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programmes in applied linguistics and English language teaching supplemented by on-going teacher development programmes be implemented. Introduction It is one thing to ‘understand’ and ‘appreciate’ the different syllabus types and approaches, the different testing and evaluation methods that have been used in the field of foreign/second language teaching and learning but another to put this understanding to use with learners in real learning situations. It is, therefore, vital that language teachers are trained in applied linguistics specialising in second/ foreign language teaching. Without such essential background knowledge, precious time may be lost for both teachers and learners. With the appropriate background knowledge, however, teachers are likely to be both more discriminating and more creative. They will be in a position to respond appropriately to student needs and to conduct contextually relevant research. However, they will succeed in this only if they have the support and encouragement of administrators whose attitudes and beliefs are quite central to the way language teaching is practised in Thailand. However, it is not evident from the questionnaire results obtained from 149 staff and 190 students at twenty tertiary institutions in Thailand what degree of support respondents give to their superiors as the Thai culture requires that junior teachers be supportive of the senior teachers, especially the Heads of the Departments or the Deans. Moreover, one-way communication - instructions or directions from the Head of the Department to the staff members - is common in English language staff meetings. This monologue may be due, in part, to the fact that the majority of the staff members lack appropriate education in Applied Linguistics specialising in foreign or second language teaching. Dialogues in departmental meetings with the junior staff members making suggestions for changes or alternative syllabuses, teaching methodologies and methods of testing and assessments may be possible after appropriate in-service training. Another difficulty is due to the fact that it is generally difficult to involve senior staff or educators of high status in a survey, particularly when the person performing the survey is not at the same status level or higher. The results obtained from the questionnaires used in this study may not reveal much of what is currently happening in the teaching and learning of English at the tertiary level in Thailand since, as Andrews (1984) reports, “what people will admit to in writing (i.e. in a questionnaire) is different from what they will admit to when speaking, and what they will admit to when speaking informally and alone is different to what they will admit in the company of colleagues or when aware of being recorded” (p.
175). Nevertheless, it has been noted that “only local lecturers were sufficiently equipped with local knowledge to carry out appropriate curriculum renewal” (Holliday, 1992, p. 419) and “...innovation can be effective in the long term only if it is appropriate to the unstated, often opaque, informal orders of host institutions” (Holliday, 1992, p. 420). If Thai English language educators at all status levels are aware of current developments in ELT, the adoption and adaptation of current practices or even innovation in this field may be less problematic. English Language Educators Need To Both Adopt And Adapt The Syllabuses, Teaching Methodologies And Forms Of Testing And Assessment Appropriate To The Thai Context. It is essential that English language educators are aware of the need to both adopt and adapt the syllabuses, teaching methodologies and forms of testing and assessment appropriate to the Thai context. If English language educators are given more responsibilities for designing their own syllabuses, choosing teaching methods that are appropriate to the particular groups of students they teach, and write their own tests for their students based on the agreed general syllabus, they would certainly feel a sense of professional satisfaction. Moreover, if Thai English language educators are encouraged to carry out action research and publish the results of their findings in ELT journals, they would certainly feel a sense of professional achievement. At present, there is still “a mismatch between the pedagogical intentions and plans of the educational institution, curriculum, teacher, and textbook and the outcomes as realised through the skills and knowledge that learners take away from instructional encounters” (Nunan, 1995, p. 133). Even though, as Nunan notes, there will never be a one-to-one relationship between teaching and learning, teachers and learners and teaching and learning can be brought closer together (Nunan, 1995, p. 133). Allwright (1984) once asked: “Why don’t learners learn what teachers teach?” (p. 3). Nunan (1995) suggests a further question “Why don’t teachers teach what learners learn?” (p. 155). This mismatch between teaching and learning has been noted by a number of researchers interested in the classroom (Nunan, 1995). Nunan suggests that the gap between teaching and learning will be narrowed when learners are given a more active role in three key domains of content, process, and language (Nunan, 1995, P. 154). However, although we may have made progress in our understanding of language learning and teaching, Nunan notes that it is highly unlikely that the point will ever be reached when we can say “Ah, yes, now I know!” (Nunan, 1995, p. 155). Our understanding of language, learners, and the learning process
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Page 5 and 6: languages are taught and learned”
Page 7 and 8: statistical test. The coefficients
Page 9 and 10: continue to learn outside of the cl
Page 11 and 12: subject specific vocabulary for sub
Page 13 and 14: trying out new vocabulary and langu
Page 15 and 16: Table 7 below shows that Applied li
Page 17 and 18: Many do not seem to be aware of deb
Page 19 and 20: Though all four skills appear on oc
Page 21 and 22: Table 15 Ten Features of Learning T
Page 23 and 24: and/or without sound empirical or t
Page 25 and 26: English is used all the time 4 Engl
Page 27 and 28: Table 18 Innovations and Developmen
Page 29 and 30: Table 21 Statistical Analyses of Le
Page 31 and 32: multiple choice 12/19 63.2 % - - 65
Page 33 and 34: (b) asking questions in English 29.
Page 35 and 36: often felt to be uninteresting, as
Page 37: was too difficult for them and stat

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