The impact of native-speakerism on culture teaching practices of secondary ELT teachers in Thailand

Pattaraworathum, Nattida and Baker, Will (2025) The impact of native-speakerism on culture teaching practices of secondary ELT teachers in Thailand. In, Llurda, Enric (ed.) Dismantling the Native Speaker Construct in English Language Teaching. 1 ed. Routledge. (doi:10.4324/9781003427537).

Abstract

This chapter presents findings from a qualitative case study on teaching practices of lower secondary English language teaching (ELT) teachers of one private school in Bangkok. The focus was on culture teaching practices and teachers’ cognition regarding this. Data was collected from classroom observations, pre- and post-interviews, and documents of seven ELT teachers (six Thai and one South African) in the foreign language department for five months. Focus group interviews with students and semi-structured interviews with administrators and management staff were also carried out. Empirical evidence shows various factors affecting culture teaching practices but Standard English and native-speakerism emerge as significant influences. Teachers have to strike a balance between their own instructional preferences, the need to teach with reference to ‘native’ English, and the needs of different stakeholders (e.g. the school administrators, parents, and policymakers) which frequently formed an extensive chain of demand for ‘Standard’ and ‘Native’ English. Therefore, we argue that the ideological issue of native-speakerism among Thai people has an adverse effect on ELT teachers’ instructional decisions and teaching practices, especially on teaching culture and intercultural communication. Furthermore, we incorporate multiple perspectives in order to further understand the impact of native-speakerism on Thailand’s English language education.

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Contributors

Author: Nattida Pattaraworathum

Author: Will Baker

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