MUIC employs 150 full-time and part-time lecturers, of whom 90 percent are qualified university teachers from abroad. “The remaining ten percent are Thai lecturers who graduated overseas. Everybody teaches in English without exception. Excluding the Pre-College English programme, all members of the faculty have Masters degrees from reputable universities.”

Is the College a success?

“I would say so,” Acharn Santapong says proudly. ”There’s tremendous competition for the International College; each year we get over a thousand applicants. Currently there are nearly 2000 students enrolled, with about ten percent from abroad.”

Acharn Santapong explains the advantages for Thai students to go to MUIC.

“Firstly, we are a well-known university that has been established for a long time,” he says.

“Salaya is a very good place to prepare yourself before you go abroad. Our degrees are all fully accredited by overseas universities from the US, the UK, Australia and Canada, and most foreign educational establishments will accept our students straight into their programmes. Also Thai students here mingle with other international students in an all-English language environment.

“Our campus is a little far out,” Acharn Santapong continues, “so it’s free from all the hassle of Bangkok daily life too! Our programme is safe and financially more viable for families than sending their children abroad. For our Thai students, this means they are still at home. If they have to help run the family business, for example, they can still graduate.

“As well as the in-class study we offer a variety of training options. The Salaya Pavilion Hotel, the Herb Garden restaurant and the Cuppa café, which is run by third year students in hospitality, are among the examples. So we combine theory with a practical hands-on approach.”

This learning post correspondent can certainly vouch for the quality of the menu, and the service in the Pavilion proved second to none.

At MUIC there is an overall impression of professionalism and high standards. A quick tour of the campus or a flick through the prospectus reveal a long list of curricular and extra-curricular activities, full sporting amenities, concerts, theatre and clubs all available for the substantial number of students receiving their education there. MUIC also has an active student exchange programme. Most visiting undergraduates are Taiwanese, American, Japanese, Norwegian, Swedish, Vietnamese and Indian.

Why has the programme met with such success? What makes an international programme work here in Thailand for Thai students?

Acharn Santapong is quick to answer. “The foundation of the International College’s success has to be the Pre-College English language programme. We refer to it as PC.

“This is a special curriculum set up for non- native speakers before entering the mainstream degree courses. All applicants take a TOEFL exam and those scoring below 550 (the required score for most reputable educational establishments overseas) will not be allowed to continue. Instead they must pass through the Pre-College programme before re-sitting the TOEFL exam.”

Acharn Santapong outlines the nuts and bolts of the Pre-College programme.

“We have four levels to the programme. Students must graduate from level to level and finally pass level four before they can be admitted to the international school. We have four terms per year of ten weeks each. We refer to them at quarters. Each level lasts for one quarter and consists of 240 hours of teaching. So students study about 24 hours of English per week.”

That’s quite a tough schedule.

Acharn Santapong explains that at level one students work in all four skills separately, reading, writing, speaking and listening, with a big emphasis on pronunciation. “In the next two levels,” he points out, “as well as continuing these skills, we also teach mathematics. Then in level four we do all of this plus a preparation course for TOEFL.

“Throughout the four levels we put a lot of pressure on writing, as students will be doing so much academic writing in English. It works out about 40 percent on writing, 30 percent on reading and 30 percent on listening and speaking.

“By the end of PC-4 you need to have passed the four skills, the TOEFL exam and the TOEFL writing course. The criteria for passing at any level is 65 percent. If a student fails he can repeat, but only once. If a student flunks twice he has to retire from the programme.”

That’s a lot more challenging than most ordinary English language courses taught in university departments around the Kingdom.

What about international students at MUIC who are neither Thai nor native English speakers?

“They do PC too,” Acharn Santapong explains, “but we have a special bridging programme for overseas students such as the Chinese, who tend to be weaker in English. This is a 240-hour course that will train the students up to the necessary level of proficiency they need to enter PC-1.”

What about textbooks? Does Pre-College follow one prescribed series?

Acharn Santapong shakes his head. “We use a selection of textbooks depending on student needs. We also have tutorials for all students in Pre-College,” he adds.

“Teachers are on duty every Friday afternoon and this is a recognised time for students to make appointments to discuss any problems they are experiencing. As well as this, MUIC sends regular letters to the student’s family or guardian to keep them informed of progress.”

Is all the assessment examination based?

“Students are assessed by a variety of methods,” Acharn Santapong says. “Firstly exams, but also by individual presentations and so on, depending on the subject. But a mid term and a final exam are compulsory every quarter.”

Achieving goals

Acharn Brian Phillips says ‘it’s a tough course. Students are exposed to large doses of English’.

What about teacher-student ratios?

“The Pre-College programme currently teaches more than 220 students with six full time teachers, all of them native speaking and TEFL qualified.” Acharn Santapong says.

“We have a limit on the size of our classes. No more than a maximum of 25 in every class. All classes last two hours.”

“This compares very favourably to regular university English departments, where it’s not unusual to get 40, even 50 or more, students per class on a course that takes place only three or four hours per week. But then perhaps that’s why so many English programmes in Thailand’s higher education sector struggle to achieve good English. The greatest difficulty is with the active skills of writing and speaking.

“To genuinely have an impact on students’ writing and speaking,” Acharn Santapong asserts, “teachers need to interact on a one-to-one basis. At Mahidol’s Pre-College programme, that is a feasible goal, with only 25 people for the teacher to monitor during class time.

“Elsewhere among Thailand’s colleges, teachers are often swamped by the numbers. Surrounded by forty plus heads in a lecture room, many Acharns soon give up trying to assess each student’s individual writing and speaking. Although this problem also applies to the passive skills of reading and listening, those skills lend themselves more to group teaching. Teachers can construct multiple-choice and fill-in-the-blank lessons that allow for the mass teaching of reading and listening. This may explain why so many Thai graduates lack confidence in writing and speaking.”

Seeing is believing, as the old maxim has it, and later in the day Acharn Santapong kindly led a tour of the Pre-College facilities. Each classroom was bright and cheerful with no more than twenty or so students listening intently to their professors. Rooms are equipped with TV, video and gleaming whiteboards. The visitor comes away with an impression of happy, busy classes.

Students are encouraged to spend free time browsing the Internet and English magazines in the Pre-College’s resource room.

Naturally there is an English library and resource room as well as a fully equipped sound lab. Students are encouraged to spend free time in the library, surfing the Internet and pouring over the latest magazines.

Acharn Brian Phillips is one of the Acharn Farang at Salaya and has been teaching there for two years. When asked what MUIC has to offer Thai students he replies that the focus is on excellent English. “We are very forgiving of everything else except that.

“So it’s a tough course. Students are exposed to large doses of English. In my writing class for example,” Phillips explains, “they write three papers per day and then do more for homework.

“By the time they get into the international programme they have excellent English. That’s why our graduates have no problems getting good jobs with healthy salaries. It’s a great beginning to their careers.

“Secondly, although there are other good international programmes in Thailand, they tend to have a narrow range of studies. Our style is very much based on the American philosophy. We have a mix of disciplines, so they graduate as a much more well rounded person. One of the benefits of that is they are more suited for career changes in the future too.”

The backbone of the programme, and perhaps the key to success for non-native speakers of English, is that intensive year-long Pre-College English programme. For Thais who, for whatever reason, have doubts about travelling overseas to graduate, it is encouraging to know there is a credible alternative.

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Last modified: July 25, 2003