| dc.description.abstract | Traditionally English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching in Thailand has tended to focus on: learning discrete linguistic components; the grammar translation method; knowledge transfer and communicative competence. However, these approaches fail to acknowledge the need for meaningful interaction as the main objective in learning another language. Nevertheless, interactional competence (IC) is not necessarily innate. As such, the advanced thinking skills (TK) required for interaction in a foreign language must be learnt and practised. Although there has been considerable attention paid to teaching TK in L2 contexts, the debate about teaching TK in EFL in Thailand has been limited. Nonetheless, some studies stress the advantages of teaching critical thinking in EFL, for more cognitively-demanding writing, reading, and speaking. These skills are necessary for higher education and better employment opportunities. However, previous studies give limited insight about the problems that Thai EFL learners have with developing meaningful L2 interaction in real-life contexts. The present study, on the other hand, aims to highlight the importance of improving IC, i.e. where EFL learners interact and construct meaning together in face-to-face interaction. There appears to be little research relevant to improving IC by integrating teaching TK into the EFL curriculum. The apparent lack of research on this topic, therefore, has inspired this study to examine the potential of promoting TK in the EFL curriculum, i.e. through a Thinking-Based Curriculum (TBC), with the aim of enhancing the IC of Thai EFL learners. Thus, four EFL teachers and a group of EFL students were recruited. Their interactions in a TBC were video-recorded and semi-structured interviews were conducted. The video-recorded data were analysed based on Conversation Analysis principles, which revealed the benefit of TBC on the learners’ development of their IC, such as a notably increased: participation; ability to organise and articulate their ideas about the topic; self-initiated turn-taking; competence in organising multiple sequence of acts, and repairing conversational troubles. A Thematic Analysis was adopted in analysing the interview data, which revealed the participants’ perspectives towards TBC. The teachers and learners identified three major barriers to effective TBC: teachers; learners; and the socio-cultural context of the participants. Teachers, stated that TBC has a positive impact on EFL teachers, as well as on the EFL learning environment and the curriculum. Moreover, learners benefitted from learning with TBC. To promote the successful use of TBC teachers suggested focusing on: teachers; learners; the learning environment; and curriculum-related factors. The learners indicated that promoting TBC in EFL learning in Thailand would necessitate improvements in teachers, learners, the learning environment, TBC, assessment and evaluation methods, and contextual factors. This study provides implications for policymakers, curriculum designers, EFL teaching professionals of how the teaching of TK could be integrated effectively into EFL curricula. | en_GB |
