Losing our voice in the global village

Thailand has fared poorly in a global survey on adult English-language proficiency. The Kingdom ranked 55th among 60 countries where English is not the mother tongue, falling into the “very low proficiency” group.

We are now in the lowest band of the 2013 English Proficiency Index, compiled by Switzerland-based Education First (EF), an international language school. EF’s latest global ranking is based on data from the 750,000 adults who took its English tests in 2012.

Highest ranked among Asian countries is Malaysia, 11th, followed by Singapore, 12th. Both are in the “high proficiency” group. Fellow Southeast Asian countries Indonesia (25th) and Vietnam (28th) show “moderate proficiency”. The major powers in Asia are all ranked higher than Thailand – India is 21st, South Korea 24th, Japan 26th, Taiwan 33rd and China 34th. 

Of the 60 countries ranked this year, just five performed worse than Thailand – Panama, Kazakhstan, Algeria, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.

The rankings are significant because English is the most vital tool for communication in this era of rapid globalisation. As such, Thailand is being left behind. Poor language skills have left us with just a small base of competent adult English speakers who make up our globalised workforce.

Education policy must be changed if we are to halt this slide. 

Christopher McCormick, head of EF’s Academic Affairs and Research Network, said: “Comparison of countries with their neighbours, trading partners and rivals provides a fascinating study in divergent national priorities and educational policies.” 

Dr Krissanapong Kirtikara, vice chair of Thailand’s Quality Warning Foundation, has emphasised the need to improve our English-teaching standards in order to boost competitiveness in preparation for the Asean Economic Community’s launch in 2015.

Those standards are currently being held down by an education system that focuses more on passing exams than improving skills. Stuck with a curriculum that focuses on rote learning of grammar and vocabulary, our English-language students are failing to develop the basic tools of communication – speaking and writing.

Meanwhile bad memories of their childhood English classes mean that many adults refuse to take action to improve their language skills after they graduate. 

This deep-rooted aversion can be overcome if the Education Ministry and other relevant agencies ensure that teaching methods encourage Thai students to develop actual language skills, particularly speaking and writing, rather than the ability to memorise grammar rules and vocabulary. Students should straightaway get to grips with the language itself by speaking easy phrases and sentences, rather than memorising rules.

A familiar excuse for our deficiency is that we have never “had to” speak English, since Thailand was never colonised by Britain. This excuse might work for those of us who don’t need to communicate with non-Thai speakers or who never need to find information in English. But those who can’t speak and read at least some of the language will find their potential is limited in a “global village” whose mother tongue is English.

Improving our English proficiency will boost not only personal skills and potential, but also the competitiveness of the country as a whole. Right now we are losing out on opportunities to progress economically, socially and even politically.