สำนักวิชาศิลปศาสตร์

Exploring communication strategies and their effectiveness in business english as a lingua franca in Myanmar economic organization

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Exploring communication strategies and their effectiveness in business english as a lingua franca in Myanmar economic organization Yin Min Hla Atima Kaewsa-ard As English increasingly functions as a shared working language in international business and public-sector institutions, understanding how communication is managed beyond linguistic accuracy has become essential. This study investigates communication strategies in Business English as a Lingua Franca (BELF)–mediated workplace interaction within a Myanmar economic organization, focusing on how professionals strategically manage meaning, accountability, hierarchy, and intercultural relations under institutional constraints. Adopting an embedded mixed-methods research design, the study draws on multiple data sources, including semi-structured interviews with 15 officials, a corpus of 74 professional emails, recordings of real-time workplace meetings, and a structured questionnaire. Guided by a conceptual framework that views BELF communication strategies as interactional resources rather than compensatory linguistic tools, the analysis integrates functional content analysis of written communication with conversation analysis of spoken interaction. The findings reveal that BELF communication strategies in this context function as situated interactional practices shaped by institutional roles, procedural accountability, and intercultural sensitivity. In written communication, politeness and indirectness are systematically deployed to establish institutional alignment, assign responsibility, and maintain professional relations without undermining authority. In real-time meetings, strategies such as repetition, reformulation, clarification requests, and multimodal resources emerge sequentially in response to interactional trouble, enabling participants to negotiate understanding and sustain interactional flow in high-stakes decision-making contexts. Rather than compensating for limited proficiency, these strategies reflect a high degree of interactional competence tailored to institutional demands. The study further demonstrates that the effectiveness of BELF communication strategies lies not in fluency or native-like accuracy, but in their capacity to support task accomplishment and intercultural collaboration despite linguistic asymmetries and organizational constraints. Drawing on these findings, the study argues for a reconceptualization of BELF-oriented English for Specific Purposes (ESP) training. It suggests that professional communication training should move beyond language correctness to emphasize interactional awareness, institutional accountability, and strategic meaning-making in real workplace contexts. By examining BELF communication in an underexplored public-sector economic organization in Myanmar, this study contributes to BELF scholarship by extending its empirical and theoretical scope to Global South institutional settings. It advances an interactional understanding of professional communication and provides a principled foundation for context-sensitive ESP training grounded in authentic workplace practices. Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- English for Professional Development, School of Liberal Arts. Mae Fah Luang University, 2025

Developing a context-specific project-based flipped learning (PBFL) model for enhancing english speaking performance of first-year Myanmar university students

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Developing a context-specific project-based flipped learning (PBFL) model for enhancing english speaking performance of first-year Myanmar university students Su Lai Mon Phirunkhana Phichiensathien This study aimed to develop and examine the effectiveness of a context-specific Project-Based Flipped Learning (PBFL) model for enhancing the English speaking performance of first-year Myanmar university students at a private university in Myanmar. The model was designed by integrating principles of flipped learning and project-based learning to address contextual challenges identified through needs analysis, including teacher-centered instruction, limited opportunities for communicative practice, exam-oriented teaching approaches, and underutilization of instructional technology. A mixed-methods research design was employed. The participants consisted of 40 first-year Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) students enrolled in the English for Communication I course, selected through purposive sampling. Quantitative data were collected using pre-test and post-test speaking assessments adapted from an IELTS-format speaking test, comprising three components: Interview, Long Turn, and Discussion. Speaking performances were evaluated using an analytic scoring rubric measuring fluency and coherence, grammatical accuracy, pronunciation, lexical resource, and interaction. Two trained raters independently assessed the performances, and inter-rater reliability was established prior to analysis. Qualitative data were obtained through semi-structured interviews with one English instructor and ten students representing different proficiency levels. The PBFL model and research instruments were validated by three experts using the Index of Item-Objective Congruence (IOC), with values ranging from 0.67 to 1.00 following revision. The intervention was implemented over a ten-week period. Paired-samples t-test analysis revealed statistically significant improvement in overall speaking performance (p < .05). The mean total speaking score increased from 13.85 (SD = 0.63) in the pre-test to 19.52 (SD = 0.57) in the post-test. Improvements were observed across all assessed components, with large effect sizes (Cohen’s d ranging from 1.81 to 2.03). Qualitative findings indicated that students reported increased confidence, reduced speaking anxiety, and greater participation in classroom communication activities. The instructor also perceived the model as feasible within existing institutional constraints. The findings suggest that the context-specific PBFL model may be useful in enhancing English speaking performance among Myanmar university students in private higher education settings. Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- English for Professional Development, School of Liberal Arts. Mae Fah Luang University, 2025

Developing english reading materials to promote critical thinking skills for myanmar upper secondary students: researchers’ and practitioners’ collaboration

