Part of the application process to my school is sitting down with a teacher for a 10 minute interview in order to insure that the student can converse in English. If they can't, they have to take a Preparatory English class during the summer.
All of my interviewees passed with flying colors. A few things I learned from the process: 1) students get very nervous very easily, 2) parents have a lot of control over their kids, 3) most kids are planning to work in their family's business after graduation even though they do not like the business and do not know anything about it, and 4) Phuket is everyone's favorite holiday destination (whether or not they have actually been there).
Of course this is not a scientific study, as my sample size was very small. But it does back up a few cultural trends that I am starting to notice...
