EFL Writing at Thai Secondary Schools: Teachers and Students’ Views, Difficulties and Expectations

Document Type : مقالات علمی پژوهشی

Authors
1 English Lecturer, Department of English, Faculty of Education and Educational Innovation, Kalasin University, Thailand
2 Department of Humanities, Faculty of Sciences and Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Isan, Thailand.
Abstract
Thai students’ writing in English is a chronic problem documented in the literature of English Language Teaching (ELT) in Thailand. However, little research has been conducted on how Thai teachers and students perceive the importance of English-writing and what difficulties and expectations/suggestions they have in teaching and learning this skill at upper-secondary schools (U-SS). This study, therefore, plans to fill this gap by employing two sets of surveys and semi-structured interviews with 114 teachers and 170 students from 30 different U-SS in the Northeastern part of Thailand and two provincial supervisors of Foreign-Language-Education Divisions (Pro-Sup). Besides their various stated personal and contextual problems in terms of time constraint, insufficient resources and poorly-motivated and mixed-ability students, national test structures and the presence of untrained English teachers, the participants acknowledged the importance of English-writing and expected to have this skill taught at all school levels. These findings suggest that to improve the teaching and learning practices of this skill at U-SS in Thailand and other countries with similar contexts, relevant support and necessary reforms from teachers, school leaders and national-test and policymakers are needed.

