CM Dad

Nothing will change as long as the focus is on grammar and as long as class sizes are 30 to 60 students. Foreign teachers are always told that they need to make their lessons "fun". That is why the Thais like to hire teachers who just joke and play games. I taught in English programs at both government and private Thai schools for more than twenty years. I was luck that I was allowed to plan my own lessons and use my own material. I was also lucky that I was in English Programs where the classes were much smaller. When I meet my former students today, they all speak English to me even though they know I can speak Thai. Several of them have even become English teachers and they tell me that they are constantly butting heads with the "senior" Thai teachers who refuse to change their grammar approach and only speak Thai in their classrooms. The focus on learning any language needs to be on usage - first hearing it, then learning vocabulary and using it through speaking. Grammar can be learned by reading and writing, the last two of the four necessary skills needed to master a language. The Thais like to use the unworkable grammar approach simply because it makes it easier for them to give their never-ending multiple choice exams that they can then take home with their cutout answer keys and have the student's answer sheets marked by their family members and maids. No thought is given to whether or not students really learn English. All that matters is the score. Students are not even given back the exams with their answers to see where they were right and where they were wrong.