ENHANCING ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILLS THROUGH A MONK CHAT- BASED GUIDEBOOK FOR ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS AT MAHACHULALONGKORNRAJAVIDYALAYA UNIVERSITY, CHIANG MAI CAMPUS

บทคัดย่อ

          This study aimed to explore the current challenges and specific communicative needs of English major monastic students in using English during Monk Chat sessions; to develop a Monk Chat-based sessions, to design and evaluate a Monk Chat-based guidebook for enhancing English-speaking skills for English major monastic students at Mahachulalongkornrajavidyalaya University (MCU), Chiang Mai Campus, and to compare the effectiveness of a Monk Chat-based guidebook in enhancing English major students’ English-speaking skills before and after implementation. The research employed a quasi-experimental design using a one-group pretest and post-test approach. The sample population consisted of 35 first-year and second-year students enrolled in the Monk Chat Program during the 2025 academic year. The research instruments included: (1) a needs analysis questionnaire to investigate students’ current challenges; (2) instructional treatment tools, developed Monk Chat–based guidebook and structured lesson plans; and (3) pre-test and post-test speaking assessments used to measure students’ English-speaking achievement before and after the intervention. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, including mean and standard deviation, to summarize students’ levels. The effectiveness of the lesson plans was evaluated using the E1/E2 efficiency formula. E1 represents learning process efficiency, while E2 represents learning outcome efficiency based on post-test performance.  A paired-samples t-test was conducted to compare pre-test and post-test scores in order to determine whether the improvement was statistically significant. The findings of this study addressed the research objectives in three key areas. First, the study found that students faced anxiety, lack of confidence when speaking with foreign visitors, limited vocabulary for explaining Buddhist concepts, and difficulty in managing conversations. Second, based on these needs, the researcher developed a Monk Chat–based guidebook with structured lesson plans that included situational dialogues, targeted vocabulary, Buddhist concepts, and communicative activities such as role-plays and guided discussions to support real-life communication. Third, the results showed that the guidebook improved students’ English-speaking skills, as shown by higher post-test scores, as well as increased confidence and fluency after the implementation. Overall, the guidebook can also serve as a practical instructional model for improving communicative competence in authentic religious and culture contexts.