Keywords

Subjects


Adugna, E. T. (2019). The role of self-efficacy, self-esteem and attitude in predicting writing performance of students in Ethiopian context. International Journal of Foreign Language Teaching & Research, 7(28), 23–36. http://jfl.iaun.ac.ir/article_664510.html
Aidinlou, N. A., & Far, L. M. (2014). The relationship between self-efficacy beliefs, writing strategies, and correct use of conjunctions in Iranian EFL learners. International Journal of Applied Linguistics and English Literature, 3(2), 221–226. http://dx.doi.org/10.7575/aiac.ijalel.v.3n.4p.221
Baker, W. (2008). A critical examination of ELT in Thailand: The role of cultural awareness. RELC Journal, 39(1), 131–146. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033688208091144
Bennui, P. (2008). A study of L1 interference in the writing of Thai EFL students. Malaysian Journal Of ELT Research, 4, 72–102.
Chamcharatsri, P. B. (2010). On teaching writing in Thailand. Writing on the Edge, 21(1), 18–26.
Changpueng, P. (2012). The effects of the genre-based approach on engineering students' writing ability. The Language Institute Thammasart University, 5(1), 1–18.
Darasawang, P. (2007). English language teaching and education in Thailand: A decade of change. In D. Prescott (Ed.), English in Southeast Asia: Varieties, literacies and literatures (pp. 187–204). Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
Darasawang, P., & Todd, R. W. (2012). The effect of policy on English language teaching at secondary schools in Thailand. In E.-L. Low & A. Hashim (Eds.), English in Southeast Asia: Features, policy and language in use (pp. 207–220). John Benjamins. https://doi.org/10.1075/veaw.g42
Derakhshan, A., & Karimian Shirejini, R. (2020). An investigation of the Iranian EFL learners’ perceptions towards the most common writing problems. SAGE Open, 10(2), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244020919523
Franco, A., & Roach, S. S. (2018). An assessment of the English proficiency of the Thai workforce and its implication for the ASEAN Economic Community: An empirical enquiry. Open Journal of Business and Management, 6, 658–677. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojbm.2018.63050
Ghoorchaei, B., & Khosravi, M. (2019). On the relationship between Iranian EFL students’ writing strategies and writing ability. Journal of Linguistics and Education Research, 2(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.30564/jler.v2i1.377
Hallinger, P., & Lee, M. (2011). A decade of education reform in Thailand: Broken promise or impossible dream? Cambridge Journal of Education, 41(2), 139–158. https://doi.org/10.1080/0305764X.2011.572868
Harmer, J. (2007). How to teach writing (6th ed.). Pearson Education Limited.
Hayes, D. (2008). Becoming a teacher of English in Thailand. Language Teaching Research, 12(4), 471–494. https://doi.org/10.1177/1362168808097160
Hayes, D. (2010). Language learning, teaching and education reform in rural Thailand: An English teacher's perspective. Asia-Pacific Journal of Education, 30(3), 305–319.
Hedge, T. (2005). Writing (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press.
Honsa, S. (2013). Self-assessment in EFL writing: A study of intermediate EFL students at a Thai university. Voices in Asia, 1(1), 34–57.
Jiang, A. L., Zhang, L. J., May, S., & Qin, L. T. (2020). Understanding novice teachers’ perceived challenges and needs as a prerequisite for English curriculum innovation. Language, Culture and Curriculum, 33(1), 15–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/07908318.2018.1518452
Kanoksilapatham, B. (2018). Thainess-based English lessons: Reshaping grassroots English education. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 8(2), 278–288.
Kao, C.-W., & Reynolds, B. L. (2017). A study on the relationship among Taiwanese college students’ EFL writing strategy use, writing ability and writing difficulty. English Teaching & Learning, 41(4), 31–67. https://doi.org/10.6330/ETL.2017.41.4.02
Kaur, A., Young, D., & Kirkpatrick, R. (2016). English education policy in Thailand: Why the poor results. In R. Kirkpatrick (Ed.), English Language education policy in Asia (Vol. 11). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22464-0_16
Kongpetch, S. (2006). Using a genre-based approach to teach writing to Thai students: A case study. Prospect, 21(2), 3–33.
Lathapipat, D. (2018). Inequalities in educational attainment. In G. W. Fry (Ed.), Education in Thailand. Education in the Asia-Pacific region: Issues, concerns and prospects (Vol. 42, pp. 345–372). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7857-6_13
Ministry-of-Education. (2008). The basic education core curriculum B.E. 2551 (A.D. 2008). Bangkok, Thailand: Ministry of Education
Nguyen, H. H. T. (2009). Teaching EFL writing in Vietnam: Problems and solutions - A discussion from the outlook of applied linguistics. VNU Journal of Science, Foreign Languages, 25, 61–66.
Nguyen, T. T. H. (2021). Vietnamese upper-high school teachers’ views, practices, difficulties, and expectations on teaching EFL writing. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 11(1). https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v11i1.2228
Nguyen, T. T. L. (2017). A case study of combined peer-teacher feedback on paragraph writing at a university in Thailand. Indonesian Journal of Applied Linguistics, 7(2), 15–24.
Nguyen, T. T. L. (2018). Reflections on modified genre-based instructions to teach essay writing to Thai university students The Asian EFL Journal, 20(9.1), 148–174.
Nguyen, T. T. L. (2019a). A case study of teacher feedback on Thai university students’ essay writing. GEMA Online Journal of Language Studies, 19(2), 121–138. https://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2019-1902-08
Nguyen, T. T. L. (2019b). Implementing peer-feedback in paragraph-writing classes at a Thai university. In S. M. Anwaruddin (Ed.), Knowledge mobilization in TESOL: Connecting research and practice (1 ed., pp. 30–42). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004392472_003
Nguyen, T. T. L. (2019c). Reflective teaching in an EFL writing instruction course for Thai pre-service teachers. The Journal of Asia TEFL, 16(2), 561–575. https://doi.org/10.18823/asiatefl.2019.16.2.8.561
National education act of B.E.2542(1999) and the revised editions of B. E. 2545 ( 2002) and B. E. 2553 ( 2010), (2010).
Sersen, W. J. (2011). Improving writing skills of Thai EFL students by recognition of and compensation for factors of L1 to L2 negative transfer. US-China Education Review, A(3), 339–345.
Stone, G. (2017). Implementation of critical literacy for English writing classes in the Thai context. The New English Teacher, 11(2), 65–76.
Sun, F. (2010). Pedagogical implications to teaching English writing. Journal of Language Teaching and Research, 1(6), 867–870. https://doi.org/10.4304/jltr.1.6.867-870
Syafii, M. L., & Miftah, M. Z. (2020). Venn-diagram strategy in EFL class to enhance learners’ writing skill and motivation. Journal on English as a Foreign Language, 10(1), 141–162. https://doi.org/10.23971/jefl.v10i1.1556
Tangpermpoon, T. (2008). Intergraded approaches to improve students writing skills for English major students. ABAC Journal, 28(2), 1–9. http://www.assumptionjournal.au.edu/index.php/abacjournal/article/view/539
Wongsothorn, A., Hiranburana, K., & Chinnawongs, S. (2002). English language teaching in Thailand today. Asia-Pacific Journal of Education, 22(2), 107–116. https://doi.org/10.1080/0218879020220210