Take English action
Re: "English gets raw deal," (Editorial, Nov 22).
Thailand's English teaching and learning issues or its low EF Rankings cannot be resolved by employing "native speakers".
As mentioned in the editorial, many European countries where teaching and learning English is a big success, do not rely on "native" speakers" but their own teachers.
In Asia, a good example is India. It has grown its own crop of excellent English teachers. They are all graduates of Indian universities majoring in English.
The Philippines, Singapore, and Malaysia also follow the same model.
If the Thai Ministry of Education is genuinely interested in improving English proficiency, it must enhance the quality of Thai English teachers.
The teachers of English must be good; they must be an inspiration for their students. It should be very natural for young Thai students to say, "if my teacher could do it, I can do it, too."
Another area of improvement that requires urgent action is the use of popular media.
Thai schools, colleges, and universities should use English language-based newspapers, magazines, radio stations, television, and social media that focus on creating sights and sounds to immerse their students in an environment that facilitates learning of the English language.
Language learning is based on the sights and sounds surrounding the learners. Focusing on grammar and writing skills is the main reason for the current crisis.
In a nutshell, teachers and college instructors should integrate every digital media into day-to-day classroom teaching.
In order to improve the situation, the Thai Ministry of Education should be serious about integrating the English language curriculum all across the spectrum and focus on training Thai teachers to improve the EF Ranking of Thailand.
KULDEEP NAGI