Source: Teachers and Teaching: Theory and Practice, Volume 16, Issue 5, 2010, P. 559 – 576.
The current research examined how students in foundation English classes perceive their Thai and native-speaking teachers.
The researchers surveyed students at five universities and compared a group of 600 students studying with native-speaking teachers with another group of 600 students studying with Thai teachers.
The authors aimed to explore three areas:
(1) students' previous background in English-language learning,
(2) students' general opinions and preferences for studying English with Thai or native-speaking teachers, and
(3) student perceptions of studying with their current English teachers.
The findings reveal that most students had similar backgrounds and thought positively about their classroom teachers.
However, there were differences in students' teacher preferences for studying English; students more commonly preferred the type of teacher that was presently teaching them.