Reflections on Adolescent English Literacy in Thailand

Abstract

In this paper, I present the overall educational situation in Asia, which could reflect the educational issues in Thailand, where I come from. The reason is to provide the basic background knowledge of the common issues of education in Asia as a stepping stone prior to going into details of the topic in focus, which is the adolescent literacy. I also believe that the general ideas will enlighten those who do not know much about Asia, and will help them understand more clearly about my views and discussion in the subsequent sections. I provide a lot of information from my personal analysis on education in Thailand. This broad picture will lead to the second section, which specifically focuses on the literature reviews on adolescent literacy, the key issue of this paper. And lastly, I will discuss my reflections on the issue of teaching English as a foreign language for young students in Thailand. My analysis and synthesis regarding the instruction of English to young adolescents will be illustrated from my dimensions with the support of relevant theories. I have decided to reflect on teaching English for young students and adolescents because it is the topic under controversy in my country, and, of course, it is the topic of my interest and can be applied to any languages.

Keyword: Adolescent Literacy, English Education in Thailand, English Language Policy for Young Children