Education in Thailand’s Ethnic Languages: Reflections on a Decade of Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education Policy and Practice

Abstract

© 2018, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. Thailand is home to some 70 diverse ethnic groups, each of which has its own unique language. Statistics reveal that many children from these communities living in remote northern, southern, and northeastern border regions have limited success in “normal” government schools, due in part to low Thai language abilities. This chapter chronicles efforts by academics, nongovernmental organizations, and language communities to integrate diverse ethnic languages into local schools via mother tongue-based multilingual education (MTB MLE). Eight years of student testing demonstrates that children in these MTB MLE pilot schools outperform their peers in “normal” Thai-only schools in all subjects – including the Thai language. The positive results of these programs deeply influenced the Royal Society of Thailand’s new national language policy, which states that all Thai children have the right to education in their mother tongue.