This report provides a summary of two research projects that were funded by the British Council in 2024 on English and education in Thailand’s Deep South (TDS). This summary aims to give a brief insight and overview of the two research teams’ work. The authors’ original reports should be referred to for citation and further enquiry and are available upon request.
Languages play a crucial role in teaching and learning. The Bangkok Priorities for Action on First Language-based Multilingual Education (UNESCO,2023) emphasise how education systems can be strengthened, and student achievement supported through a careful and context-specific approach to languages of learning and teaching (LoLT). Increasingly, the focus has been on the importance of first language-based multilingual education and its staging, impact on learning outcomes, as well as the value of respecting, celebrating and harnessing learners’ multilingual identities and competences (UNESCO, 2025). Additionally, English is viewed by many in TDS as an important subject for social mobility and opportunity which underlines the need for greater quality in the delivery of English as a foreign language.
The two projects described in this report aimed to address the need for knowledge into the educational landscape of both education in general and English language education in particular in conflict-affected TDS. This report synthesises the findings from the two projects and provides implications of the findings with insights for policy and practice. The original reports elaborate and delve more deeply into the areas highlighted in this summary and are available upon request.