Photos courtesy of Bangkok Post
School teachers this year will have their English language skills tested as part of a new programme designed to bolster bilingual education.
Read the following story from the Bangkok Post to learn more about this new scheme.
The Office of Basic Education Commission has a plan to hold a pilot programme that highlights English literacy among teachers in Thailand. The programme will be conducted by grading teachers and categorising schools by their ability and readiness to teach bilingual subjects.
TEACHING AID
OBEC senior adviser on educational standards Watanaporn Rangubtook said secondary-level English teachers would sit the Common European Framework of Reference examination this year to rank them according to their language competence.
Watanaporn said that grading is necessary to promote teachers’ English language skills and to identify areas where further training is needed.
“Our duty is to encourage, train and support the teachers with learning materials and pronunciation classes,” Watanaporn said. “Teaching kits that include lesson plans, textbooks and other materials will be provided for English classes in the levels of Pratom 1 to 3 in order to support and strengthen local teachers in more than 15,000 schools nationwide.”
SCHOOL SUPPORT
The current English Bilingual Education programme equips Thai teachers to teach four subjects in English from grades one to four. Under the pilot programme, OBEC will also undertake assessments of various schools around the country, categorising them according to their level of readiness to teach English.
“We are separating schools in their readiness so that we can adapt specific programmes to their contexts,” Watanaporn said. “The pilot plan is being prepared and proposals will be sent around the country by this year.”
Exercises
Match the following vocabulary words used in the story with their correct definitions from the choices given.
| 1. rank | a. a set of beliefs, ideas or rules that is used as the basis for making judgements, decisions, etc. |
| 2. competence | b. the ability to do something well |
| 3. bilingual | c. using two languages |
| 4. framework | d. to give somebody or something a particular position on a scale according to quality, importance, success, etc. |
Vocabulary
- bolster (v): to improve something or make it stronger
literacy (n): the ability to read and write
kit (n): a set of tools or equipment that you use for a particular purpose
assessment (n): an opinion or a judgement about somebody or something that has been thought about very carefully
