In the landscape of language teacher education, the nature of knowledge base informs three broad areas: what teachers need to know, how it should be taught, and how they should learn to teach (Johnson, 2009). The history of the knowledge base in this field has been derived from related disciplines, such as applied linguistics, second language acquisition, and language pedagogy. This knowledge assumes that once the students are exposed to these types of knowledge, they will be able to teach effectively. However, recent studies have shown that it is not simple as it claims. Freeman and Johnson (1998) argued in their influential publication that the current knowledge base of language teacher education has little to do with language teaching itself. They wrote that the knowledge base in this field should involve “what and how language is actually taught in classrooms” (p. 410).

With the wake up call by Freeman and Johnson (1998), scholars in the field started to shift the focus to examine how language is taught in the classroom. What do teachers do in the language classroom? How do they teach their students? These two simple, yet powerful questions have driven scholars’ curiosity to step into language classrooms. However, it should be noted that not all teachers should be examined. Prior research started to focus on studying successful language teachers because they have a powerful influence on students’ learning (Stronge, 2002). By investigating language classrooms carefully, teacher educators will be able to add the results in the knowledge base of the field and use this knowledge to educate their students knowledge to educate their students to become successful language teachers. This paper attempts to examine how language teachers in Thailand teach their students. The present study focuses on Thai English teachers because English is a global language used for communication and receives much attention around the world. 

Bain, K. (2004). What the best college teachers do. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Freeman, D., & Johnson, K.E. (1998). Reconceputalizing the knowledge-base of language teacher education. TESOL Quarterly, 32(3), 397-414. Johnson, K. E. (2009). Trends in second language teacher education. In A. Burns, & J. C. Richards. (Eds). The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education. (pp. 11-19). Cambridge, NY: Cambridge University Press. Stronge, J. H. (2002). Qualities of effective teachers. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.