Language Acquisition Literature Review

Research Questions From the literature review, it was established that there were several factors affecting language learning and acquisition. More specifically, it was revealed that factors such as exposure at an early age, motivation, attitudes, incentives and educational system can influence language acquisition. However, most of the research were conducted in the west and were focused on students as subjects to the study and foreigners working in the country where they need to learn the language to lengthen their range of employment opportunity. As the AEC is fast approaching, it was rationalized that it is beneficial to know the English language readiness of the Thai people, especially those directly working with English speaking ASEAN

In the English learning literature, the development of a positive attitude towards learning could be attributed to Integrativeness, or the genuine desire to learn a new language so that one can communicate with the members of the community who use the language as their medium of communication (Dörnyei, 1998). However, as the world has become more borderless as exemplified by the EU and the ASEAN, other attitudinal factors were conceptually included. The additions were attributed to the changing of concept from ‘English is a second language to learn’ to ‘English as an international language’(Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009). This resulted to the addition of other attitudinal factors that include Direct contact with English speakers (attitude towards actually meeting English speakers and travelling to their countries) ; Cultural interest (appreciation of cultural products from English speaking countries conveyed by the media); Miliu (the general perception of the importance of English in the learners’ friends and family) (Dörnyei & Ushioda, 2009). From the aforementioned attitudinal factors, the following hypotheses were

This is attributed to boys’ attitude towards learning a foreign language. For boys, a foreign language subject is traditionally for women (Clark, 1995); thus, creating conflict between performed masculinities and language practice (Carr & Pauwels, 2006). Foreign or second language acquisition is also known to depend on the teaching approach of the educator. Some educational experts suggest that a natural approach is the most effective way of teaching. As opposed to rote learning, where students are asked to memorize words and focus on structures and rules, the natural approach is a process of learning that focuses more on language comprehension and terminology usage so that they can be used in communication (Terrel & Krashen, 1983). Thailand’s education system was known to implement rote teaching (Wiriyachitra, 2002), while most countries’ education system had been utilizing more progressive teaching methods such as the aforementioned natural approach. However, some local institutions in Thailand have been showing some progress. Not only these institutions offered International/English programs, they are also leaning towards more western teaching approaches. In this regards, the following hypotheses below were