Thai schools adopt European

framework to boost English language

proficiency

Thai students taking an English language examination. Pic: Daniel Maxwell

By Daniel Maxwell- Apr 07, 2015

When Thailands new school year begins in May, teachers and schools across the
country will begin the process of aligning their English language teaching with the
Common European Framework of Reference for languages (CEFR). This alignment
with internationally recognised language standards is a positive step towards raising
the standards of English in Thailand, but it is going to take strategic planning and hard
work to realise these goals.
The CEFR for languages was developed by the Council of Europe over more than 20
years before being officially launched during the European Year of Languages in 2001.
Since then the CEFR has grown in popularity both in Europe and across the world.

The framework is used to benchmark communicative language ability in reading,

writing, speaking and listening. The CEFR is divided into 3 levels; basic users (Level
A), independent users (Level B) and proficient users (Level C). The table below
summarizes the abilities for learners at each level while the entire framework can be
downloaded from the Council of Europes
website.

The Thai Ministry of Education has set the following English language proficiency
targets for students in Thailand.
By the end of Prathom 6 (Grade 6) students should have reached A1 proficiency
By the end of Mathayom 3 (Grade 9) students should have reached A2 proficiency
By the end of Mathayom 6 (Grade 12) students should have reached B1
proficiency
These targets are realistic goals for a country as dependent on foreign tourism as
Thailand. The targets for Grade 6 and Grade 9 are certainly within the reach of schools
that emphasise English language learning, but the Grade 12 target of B1 proficiency is
ambitious. It will take time and effort before large numbers of Mathayom 6 graduates
are able to reach this level.
Regardless of how long it takes before the majority of Thai students are able to realise

these goals, there is general consensus among educators that the adoption of the CEFR
is a vital step towards clarifying language goals and raising English language
standards. Prior to this, the Thai MoE foreign language curriculum has been
ambiguous and often interpreted differently from school to school. This ambiguity had
hindered efforts to raise English language standards across the country.
The implementation of the CEFR is a step forward, but one that will present
numerable challenges. With Thailands poor record of implementing educational
change there are genuine fears that it could suffer the same fate as other wellintentioned but poorly implemented educational innovations, such as the adoption of
student-centered learning in 1999. Two measures that could drastically improve the
chances of this policy succeeding are: adequate support and training for English
language teachers, and new communicative English language assessments.
So far the support and guidance given to teachers has been limited to one-day training
sessions attended by representatives from various school. Many teachers and even
some schools are still unaware of what exactly the CEFR is. Without continual
guidance and support, the teachers involved in this initiative will be unable to
successfully use the CEFR.
Interestingly, a number of English teachers have been getting some firsthand
experience of the Common European Framework as part of an initiative to assess the
ability of all English language teachers in Government schools. Large numbers of Thai
teachers took the internationally recognized Oxford Placement Test in 2014 and it
appears the government is keen to ensure all the remaining teachers are assessed over
the coming months. Its not clear whether these results will be made public or what
will happen to those teachers that are unable to reach a sufficient level of English
language ability. However, this testing of English language teachers could be a positive
sign that the government is waking up to the problem of Thailands poor English
language standards and attempting to rectify the situation.
If Thailand is to seriously adopt a framework for communicative language ability, it
will need to develop assessments that can measure these abilities. Currently, the MoE
relies on the O-NETs to measure students language abilities, but these multiple choice
papers are only assess grammar, vocabulary and reading comprehension. The
benchmarks of the CEFR specify that learners at B1 level can write letters and notes
conveying information, verbally communicate using a wide range of language to deal
with most situations and understand the main points of familiar matters regularly
encountered in work, study and leisure. Multiple choice assessments are clearly unable
to assess such skills.
To accurately measure students progress in accordance with the CEFR, a new national

examination would be required to assess reading, writing, speaking and listening

abilities. Any new assessment will need to be flexible enough to allow students
opportunities to demonstrate their independent communicative abilities. The
assessment would need to be similar in format to IELTS, TOEIC or the Cambridge
English assessments. If Thailand were to develop a new form of language assessment,
it could have a huge impact on language learning in Thailand. All too often, schools,
teachers and parents focus primarily on preparing for high-stakes assessments
teaching to the test. At present Thailands high-stakes tests are multiple choice
assessments focusing on grammar and syntax. Students spend hours preparing for
these at the expense of developing more essential communicative abilities. A test that
actually measures communicative ability will encourage schools, teachers and students
to adjust their focus towards the development of these more useful skills.
With the opening of the AEC just a matter of months away and Thailand still struggling
under a reputation of poor levels of English proficiency, its essential that some
progress is made to rectify this situation. Lets hope the adoption of the CEFR is the
first of many much need steps towards raising English language standards in Thailand.
About the author:
Daniel Maxwell is a writer and educator who has been living and working in
Southeast Asia since the late 1990s. An English literature graduate from the
University of London, Daniel previously worked with the publishing company EMAP
before relocating to Asia. Found elsewhere: Maxwells Notes
Posted by Thavam