THE ROLE OF THAI PARENTS IN FACILITATING LISTENING AND SPEAKING SKILLS OF PRESCHOOL ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEARNERS : A CASE STUDY IN AN INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL IN THAILAND

Abstract

There are 2 purposes of this research study; 1) the roles of Thai parents in facilitating listening and speaking skills, and 2) the influencing subjects which impact parental involvement in facilitating listening and speaking skills of preschool English language learners. This qualitative research is a case study in an international school in Thailand. By progressive sampling method, the sampling was 3 Thai parents who their children are currently studying at Berkeley International School. Collecting data by in-depth interview and analyzing data by essence analysis. The in-depth interview showed that Thai parents desire to be involved both at school and at home activities. Involvement at school can help parents learn and understand how their children learning at school. Involvements at home are parent-initiated activities and after-school programs. There were 3 influencing subjects which impact parental involvement; 1) Believing in the role of involvement motivate parents to conduct facilitated activities in developing English language learning, 2) Parents’ perceptions of invitation from school, teachers and children influence their decision making to get involved in any activities at school, which they are pleased to be part of school activities and willing to accept the invitations for participating at school, and 3) Parents’ perceiving life context in skills and knowledge, time and energy. Skills and knowledge affect the pattern of facilitated activities provided for their children. Time and energy also affect the frequency of parental involvement.