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[edit] Perspectives of Dhurakij Pandit University’s Graduate Business Students on English Use(Research in Progress)

Work in Progress. Do Not Quote or Cite

The Department of English, Dhurakij Pandit University.

Abstract

The aim was to investigate the postgraduate students’ English use with other members of the Thai academic community. The instruments of the research were six-part questionnaire and the data from two roundtables.

The questionnaire was answered by 131 DPU postgraduate students (MBA and DBA), it was found that the level of English use among them was low, limited to study-related activities, the difference between male and female students in terms of their needs of support, and the role of perceived identity.

The major findings were:

1. Most of them said that they moderately used English in their graduate study (M=3.00). Like other graduate students, for example a study conducted by Prinyajarn and Wannaruk (2008), the Thai graduate students reported that they had limited opportunities to practice or use English.
2. Similar to the finding reported by Prinyajarn and Wannaruk (2008), this study revealed that the reading skill was the most important skill for their study and it was their main concern. They said that they needed it to understand texts or related articles for their courses and research work.
3. The analysis found the significant relationship between the student participants’ perceived identity ---- being or not being part of the Thai academic community ---- and their use of English within the academic community. The relationship was significant at p > .05. Those students who identified themselves as being part of the community said they used more English.
4. This study also discovered the difference between sexes in terms of the support needed. Compared with male participants, the female seemed to prefer more institutional support.
5. The correlation between their coping ability and need of support was significantly negative (-.39). This suggests that those who needed more support were those with lower English ability or vise versa. It was not a surprise, however, to discover that the respondents who said they needed more support were those whose perceived English ability was low.
6. However, the correlation between the ability to cope with the demands of English and the overall perceived English ability was significantly positive (.33).
7. This research also revealed the relationship between the subjects' perceived English ability and their support needed from the establishment. The correlation between the two variables was found to be significantly negative (-.28). This suggests that the subjects who needed less support were often those whose English ability was perceived to be higher or vice versa.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. Literature Review
3. Methodology
4. Findings and Discussion
5. Conclusions, Implications, and Recommendations

References

Appendices