Abstract:
Purpose of the study : The purpose of this study was to survey problems and needs for teaching improvement of English teachers in Prathom Suksa 5 and 6. Procedures : The instrument used in this study was a set of questionnaires which was divided into three parts : Firstly, the status of the English teachers; secondly, the opinions of the teachers concerning the teaching problems, the evaluation problems, the use of teaching aids problems, the problems from pupils and their guardians; and finally, the needs of the teachers. After the set of questionnaires was tried out and improved, it was used with the English teachers in every elementary school under the auspices of Trang Office of provincial Primary Education. The 292 sets of questionnaires were sent to all schools, and 258 sets of questionnaires were received back. The data collected was analyzed by percentage, mean and standard deviation. Results : The general status of the English teachers were : the majority of the teachers got diploma in education or other equal certificates with no major subjects. Most teachers were females between 25-29 years of age. Most of their general teaching experiences were between 1-5 years and their English teaching experience were only 1-3 years. Most of their English teaching load was only 6-10 hours, and those of both English and other subjects were 20-24 hours a week. Their attitudes towards English were good and they chose to teach English by themselves. In order to increase their knowledge of English, most of them studied from texts and felt that extra curriculum activities were necessary. The major teaching problems stated most were the lack of chance of the pupils to hear the native speaker and teachers problem in encouraging their pupils to increase their knowledge by themselves. The evaluation problems found were the lack of materials for making tests, and the teachers lack of knowledge in analyzing English tests. The use of teaching aids problems were the lack of budget, especially the lack of tape recorders was the most important problem. The pupils dialect caused more degree of problem of their English pronunciation. In general the pupils guardians caused no problems. Most teachers needed English standardized tests. Recommendations : Based on the finding, the recommendations can be as follows : 1.The English teachers should increase their knowledge of English constantly. 2.English should be taught in schools when everything is provided according to the requirements of the Educational Academic Department. 3.The school administrators should give the inservice training to the English teachers before the beginning of the school in 1982 academic year.