Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning

The emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community has spurred countries in the region to relook their English language teaching approaches to ensure it is in line with regional and global changes. This has resulted in Asian countries seeking to modernise their teaching and learning of the language to...

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Main Authors:	Chamaipak Tayjasanant, Sumittra Suraratdecha
Format:	Article
Language:	English
Published:	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016
Online Access:	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/1/14927-44201-1-PB.pdf

id	ukm-10734
recordtype	eprints
spelling	ukm-107342017-10-07T17:03:51Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/ Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning Chamaipak Tayjasanant, Sumittra Suraratdecha, The emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community has spurred countries in the region to relook their English language teaching approaches to ensure it is in line with regional and global changes. This has resulted in Asian countries seeking to modernise their teaching and learning of the language to promote higher order thinking skills and pave the way for better learner autonomy. This paper examines Thai teacher and learner beliefs about autonomous learning within the Thai culture of learning to determine if both are ready for autonomous learning. Using a qualitative approach employing interviews with teacher and students data was created from 76 English language teachers and 116 lower secondary school students, subdivided into high performing and low performing groups from 41 schools in Bangkok. The overall results indicate that both teachers and students hold positive beliefs about autonomous learning. The findings further reveal that the teachers supported communicative language learning while the students emphasised their needs for mental support, that teachers from large schools have higher academic expectations than those from smaller schools, and that lower performing students struggle for more academic and psychological support than their higher performing peers. The exam system, students’ dependence on teachers, and a lack of understanding from families and surrounding communities make it difficult for both teachers and students to achieve a high degree of autonomy. The study sheds some light on the challenges facing policy makers, particularly the Ministry of Education, with regard to what they can do to promote autonomy in the Thai school system. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2016 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/1/14927-44201-1-PB.pdf Chamaipak Tayjasanant, and Sumittra Suraratdecha, (2016) Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 22 (3). pp. 153-169. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/872
repository_type	Digital Repository
institution_category	Local University
institution	Universiti Kebangasaan Malaysia
building	UKM Institutional Repository
collection	Online Access
language	English
description	The emergence of the ASEAN Economic Community has spurred countries in the region to relook their English language teaching approaches to ensure it is in line with regional and global changes. This has resulted in Asian countries seeking to modernise their teaching and learning of the language to promote higher order thinking skills and pave the way for better learner autonomy. This paper examines Thai teacher and learner beliefs about autonomous learning within the Thai culture of learning to determine if both are ready for autonomous learning. Using a qualitative approach employing interviews with teacher and students data was created from 76 English language teachers and 116 lower secondary school students, subdivided into high performing and low performing groups from 41 schools in Bangkok. The overall results indicate that both teachers and students hold positive beliefs about autonomous learning. The findings further reveal that the teachers supported communicative language learning while the students emphasised their needs for mental support, that teachers from large schools have higher academic expectations than those from smaller schools, and that lower performing students struggle for more academic and psychological support than their higher performing peers. The exam system, students’ dependence on teachers, and a lack of understanding from families and surrounding communities make it difficult for both teachers and students to achieve a high degree of autonomy. The study sheds some light on the challenges facing policy makers, particularly the Ministry of Education, with regard to what they can do to promote autonomy in the Thai school system.
format	Article
author	Chamaipak Tayjasanant, Sumittra Suraratdecha,
spellingShingle	Chamaipak Tayjasanant, Sumittra Suraratdecha, Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
author_facet	Chamaipak Tayjasanant, Sumittra Suraratdecha,
author_sort	Chamaipak Tayjasanant,
title	Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
title_short	Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
title_full	Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
title_fullStr	Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
title_full_unstemmed	Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
title_sort	thai efl teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning
publisher	Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate	2016
url	http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/ http://journalarticle.ukm.my/10734/1/14927-44201-1-PB.pdf
first_indexed	2023-09-18T19:58:19Z
last_indexed	2023-09-18T19:58:19Z
_version_	1777406678689382400

Thai EFL teachers and learners’ beliefs and readiness for autonomous learning

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