No ‘pasa angrit’

[reader]

From Coconuts Bangkok

Thailand earned a “very low proficiency” score in English, according to the latest survey by Swiss-based language education company Education First (EF).

 

In yet another year of unsatisfactory pasa angrit (English language) proficiency, Thailand ranked 101st out of 113 non-native-English-speaking countries in the annual EF English Language Proficiency Index report. Thailand notched up a score of 416, which caused it to drop four places from last year. The global average is 502.

Thailand came dead last among the eight ASEAN countries in the survey, behind Cambodia, which ranked 98th globally.

Singapore (obviously) continues to rank at the top amongst the Asian countries, coming 2nd overall and trailing behind the Netherlands at number one. Singapore is the only Asian country to be ranked in the “very high proficiency” category.

Since 2011, Thailand has always ranked near the bottom of the survey, while other Asian countries score higher proficiencies in the English language. In 2022, Thailand was ranked 97th out of 111. In 2021, the country fared even worse, coming in at 100 out of 112.

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By contrast, some of the best English is spoken by the Myanmar waiters at Hot Male beer bar and the Vietnamese waiters at Fresh Boy.

 

[PeterRS]

10 hours ago, reader said:

From Coconuts Bangkok

Singapore is the only Asian country to be ranked in the “very high proficiency” category.

Since 2011, Thailand has always ranked near the bottom of the survey, while other Asian countries score higher proficiencies in the English language. In 2022, Thailand was ranked 97th out of 111. In 2021, the country fared even worse, coming in at 100 out of 112.

As the article points out, Singapore comes top because although the country essentially has four official languages, English is spoken by the vast majority of the population. Four decades ago when I moved to Hong Kong, English was also widely spoken. Even taxi drivers spoke some English. With the end of British colonial rule, that language facility is understandably slowly disappearing in favour of Mandarin as the second language.

As for Thailand, it is tempting to suggest that its not having been colonised by the British is one reason for such poor rankings. Yet that cannot be an explanation since Vietnam and Cambodia were French colonies, yet their education systems clearly place much greater emphasis on English teaching than Thailand.

Indeed, having talked with Thai students over many years, I am convinced this is the root of the problem. With few exceptions, the quality of English teaching is dire. In those schools where a Thai is the teacher, it seems that he or she is barely a lesson or two in advance of the students. I know that some English teachers are in fact younger Brits, but I think not so many as the pay is very poor.

Not intending to demean anyone, I found an example of another type of English teacher some years ago. I was leaving Siam BTS station to go to Paragon when I saw a rather large well-dressed African American lady seemingly around mid-50s and looking very lost. I asked if I could help. With a very strong accent from the American South, I could hardly make out that she was quite pissed off. I asked if she was a tourist. No, she explained, she was working. As, I asked? A teacher! A teacher of English! She had tried to find out where Paragon was by asking the official at the exit gates. When she said "Paragon", he did not understand! I then suggested she just turn around as there was a sign clearly stating Paragon.

She thanked me profusely and I helped her through the ticket gates. Earlier she had told me she knew nothing about Thailand until a few months earlier when some US administration department had asked her if she would like to go to Thailand to teach English for three months. She liked the idea, but found Thailand too hot, too difficult, didn't like the food, and generally was looking forward to going home.

That got me thinking. Clearly the Thailand Education Department contacts Embassies asking them to send some English speakers to teach English to young Thai kids. I assume the Department arranges accommodation and much higher than usual teacher salaries. But, I wondered, what on earth is the point of engaging teachers with any kind of difficult-to-understand dialect? Again with respect to that lady, if I had some difficulty understanding precisely what she was saying, I sincerely doubt that most of her students even understood a small fraction. It would be the same with a teacher from East Anglia in England or any number of other areas with strong regional accents. It all seemed like the typical Thai solution to a problem that no one had ever bothered to think through.

I remember when I first met my present partner. I assumed he spoke some English. We met for dinner in Terminal 21. I spoke slowly, clearly and in short sentences. He seemed to me to understand. Months later, he told me he had understood very little. Now he is all but fluent - but then he's had a good teacher 🤣

[Marc in Calif]

13 hours ago, PeterRS said:

Earlier she had told me she knew nothing about Thailand until a few months earlier when some US administration department had asked her if she would like to go to Thailand to teach English for three months. She liked the idea, but found Thailand too hot, too difficult, didn't like the food, and generally was looking forward to going home.

This was clearly not one of the respected programs like Fulbright, which sends only very qualified and vetted English teachers abroad.

It was also probably not the Department of State. Maybe it was an NGO or even a (sketchy) private enterprise that sent her, especially some religious organization during the Bush or Trump years?

[reader]

From Thai PBS World

Education Ministry assigned to improve Thais’ English proficiency

Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin has ordered the Education Ministry to come up with measures rapidly, to improve English proficiency among Thai people, students in particular, after Thailand’s very poor ranking on the global Education First (EF) English Proficiency Index 2023.

Government spokesman Chai Wacharonke said the order was made during a weekly Cabinet meeting on Tuesday.

EF ranks 113 countries, where English is not the first language, based on scores in 2.2 million Education First Standardised English Tests taken in 2022. At the top of the list is the Netherlands, with an average score of 647 out of 800, followed by Singapore (631), while Denmark, scoring 615, and Norway, with 614, swapped places at fourth and fifth place.

Thailand is ranked 101st, which places the country below seven other ASEAN countries, namely Singapore, the Philippines (578 – 20th), Malaysia (568 – 25th), Vietnam (505 – 58th), Indonesia (473 – 79th), Myanmar (450 – 90th) and Cambodia in 98th place with 421. Laos and Brunei were excluded from the listing. The average score is 502.

Thailand’s score puts it in the category of “very low English proficiency” countries. It was also noted that Thailand’s average score has not improved since the index was introduced in 2011, except in 2017, when the score increased slightly.

[PeterRS]

This again is where some retired expats could easily help. Not perhaps in the actual teaching of English but in leading conversation classes at different levels of proficiency. This would surely also help Thai students thinking for themselves, a facility which seems sadly lacking in the Thai education system. 

[macaroni21]

More than just the issue of being able to think for themselves, I have also noticed a lack of general knowledge. 

One memorable incident was when I was dealing with middle management of a medium-small Thai company. One manager couldn't grasp the concept of time zones, and had no clue it was related to the spherical shape and rotation of our planet.

[floridarob]

3 hours ago, macaroni21 said:

More than just the issue of being able to think for themselves, I have also noticed a lack of general knowledge. 

One memorable incident was when I was dealing with middle management of a medium-small Thai company. One manager couldn't grasp the concept of time zones, and had no clue it was related to the spherical shape and rotation of our planet.

Sadly, This is everywhere.....