Abstract:
This paper aimed to investigate various facets of English language development in Thailand, a
case of study of Malaysia, namely, to compare Thailand's English policy with that of a case study of
Malaysia, and to suggest English language development ways. The researcher employed the mixed
methods approach. Eighty-eight undergrad students answered the questionnaires. In qualitative analyses,
in-depth interviews were conducted to elicit subtle data from five academic respondents. Based on the
survey retrieved from the sample group, many respondents raised that even though the Thai government
has supported English learning development for a long time, practical actions were not equipped and
implemented. Unfortunately, unlike other countries, such as Malaysia, they encouraged more practical
learning practices a great deal. This study found that student's daily lives, many forms of English practice
skills, and assignments in the classroom setting were minimal and impractical. One reason might lie in that
the Thai speaking environment was a dominant factor negatively affecting students' learning and impeding
students' opportunities of exposure to an authentic/natural English language. To sum up, the author
argued that a corporation from societies themselves and the government were needed in order to
constitute long-term encouraging learning experiences and activities in all four skills.