A needs analysis of secondary school students learning English as a third language in private Islamic schools in changwat Narathiwat

Abstract

In the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, the majority of people are Muslims who speak their own language called Melayu as their mother tongue. They speak Thai as their second language, and they learn English as a third language in school. The people who live in these provinces also have their own socio-demographic characteristics and cultures than make them different from people residing in other regions in the country. The objective of the present study was to explore the needs and the attitudes of secondary students who are learning English as a third language in private Islamic schools in Narathiwat Province. The study also aimed to explore the attitudes toward English language learning of teachers and parents of secondary students who are learning English as a third language in private Islamic schools in Narathiwat Province. The subjects of the study included 118 Mattayomsuksa 2 students, four teachers, and ten parents selected from the largest and smallest private Islamic schools situated in Muang District, Narathiwat Province. Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires, interviews, and observation. Data analysis consisted of quantitative measures of mean and standard deviation and a qualitative measure of content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the students felt that they needed to develop language skills more, especially speaking and reading. They had positive attitudes toward learning English as a third language, and they wanted to study English with more varied teaching and learning materials in the classroom. In addition, the findings showed that teachers believed that students needed to focus more on developing their writing and reading skills, especially reading English books, whereas the parents thought that English was important for their children because they could use it to mainly further their studies in higher education and also used it in their daily life. Based on the findings of the study, it is recommended that teachers and administrators of private Islamic schools should revise their existing English curricula to better suit the students’ need and solve their perceived problems by providing English teaching and learning activities and materials that both are interesting and motivating so as to make teaching and learning English as a third language in private Islamic schools more effective and successful.