Improving English of Thai massage students: a case study of Ubon Ratchathani polytechnic college

The purposes of this study were to (1) improve the English of Thai massage students at Ubon Ratchathani Polytechnic College, (2) investigate the effects of a CLT-based program on their English learning, and (3) explore their perceptions toward the designed program. The study adopted the mixed-methods research procedure to collect and analyze data in two phases. In the first phase, the study explored Thai massage students’ needs in English language learning to develop the designed program. In the second phase, the designed program was implemented to study its effects. Six Thai massage students were selected to serve as participants using the convenience sampling method. The research tools included a semi-structured interview, a teacher’s journal, a pre-test and post-test, and a speaking summative assessment. Qualitative data was analyzed using thematic analysis. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive analysis. It was found that the designed program helped participants improve their English; according to their post-test scores, participants’ skills increased significantly from the pre-test scores (at 95% confidential level) and the average score of the final speaking test was at a satisfactory level. The findings from the qualitative data show the effectiveness of the designed program on English language improvement and learning motivation enhancement. Moreover, the participants had positive perceptions toward the designed program. The finding provide suggestions for the design of English for Thai massage profession instruction and materials.