Comparison of student achievement and communication skills in english in faculty of Business Administration of Universities in Rattanakosin (Bangkok)

Abstract

The National Institute of Educational Testing Service (Public Organization) reported that English communication skills are a problem for most Thai students, and they received the lowest average score for this subject. Therefore, this highlights an important obstacle facing Thailand in developing the country. The aim of this paper is to compare student achievement and communication skills in English in the faculty of business administration of universities in Rattanakosin (Bangkok), Thailand, with the intention of determining ways to increase student achievement. The research tool employed in this quantitative research study is a questionnaire to enable statistical analysis from the desired sample of 403 subjects. The F-test and Eta correlation findings show there are low relationships between five factors of achievement (planning and preparation, comprehensible input, intake activity, output and evaluation) and student communication skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing). The results indicate that English teachers, by having the professional knowledge and teaching skills, are more responsible for improvement in Thai student English communication. In addition, more pressure needs to be placed on universities and Thai government policies to increase opportunities and to encourage Thai students to use English in their daily lives.