Scheme to help boost language skills

Banpu, Thailand’s biggest coal miner, is ready to penetrate Asean markets when the Asean Economic Community kicks off in 2015. But sustainability is not guaranteed as back home, many Thai students – the future workforce – will be left behind due to their low English-language skills and inability to communicate with neighbours.

This concern has encouraged the company to embark on an English-teaching programme, whereby native speakers are dispatched to six selected schools in three Northern provinces in preparation for the AEC.

The six teachers will stay there for the whole academic year, a rare opportunity for students in rural areas.

“Our students have lower English ability, compared to Malaysia, Vietnam and the Philippines. So, we have to improve their English ability,” said Chanin Vongkusolkit, Banpu’s chief executive officer.

A budget of Bt2.7 million has been provided to run this project.

“There is no opportunity for schools in the countryside in the North or in the South of Thailand [to have native speakers], and some children are very bright and it’s very disappointing to know that they will never be able to carry on education because they have no opportunity. So, it’s a great opportunity [for me] to be able educate them,” said Kirsty Allan, from the United Kingdom, who is teaching at Chiangmuan Wittayakom School, a secondary school in Phayao.

She and Patrick Taylor, also from the UK, are among six foreign teachers.

All of them see the potential of Thai students, but the biggest hurdle lies in the low confidence.

Taylor is teaching at Bansra School, a primary school that has extended classes to lower secondary education in the same province.

Both are the first full-time English teachers of each school.

And, the school directors hope they will help the students feel more familiar with foreigners and improve English communication skills of not only the students themselves but also the teachers at both schools.

“I need to increase students’ confidence so they can speak English with more confidence.

“Thai children are usually very shy and scared of speaking but in my classes I hope we have more fun and it’s okay to make a mistake. I make mistakes all the time in my Thai,” Allan said

“The biggest obstacle is their confidence, a big obstacle for all the students from Matthayom 1-6 (Grade 7-12),” she added.

Taylor confirmed that confidence was the most important problem among students at his school and also a lot of the students think in Thai, which is not a proper way to learn English.

“I hope my students’ English skills, especially speaking, will get better after they’ve learned from English native Patrick Taylor,” said Paitoon Gredgul director of Bansra.

Each class will study English with Taylor at least an hour per week.

Chaliao Wantong, director of Chiangmuan Wittayakom said his secondary students in each class would study with Allan for at least one period (50 minutes) a week. Allan is focused on improving their listening and speaking skills. She also would help train the school’s teachers in English communication.

Allan said she had taught them about what happens outside Thailand, including how to catch a bus in London or about the Olympics at the same time they learned English. She also focused on Asean, teaching about each of the member nations, the goals of Asean and what is going on that will probably affect them.

She wanted teachers who don’t teach languages to gain confidence and use English words.

“I’m trying to get them to think in English. Thinking in Thai and then translating into English is not the way to learn in a language,” Taylor said.

He makes them do group activities and compete in English. Competition is good motivation, which makes them more enthusiastic and active to learn English, he said.

With support from Banpu, the six schools under the company’s patronage in Lamphun, Lampang and Phayao provinces are getting a good learning opportunity.

Udomlux Olarn, Banpu’s head |of corporate affairs, said the English native-speaking teacher hiring |project was part of Banpu’s Education for Sustainability, which was among the company’s corporate social responsibility projects. Udomlux added that she hoped the project would prepare Thai students for the AEC.