Voices of learners in Thai ELT classrooms: a wake up call towards teaching English as a lingua franca

Abstract

This study aims to identify students’ attitudes towards teaching English in a lingua franca context. The data were collected using a semi-structured interview with 25 undergraduate students studying English across five universities in Southern Thailand. Based on the qualitative content analysis approach, the findings revealed that most of the participants congruently agreed that the prime target of ELT is to prepare language learners for communication that involve interlocutors of multicultural backgrounds, and not to force them to adopt native-like English competence. Hence, the call for ELT curriculums to be revised. New targets should not be monocentric with excessive Inner Circle contents and cultures. More local content should be used as they help learners associate inputs with familiar cultures. Furthermore, teachers should raise learners’ awareness of existing English varieties and accents, and promote a flexible mindset to accommodate differences in communication.