English proficiency or attitudes: what are the true barriers?

Is Thailand's low English proficiency a barrier to economic expansion?

That was a tough question from a young Thai man who graduated from a university in Sydney.

He asked that question because he is the only one on a eight-person team who has to cover English-related stuff for their magazine.

Statistically, the right answer is "yes". Studies show that in a society where over 90 per cent are literate, few are fluent in English.

Many universities are correcting this by demanding their undergraduate and graduate students to submit their theses in English.

But how can you force someone who doesn't know English to write in the language? Eventually, that requirement just gave extra work to those with a good command of the foreign language.

Given that I was also contacted for help, it's true that many English-language theses are completed by these people, not the students themselves.

That does not surprise me. In my university days, only English majors took more than 60 credits (20 courses) of English.

Those minoring in English did one-third of that. Others, if they didn't bother, had to take two compulsory courses and some were even exempted from the basic courses.

When they became sophomores, all that knowledge gathered during high school withered away.

A friend from Hong Kong said that in all the schools there, students are encouraged to express their opinions in English or even talk with friends in the language.

China, on course to become the global economic leader, is making English compulsory up to the undergraduate level.

As we have observed, not all of them are fluent. But there's a difference here. Many Chinese do not give in easily, and they force themselves to speak English.

Singaporeans are the same. Though criticised for their "Singlish" accent, they don't mind as long as they can communicate in the language. And so far, so good.

Thus, to the question at the beginning, I may have to add that "attitudes" could also be an equally important barrier.

Thais are rather shy, overly self-conscious. They are afraid of making mistakes. If any foreigner corrects their pronunciation of a word, their face reddens and giggling follows.

Some learn well enough to improve themselves with the first mistake, others cannot overcome the feeling. Some cannot pronounce that particular word correctly for years.

Years before, making headlines in Thai newspapers were huge foreign investment projects. That has disappeared for some time. We blame it on political instability, but some foreign companies - particularly those in the service sector - also put the blame on the lack of human resources with English skills.

Now, big investments are flowing elsewhere. Many players in the service sector go to Singapore to cash in on the high quality talent.

Many are also going to China because of the same reason, not just because it is a big economy with nearly 1.4 billion consumers.

Thailand is now home to over 100 international schools, but most of their students come from rich families and tend to start their own business or work at multinational companies upon graduation.

With rich family backgrounds, they pursue executive positions, not those at the operating level. Over time, Thailand would become attractive only to manufacturing plants, which can get by with a lack of English-speaking workers.

No matter how green they are committed to being, manufacturing activities cannot be as green as those of service-related industries.

It would be nice if we can reset attitudes. With the right ones, Thai workers' English should improve. Only then can we expect continued prosperity for our beloved nation.