Undergraduate students’ perceptions of the English for vocational skills course offered by an automotive technology programme at a technical college in Thailand

This research explores the perceptions of vocational students towards the course "English for Vocational Skills" in four aspects: course content, materials, activities, and assessment. A quantitative method was used to collect data from the participants; a questionnaire is employed as an instrument for data collection. This instrument has been developed and adapted from course evaluation question examples provided by Marymount University (2025), the UW-Madison Testing & Evaluation Service (University of Wisconsin-Madison, 2025), and sample survey questions for course evaluation from University College London (2025). The participants of this research comprise 55 first-year undergraduate students in the Automotive Technology Continuing Program who enrolled in the course "English for Vocational Skills" during the second semester of the 2024 academic year at a technical college in Thailand. As most participants worked full-time at automotive dealers, the classes were offered in the evenings on weekdays and on Sundays. The results indicate that the majority of the participants have favorable perceptions of the course across all four aspects: course content, materials, activities, and assessment. These findings highlight the critical importance of customizing course content to align with students' specific needs and backgrounds such as activities that reflect professional scenarios, enhancing the relevance and practicality of learning. This authenticity enables students to directly apply their knowledge and skills.