Nationality, proficiency, and legitimacy in language policy: recruitment practices for English and EMI-related teaching in Thailand’s secondary schools

This study examines foreign teacher recruitment in Thailand’s secondary education sector, where English and English medium instruction (EMI) roles have expanded as part of national efforts to internationalize and improve educational quality. Despite policy commitments emphasizing the proficiency and subject expertise of foreign teachers, recruitment remains shaped by entrenched native-speakerism and nationality-based screening. A corpus of 200 job advertisements for English and EMI-related teaching positions was analyzed from Thailand’s principal recruitment platform for foreign teachers, compiled during two primary hiring cycles (September – October 2024 and March – April 2025). Descriptive and inferential statistics reveal systemic inequities in hiring preferences, salary structures, and qualification requirements. Native English speakers (NES) received higher average salaries and preferential consideration, while non-native English-speaking (NNES) applicants were subject to additional proficiency requirements despite comparable credentials. These results demonstrate that nationality functions as the primary hiring filter, with linguistic proficiency and pedagogical competence treated as secondary criteria. The findings underscore a persistent misalignment between policy design and practice, suggesting that Thailand’s EMI hiring system privileges prestige over professional merit. Aligning recruitment with verified qualifications, demonstrated proficiency, and teaching competence would strengthen equity, accountability, and coherence with Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG 4) on inclusive and quality education.