Voices of learners in Thai ELT classrooms: a wake up call towards teaching English as a lingua franca

Existing EFL Pedagogies in Thai Higher Education: Views from Thai University Lecturers

“…It is being adjusted to suit communicative circumstances (Galloway & Rose, 2015;Seidlhofer, 2011). Having been extensively altered to serve diverse social purposes, an ELF study reported that ELF involves 'multiculturalism, multilingualism, polymodels, and pluricentrism' which contrasts traditional ideologies where English is only about "monoculturalism, monolingualism, monomodels, and monocentrism" (Seidlhofer, 2001, p. 134 Regarding EFL curriculums in Thailand, which is the third primary finding contributed by the participants, Thai English classes are still lacking behind in terms of preparing learners to use English in today's multidialectal and multilingual world (Ambele & Boonsuk, 2020;Boonsuk et al, 2021;Methitham, 2009). Therefore, dealing with this situation may involve the implementation of the conceptual and operational frameworks of ELF; how ELF curriculum can be designed and taught within Thai education.…”

“…In contrast, NESTs are a must and the only models with gold standards in producing acceptable English linguistic outputs. Since these ideologies are established in the Thai society, educators, learners, and parents involved in expanding-circle ELT markets, including Thailand, still perceive that EFL is the safest approach to master English (Ambele & Boonsuk, 2020;Galloway & Rose, 2018;Ren, 2014;Rose & Galloway, 2019;Seidlhofer, 2011).…”

“…Nevertheless, while learning the concepts will not be helpful in their everyday use full of diverse English users from every circle using different variety of world Englishes, nonetheless, adopting very western English approaches in Thailand's language education continues to gain public approval. As a result, Thailand's ELT courses and textbooks are in either American English or British English (Ambele & Boonsuk, 2020;Jindapitak & Boonsuk, 2018). Contents in these textbooks are heavily filled with native English theories, linguistics, cultures, and ethnic biases.…”

“…As discussed, it is clear that English has changed roles due to its widespread and use around the globe, so there is a need to make it more appropriate in different ELF contexts. Considering its shifted roles to ELF, how it should be taught, learned, and used should be reconsidered and made more practical (Ambele & Boonsuk, 2020).…”

“…Amid globalization, English will remain significant as a pedagogical key language in Southeast Asian countries. Thailand is an expanding-circle country or 'periphery-English country' where English is utilized as a common language among Non-Native English Speakers (NNES) (Ambele & Boonsuk, 2020;Baker, 2016;Kirkpatrick, 2014). Since English is extensively used to access life opportunities: careers, businesses, tourism, technology, and knowledge, English has become a requisite foreign language in the Thai educational system and is considered as a compulsory course in primary, secondary, and tertiary curriculums (Kiely, 2014).…”