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Developing english reading materials to promote critical thinking skills for myanmar upper secondary students: researchers’ and practitioners’ collaboration Pyae Phyo Sirikorn Bamroongkit Critical thinking (CT) has been widely recognized as a crucial aspect of 21st-century education policies. Recognizing its significance, Myanmar’s recent educational reforms emphasized the integration of CT into its new education system, K+12, with its explicit statement in the National Education Law (2014), and the National Education Strategic Plan (2016-2021). However, the current state of CT in the extant English coursebooks remains underexplored. Addressing this gap, this study adopted Research and Development (R&D) (1) to investigate the current state of CT (2) to develop a critical thinking program for EFL upper secondary school students through researcher-practitioner collaboration and (3) to study the affordances and challenges of implementing the critical thinking program. Guided by Macalister and Nation’s (2020) framework for Language Curriculum Design, this three-phased study revealed that the reading materials of the extant English coursebooks were dominated by lower-order thinking skills (LOTS) over higher-order thinking skills, encouraging rote learning practice, and providing limited opportunities for CT development. Despite the modest increase in CT in the selected post-reform books, the alignment between the policy and the practice remains partial. The three collaborative workshops with five in-service EFL teachers generated a critical thinking program consisting of five components: (1) contextual, (2) conceptual, (3) material, (4) pedagogical, and (5) task-related ones. Instead of adding only CT-based questions, the program embedded CT within institutional feasibility, shared conceptual understanding, cognitively accessible materials, scaffolded progression from LOTS to HOTS, and revised task structures aligned with textbook formats, showing that critical thinking integration needs a systemic and contextual alignment rather than task modification only. The final phase reported that the affordances are high usability and practicality of the developed materials, the enhancement of students’ engagement and motivation, and the promotion of critical thinking skills of students. Despite the affordances, challenges such as the language barrier and minor students’ initial resistance to the critical thinking-based tasks were exposed. The findings of this study extend the existing literature, showing that developing critical thinking is not an immediate pedagogical outcome but a gradual, scaffolded process requiring learners’ adjustment and sustained pedagogical support of teachers. Students’ resistance represents a cognitive transition rather than a failure of reform. The study therefore contributes theoretically by proposing a bottom-up, researcher–practitioner collaborative model for critical thinking material development in centralized and institutionally constrained contexts. In addition, it also provides the empirical evidence that collaborative design can bridge not only the gap between policy and practice but also the gap between research and practice, empowering teachers as co-researchers and co-designers and active agents of sustainable educational reform rather than passive implementors. Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- English for Professional Development, School of Liberal Arts. Mae Fah Luang University, 2025

Teaching practicum in Thai rural schools: pre-service english teachers’ self-efficacy and Identity construction

Wed, 01 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Teaching practicum in Thai rural schools: pre-service english teachers’ self-efficacy and Identity construction Sumit Choephatruedi Bhornsawan Inpin This study examines how pre-service English teachers (PSETs) in Thailand develop teacher self-efficacy (TSE) and construct teacher identity (TI) during their teaching practicums in rural school contexts, with particular attention to the demands of English language teaching (ELT) in under-resourced environments. Although rural schools constitute nearly half of Thailand’s educational institutions, empirical research remains limited on how rural practicum experiences shape PSETs’ efficacy, professional identity, and instructional practices as English teachers. This gap is especially significant in English as a foreign language (EFL) context, where limited student exposure to English, low proficiency levels, and scarce instructional resources place distinctive pedagogical and emotional demands on novice teachers. Addressing this gap, the study was guided by three research objectives: (1) to examine how PSETs’ self-efficacy develops during rural practicums; (2) to investigate how TSE contributes to the construction of English TI; and (3) to identify the ELT-specific challenges and opportunities within rural practicums that influence both processes. Adopting a social constructivist perspective, the study employed a qualitative case study design involving three fourth-year PSETs enrolled in a Bachelor of Education (English) program at a university in northern Thailand. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews, classroom observations focusing on ELT practices, and reflective narratives. Using the three-phase coding method, the findings revealed that PSETs’ self-efficacy developed in a nonlinear, context-sensitive manner. At the outset of the practicum, participants entered rural schools with optimism shaped by university coursework and aspirations to teach English, alongside anxiety related to classroom English use, pronunciation, spontaneous interaction, and teaching learners with very low English proficiency. These initial beliefs were quickly challenged by a period of reality shock as participants encountered multi-grade classrooms, minimal ELT resources, limited exposure to English outside the classroom, and expectations to perform both instructional and non-instructional roles. Over time, English teaching self-efficacy was gradually strengthened through small but meaningful mastery experiences, such as successfully managing classroom interaction in English, adapting ELT activities for mixed-ability learners, improvising teaching materials, and observing incremental student engagement and progress. Vicarious experiences emerged through informal learning from mentor teachers and colleagues, particularly in navigating classroom management and localized ELT practices. Social persuasion, especially encouragement, trust, and recognition from students, mentor teachers, and community members, played a critical role in validating participants’ identities as English teachers. Participants’ emotional and physiological responses, including stress, exhaustion, pride, and renewed efficacy, served as key interpretive cues for evaluating their instructional competence and professional growth. The findings further indicate that TSE and TI are developed through a reciprocal but uneven process. While increased efficacy in English lesson delivery, classroom interaction, and student engagement strengthened participants’ sense of themselves as English teachers, identity development did not continually advance in parallel with instructional efficacy. In some cases, participants demonstrated growing ELT competence while simultaneously questioning their long-term commitment to the profession due to emotional exhaustion, institutional pressures, and limited structural support. Notably, social persuasion and community recognition played a more decisive role in shaping English TI than mastery experiences alone. The rural practicum thus functioned not merely as a testing ground for pedagogical skills but as a transformative ELT identity space in which autonomy, emotional labor, and close community relationships accelerated professional growth. Contrary to deficit-oriented assumptions, resource-scarce rural contexts both constrained and strengthened PSETs’ self-efficacy and identity by fostering adaptive, context-responsive ELT practices. This study contributes to ELT scholarship by advancing an integrated understanding of the reciprocal relationship between TSE and TI in rural EFL practicum settings. It highlights how English teacher development is shaped through interactions among linguistic competence, emotional resilience, social validation, and contextual realities. The study offers practical implications for English teacher education, including the need for rural-focused ELT preparation, intensified training in classroom English use, structured mentorship with experienced rural English teachers, and systematic reflective practices that focus on identity work. These findings underscore the importance of stronger university–school partnerships and targeted policy support to enhance the preparation, retention, and professional sustainability of English teachers in underserved rural communities. Dissertation (Ph.D.) -- English for Professional Development, School of Liberal Arts. Mae Fah Luang University, 2025