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SURVEY: Bilingual education -- Worth it or Not?


Scott

SURVEY: Bilingual education -- Worth it or Not?  

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18 hours ago, Happy Grumpy said:

Who will be the English teachers? Thais? Native English Speakers? Non-Native Speakers from South Africa? NNES from the Philippines?

They will never have a qualified pool of teachers - ever.  Why?  They refuse to invest in obtaining quality NES instructors.  For the most part, especially in places like Chiang Mai, they are still paying NES instructors the same wages they did over a decade ago, they still treat foreigner like dirt, and for your slave wages you are expected to work copious amounts of unpaid overtime while being treated with the respect extended to a feudal house slave. 
They get what they pay for: unqualified teachers who perform short-time gig work and move on after they get tired of the nonsense.  If they want bilingual citizens they are going to have to pony up the funds to pay for qualified NES teachers - and - start showing some respect to their foreign teachers instead of treating them like second-class trash.  Unfortunately nationalism, xenophobia, and age discrimination are way too ingrained in Thai society and culture and only seem to be getting worse, sooo, once more - 
"They will never have a qualified pool of teachers - ever. " And as such, developing a world-class, English-speaking labor force is a pipe-dream at best.  Ain't gonna happen.

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Happy Grumpy said:

So how on Earth are we supposed to decide and vote on if it is worth it or not, when we/you don't even know what 'it' is!!

Well I'll tell you what.   I'll make it simple for you.  

Do you think Thai students should spend 1/2 their time being taught in English?  

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4 minutes ago, Scott said:

Well I'll tell you what.   I'll make it simple for you.  

Do you think Thai students should spend 1/2 their time being taught in English?  

I'd expect maybe  Pidgin outcome

 - but it would balance out in the end...

 

T H A I - L I S H  gives equally spelt characters 

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1 minute ago, Happy Grumpy said:

By who?

 

And what qualifications do they have?

That will be up to the Thai gov't to decide by regulation.   As I said, the MOE regulation is that teachers must have a degree in education.   If they are a Non-native speaker they must pass a TOEIC (or another English proficiency exam).  

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3 hours ago, Grusa said:

Until the top hiso families actually want a population which can think, reason, argue, and understand international affairs and politics, it can never happen.

 

Turkeys won't vote for Christmas. Least of all the two top turkeys.

The top HISO families have zero interest in an educated populace that would then have the wherewithal to question their virtual indentured servitude.

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1 hour ago, Scott said:

That will be up to the Thai gov't to decide by regulation

So we don't know if the teachers will be:

 

Thais.

Indians.

Filipino 

Or from England with B.Ed!

 

Or how much contact time they will have with the students or in what context - as Homeroom teachers or as subject teachers.

 

 

Simply impossible to form a conclusion and vote on such a poll that's lacking such vital information. 

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It's a good idea but will not bring about the results that they desire.  The reason is that the MOE will not allocate enough money to hire fully qualified native English speakers.  Instead they will hire sub-standard teachers with minimum education qualifications not directly related to ESL.  They will also employ teachers from other areas of Asia who lack native fluency in the English language.  That, along with poor quality textbooks, and old teaching methods will hamper the program from producing the desired outcome.  

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11 hours ago, bkk_mike said:

My own kids went to an International school, but the in-laws kids went to a Thai school, with English lessons from a Thai teacher who'd studied in New Zealand. Being taught by a Thai didn't stop my niece getting into a University in the UK. Being able to afford it as an international student was a different matter though.

 

I met the teacher a few times and she spoke better English than a lot of native English speakers.

But fact remains that that particular teacher is one in a billion here (unfortunately). 

Your niece, who went off and studied overseas, just proves that the kids here are capable of achieving great things if given a chance, motivation and reward (study abroad, higher salary, better career prospects, etc.).

The whole educational system needs a major overhaul, which I'm pretty sure isn't going to happen anytime soon. 

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On 11/18/2019 at 10:50 AM, J Town said:

Far too many countries have already invested in English - street signs are a huge expense and that won't change in out lifetime.

English is the international business language. I work for a German company with business interests in 128 countries world wide but business meetings are always carried out in English - even when I'm in Germany.

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15 hours ago, Jaggg88 said:

English is the international business language. I work for a German company with business interests in 128 countries world wide but business meetings are always carried out in English - even when I'm in Germany.

Agreed - I don't think the average expat on this thread fully appreciates the role of English on a world scale.....not just s afirsdt language, but as a second or third language.

e.g. if a Mexican businessperson meets a German businessperson, the language most likely to be used in English.

Many believe that Chinese might be a threat to this dominance - nothing could be further from the truth. The language is unsuitable for computers and science and is restricted to one large area which in turn is divided into dialects......only English has the universal use and adaptability to be used as a truly international language

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