Source - Bangkok Post (Eng)

Tuesday, January 01, 2008  10:27

          Bangkok--Jan 1--Bangkok Post

Hiring foreigners to teach English at Thai schools and universities is an expensive business. Foreign teachers can make three times the wage of most Thai teachers. Are foreigners really worth the extra expense and bureaucratic paperwork?

It depends on the value that a particular foreign teacher adds to an organization. A teacher's worth can be measured in many forms, depending on the background of the individual.

A young and newly qualified teacher would hopefully offer enthusiasm, in addition to new ideas and methodologies. However, a mature teacher may have more wisdom and teaching experience. Both types of teacher can make valuable contributions to a school.

But the best value of all comes when teachers learn to work together.

Rural areas lack foreign teachers

In Bangkok, students are exposed to more of the outside world.  Many of their parents have traveled to other countries and tell their children about this experience abroad. But people living in rural areas lack access to foreigners and their ideas, and this is how foreigners can really add value as a teacher.

In places like Udon Thani, students are not usually exposed to the same media that is available in Bangkok. My students at Udon Thani Rajabhat University rarely get the opportunity to listen to English music at home or watch English language programs on satellite television. Many of their parents have never traveled abroad, and have left primary school early, thus limiting their education. In result, students in rural areas are not being exposed to many new ideas that they can learn from.

The best of both worlds

Native English speakers possess lifetime experiences that can be used to stimulate the students in the classroom. At our Language Center, teachers come from many different backgrounds. Foreign staff has had schooling in psychology, finance, military and education. All these fields can stimulate students and help motivate them to learn English.

Although Thai teachers of English may not be so well traveled, they are gifted with an understanding of the problems Thai students encounter while learning English. After all, they were students once and remember the experience of studying the foreign language. They can identify with their students' frustrations about grammar and pronunciation because they went through the same process.

At a recent conference, Dr Jun Liu, a former Tesol president, commentated that he found it easier to teach English than his mother tongue. He learned English at school by painstakingly memorizing its rules, but acquired Chinese naturally while growing up in his family environment. He pointed out that Thai teachers of English would be more able to explain grammar points to a class better than most native speakers.

If native and non-naive English teachers work together by combining their skills and experiences, the students would benefit greatly. To do this, teachers from both groups need to cooperate and introduce learning activities in an environment that is student friendly.

Many of these activities can be shared informally at self-access language centers, resource rooms and student conversation areas. It could also help for teachers and students to meet for activities after classroom hours. Or course, financing these programs is always a stumbling block, but the money spent is well worth it.

Native and non-native English speakers can work in unison as a team. This type of teamwork deserves government funding and the support of private enterprise.

Steve Graham is an English language teacher at the Language Center, Udon Thani Rajabhat University in northeast Thailand. If there are any comments or areas for debate that you would like to discuss, you can contact Steve at: shedchelsea@hotmail.co.uk