Motivational problems are only a symptom at my school, really. There are two or three root problems that have caused the proficiency problems I've 'inherited'.

1. My students are segregated by age, not ability.
Proficiency is all over the place as a result. In every single class I have (21 in a school with 520 students) I see this. Proficiency is wildly variable here because students can rely so much on cheating. Most have cheated their way through the years, and now are not able to perform. I believe cheating has even increased in my classes since I've been here. This is because I've been so insistent on moving the proficient ones forward....which leaves the 'unlearned' farther and farther behind.

2. My classes are far too large. Many of my classes are over 35+ number-wise. Two are over 40, and one of those approaches 50. Methods I used in my teacher training simply don't work in such large classes. Combine this with #1 above and you get a lot of disinterested students not doing work, not speaking, and not listening. Another words, they simply don't cooperate...period.

3. 'Gifted' students and students with an aptitude for English are penalized, while the 'unlearned' students, learning disabled, and students who don't have the aptitude are 'rewarded'. These students are never 'forced' to perform, which means they would have to practice outside of class. If I could separate my gifted students from the slackers/cheaters/disabled, I might be able to get the gifted to a decent level of proficiency. But I can never do that, so the gifted are all bogged down in classes that have to cater to misfiring, uninterested students' needs. All parties lose in this situation....I lose, the gifted students lose, and the slackers/disabled students lose.

Thailand has a LONG way to go to solve these problems. I'm not waiting on it to solve them. I'm going elsewhere to teach.