Approaches to enhance English communicative competence of Thai people: A synthetic account of targeted research series in English learning promotion

Abstract

The promotion of English learning has become an urgent and vital development issue for Thailand due to the fact that the communicative proficiency of Thais in English has been ranked as very poor lower. Consequently, in 2014, the National Research Council of Thailand funded 33 research projects targeted to promote English learning in Thai society. Moreover, it initiated a synthesis project of knowledge gained from these studies so that it can be put into practice and mobilize policy-making. Put simply, the research will be meaningfully utilized rather than just “sitting on the shelf”.

This article presents knowledge gained from the synthetic account of these 33 studies which includes the dimension of research designs and the knowledge of English learning promotion approaches suitable for Thai people. It also proposes approaches for the enhancement of students’ communicative competence in English. It was found that the teaching approach should focus on developing a culture of learning through the autonomous language learning approach, using taskbased learning as a teaching method, and creating contextualized teaching and learning materials that correspond to international competency frameworks. Moreover, teacher’s should be empowered in participative teaching and learning approaches, task-based learning techniques, and the application of contextualized content that allows students to relate the English lesson being studied with real life experiences. For all other professions, development of self-learning materials with tailor-made content and design that helps improve English communication skills and applicable to‘real’ working situations is advised.