Similar to other countries in the South-east Asian region, Thailand has transformed its
education policy so that it may be able to better face the challenges of the globalised
world. In order to do this, constructs such as student-centred learning and critical
thinking, as well as the teaching of English in a more communicative manner, have
been promoted.
There has been little critical or grounded research carried out on the current English
policy in Thailand, which emerged from the National Education Act of 1999 and the
subsequent Basic Education Core Curricula of 2001 and 2008, therefore, in order to
better understand how this policy works, this study explores how a group of ThaiEnglish
language teachers conceptualise the English language policy in Thailand by
investigating their practices and beliefs (dispositions). In order to do this, and drawing
on a social constructionist perspective from Bourdieu‟s theory of practice, this thesis
adopts a qualitative methodology that incorporates exploratory and ethnographic
elements. Employing a combination of data collection methods that include classroom
observations, retrospective accounts and semi-structured interviews, the findings
demonstrate that a gap exists between the goals of the policy and what actually occurs
in the classroom. Thus, there were few examples of either the communicative
approach or student-centred learning being employed, with teachers instead tending to
transmit knowledge to their students in a teacher-centred manner. Reasons for this
may be due to the influence that the national examinations has on teachers‟ work, the
suitability and / or relevance of imported teaching and learning approaches on local
contexts, as well as the need for better implementation of change. Teachers would
indeed benefit from more professional development concerning the policy, but this
thesis also argues that the policy itself needs to be critically examined. This would
then allow Thailand, as well as other countries in the region, to better inform and
improve their current education policies.