ABSTRACT
With the ASEAN Charter’s declaration in 2009 that English is its sole working language and the widespread desire of people in the region to acquire English, Myanmar, like its ASEAN counterparts, needs effective English teachers. However, since Myanmar is emerging from decades of isolation and neglect of the economic and educational sectors, there are not enough teachers with adequate English language proficiency and the skills to teach English effectively. Thus, university teacher preparation programmes for English language teachers are a key concern and the focus of this study, which asked: 1) What are the greatest challenges in English teacher preparation in Myanmar? 2) What can be done to address them? 3) What recommendations can be applied to the wider ASEAN context? To investigate these questions, 17 participants were interviewed from two regions in Myanmar. The potential for ASEAN educators to collaborate to address the challenges was a key finding.
