In our next Meet the Teacher interview, we chat to Piyanan Plengwittaya, an English language teacher from Bangkok. We talk about why she decided to become a teacher, her interest in changing the way people learn English and how language learning and teaching has changed in recent times.
Please tell us a little about who you are, where you live and work, and what you do.
My full name is Piyanan Plengwittaya. You can call me Peace, which is my English nickname. I was born and raised in Bangkok, Thailand, and I have been living here almost all my life. Since 2004 I have been teaching English for a living. I teach private students face-to-face, students online via video calling, and groups of students at a language school in Bangkok.
Thinking back to when you started learning English, what were the biggest challenges you faced personally?
I started learning (or I should say “studying”) English in school as a typical student would, in a way that did nothing to promote speaking practice. The focus of the English teaching in school was, and still is, on grammar. The only so-called speaking practice the students got to do was to repeat after the teacher and to read aloud the written texts. There was no creativity or personal connection with the texts involved. Another major problem was that the language was taught by Thai teachers translating from English into Thai for the students. Therefore, many Thai language learners believe that translating is the only way they can learn a foreign language. I have found that translating is the last thing someone learning a language should do because it slows the process of learning and makes learning more of a task than a fun experience.
Do you think language teaching in Thailand has changed since you started learning? If so, in what ways?
I don’t think that the majority of it has changed at all. I mean, if you look at the way school students learn English outside their schools, you will certainly see the reflection of how they are taught in school. They are learning passively. They won’t proactively ask questions or answer any questions if they are not personally asked. Although there are many more English programs offered in schools around Thailand now, these programs are a lot more expensive than the regular Thai programs.
What advice would you give to students who are trying to become proficient in English?
First of all, SPEAK! You have to know your goal. If your goal is to be able to speak English, then what you have to do is speak. Second, consider how you learnt your first language. You didn’t worry about understanding everything at first; you focused on general meaning, and understood more of the language gradually. So, do not rely exclusively on translation or trying to understand every single word. Don’t worry about anything at all. The most crucial thing is that you have to immerse yourself in the English language as much as possible. No excuses. Third, if you don’t have anyone to talk to in English, speak to yourself! Learn the language actively by reading aloud every word you see and repeating every word you hear even when you do not know the meaning.
What do you think are the most important things to consider when preparing and giving a language lesson?
Language teachers should try to make their lessons as natural as possible. In my opinion, the best way to teach is not to teach. Instead, the target language should be presented and practiced in context – the way it’s used in real life situations. That is, instead of creating a lesson plan based on a grammar point, teachers should turn their lesson into a situation. For example, one 50-minute lesson could be a situation where students go shopping at a market. Half of the students are given a role of a shop owner so that they need to learn only a handful of new words and expressions associated with their shop. The other half takes the role of customers with a shopping list. In the following lessons, students take a different role in each lesson. This way, the students could use the vocabulary and expressions learnt in class when they go shopping in real life.
What do you find most rewarding about teaching English?
The most rewarding thing about teaching English, in my experience, is when my students achieve their goals – be it at school or at work – and when they are able to use the English language fluently and with confidence, despite their mistakes.
In the field of language learning and teaching, what big changes do you think might happen in the next ten years?
To be honest, I think the big changes have already happened with technology that brings people from every corner of the world closer together and makes learning a foreign language so much easier. With access to the internet, people can learn any language anytime and anywhere. Teachers could take advantage of this technology to provide their students with a more genuine immersive experience through videos and interactive books related to the topics of their interests. As a result, students’ learning experience is not limited to only within their classroom or their imagination. In the next ten years, hopefully the world will have more teachers who are capable of using technology to teach language more efficiently and effectively.
Stay tuned for our next Meet The Teacher interview, coming soon. In the meantime, you can read our first teacher interview from this series, with Raquel Ribeiro.