Abstract:
In the three southernmost provinces of Thailand, the majority of people are Muslims. They have their own socio-demographic characteristics and cultures that make them different from people residing in other regions in the country. They speak their own language called Melayu as their mother tongue, speak Thai as their second language, and learn English as a third language in school. The objective of the present study was to explore the needs and the attitudes of secondary students who were learning English as a third language in Islamic religious schools in Narathiwat Province. The study also aimed to explore the attitudes toward English language learning of teachers and parents of secondary students who were learning English as a third language in private Islamic schools in Narathiwat Province. The subjects of the study included 118 Mattayomsuksa 2 students, four teachers, and ten parents selected from the largest and smallest Islamic religious schools situated in Muang District, Narathiwat Province. Data were collected by means of self-administered questionnaires, interviews, and observations. Data analysis consisted of quantitative measures of mean and standard deviation and a qualitative measure of content analysis. The findings of the study revealed that the students felt that they needed to develop language skills more, especially speaking and reading. They had positive attitudes toward learning English as a third language, and they wanted to study English with more varied teaching and learning materials in the classroom. In addition, the findings showed that teachers believed that students needed to focus more on developing their writing and reading skills, especially reading English books, whereas the parents thought that English was important for their children because they could use it to mainly further their studies in higher education.