Voice Your “Soil and Soul” through English as a Global Language

Abstract

In this paper, I will explain why and how I have used English to express my concern about the degradation of the environment and the destruction of local ways of life.

Writing about the local setting and its physical and cultural environment, about your soul and soil, can serve as a means to make both teachers and students become socially responsible citizens, which is in line with the call from the sixth caucus of TESOL, TESOLers for Social Responsibility or TSR. On top of that, reflecting on my role as an English teacher, I feel that, in terms of language acquisition, texts carefully planned and written by English language teachers, be they native speakers or non-native speakers, can serve as input that best promotes language learning.

In this paper, I plan to talk about the genesis of one of my published short stories, The Intruder, the story of a university student and an old woman facing the darker side of capitalism. I will also discuss another story I am writing at the moment, A Thousand Miles for Gold, the story of an Issan construction worker in Singapore. Preyed upon by unethical operators, the man, the sole provider of his family, tormented by his past and his health, has become cynical about human life.

On this occasion, I would like to tell the audience how, as a non-native speaker, I have been assisted in my writing. I emphasize the crucial role of support for budding writers, because to write anything seriously, even in L1, is always a very difficult task. Above all, it is passion that makes many writers continue pouring out their ideas and feeling, their souls, into words. From my experience, in the process of voicing your “soil and soul” as Alastair McIntosh, a Scottish writer and campaigner, puts it, reality often reveals its darkness in front of you. As an aspiring writer, and as a non-native speaker, your English proficiency is far from perfect, and occasionally you are bound to feel helpless and discouraged. Sometimes, your own writing may drive you to despair. The final thought for this paper will be: When you are in doubt of what you are doing, ask yourself the three questions suggested by Alastair McIntosh: “Does it help the poor? Does it restore the broken in nature? Does it bring music to the soul?”

Biodata

Janpha Thadphoothon was born in 1969, in Roi-Et, a small province in the northeastern part of Thailand. He graduated with a bachelor degree, with First-Class Honors, in Education from Chulalongkorn University in 1992. In 2000, he obtained a Master’s degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology from Thammasat University, Bangkok. In 1999, he also received an advanced certificate in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) from RELC, Singapore. He has taught Foundation English at the Language Institute, Dhurakijpundit University, in Bangkok. Currently, as a doctoral student in TESOL at the University of Canberra, Australia, he is working on his doctoral thesis entitled Enhancing Critical Thinking in Language Learning through Computer-Mediated Collaborative Learning.