[lg policy] Thailand: The great English-language deficiency hype

Sun Feb 12 16:53:59 UTC 2012

The great English-language deficiency hype

Foreign 'experts' who warn that Thais won't be able to compete for
jobs after the Asean Community comes on line in 2015 may be more
interested in brightening their own employment picture

Ever since I arrived in Bangkok in 2011, I've being witnessing the
amazing spread of English fever. At the national level, Thailand is
wholeheartedly invested in the promise of English _ the idea that
proficiency in English will make ''it'' happen for the country, be it
more economic development, more participation in global spheres or a
more 21st century cosmopolitan look to the international community.

''Learn/teach English, better and faster!'' is very much the message
at the education level where we are seeing an increase in
English-medium programmes in secondary and higher education,
''language experts'' flying in and out of Bangkok, and the mushrooming
of private English language schools throughout the country. Similar to
those in many other non-English speaking Asian nations, everybody I
know wants to learn English to get a good job, and most academics I
meet speak of English as the key to Thailand's brighter economic
future.

The discourse of English for employment and for national
competitiveness was also on everyone's lips at this year's Thai Tesol
Conference at the end of last month. One of the first panels,
''Thailand English language readiness and action plans for Asean
2015'', argued that sharpening English skills is imperative towards
the launch of the Asean Community in 2015. In less than three years
from now, they pointed out, the 10 Asean nations will open their
national borders, and Thai nationals will have to compete against
English-speaking professionals and skilled workers from other member
states in local employment sectors. The panel warned that Thais'
English is not good enough and that this would leave the nation out in
the cold, a sentiment that is widely circulated in media.

Having attended this panel and others, I came out of the conference
with a sense of renewed interest in the issue, as well as a great
sense of puzzlement. First of all, although everyone seems to recite
the mantra that ''Thais' English is not good enough'', the discussion
stops short of explaining what ''not good enough'' means. Most
academics I speak to suggest that the notion of ''native speaker'' is
dead in that non-native speakers should be proud of their
''non-standard variety of English'' (whatever that may be).

However, papers at the conference and discussions I've had in Bangkok
to date seem to suggest otherwise; these are all about how a Thai
accent has to be eliminated or how Thai grammar interferes with
standard English grammar, or that Thai people should stop being shy,
etc. All of these discourses are evidence of the fact that the native
speaker/Western ideal is well and truly alive.

This schizophrenic approach to determining what constitutes ''good
English'' is the hidden mechanism that keeps Thai non-native speakers
of English forever insecure about their English, and that keeps
Western native speaker teachers popular in the job market.

Another sense of puzzlement comes from a near absence of research
reports on the actual language needs in Thailand's employment sectors.

This strikes me as odd, particularly since the current push for
English has a strong employment basis as discussed above. At the
conference, little information was offered as to what level of
proficiency _ and in what languages _ is needed or valued for what
kinds of positions in what industries. The lack of such research, and
the single-minded focus on English, also seem to blind us from
multilingual resources that already exist and have worked well in
industries such as tourism, and that could be expanded to strengthen
Thailand's competitiveness.

Phanisara ''Nina'' Logsdon participated in the Tesol panel mentioned
above and rightly called for a sustainable approach to improving
language policy and education in Thailand towards 2015. Collaborative
efforts between researchers and local industry partners, with an aim
to producing an in-depth understanding of linguistic resources and
changing linguistic needs in local employment sectors, may contribute
towards building part of a sustainable approach.

In Asia as a whole, it's been a popular practice to bring in Western
''language experts'' to a country for a week or so, but this has
proven to be of limited benefit.

A sustainable approach to researching language resources and needs
entails inviting experts with a proven record of industry-based
research, to work with us for capacity building on a long-term basis.

Without empirically-based research and long-term research
collaborations between local and international researchers from
relevant fields and industrial partners, Thailand's debate on language
policy and programmes, including Thailand's Year 2012 English Speaking
Programme (for which Tony Blair was a fly-in/fly-out English teacher),
will remain uninformed and even continue to work as an unproductive
threat to society.

This article was first published at Language on the Move
(www.languageonthemove.org).

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/279415/the-great-english-language-deficiency-hype

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