Sutraphorn Tantiniranat (Khwan) The Manchester Institute of Education

The University of Manchester

The ASEAN Context of Intercultural Communication: Roles and Purposes of Thai ELT

Thailand and the ‘single ASEAN’ economic

community

Implications for English language teaching in ASEAN and Thailand

English as the regional and global lingua franca

for intercultural communication

About me

The working language of ASEAN shall be English.

(ARTICLE 34, ASEAN CHARTER)

Introduction

PhD topic: TESOL Purposes and Paradigms

in an Intercultural Age: Practitioner Perspectives

from a Thai University

TESOL

ICCthr

uTESOL

ICC

Thailand in ASEAN

Cultural globalization and implications on

English language education (Kumaravadivelu, 2008, Kachru, 1996)

TESOL

Critical stance of TESOL (e.g. Widdowson, 1994; Pennycook, 1999, Holliday

1999, 2005; Kumaravadivelu, 2008; Alptekin, 2002; Jenkins, 2007)

Appropriate Methodology (Holliday, 1994)

How I situate my study and position myself

Intercultural Communication (Competence)

(e.g. Byram, 1997; Gudykunst and Mody, 2002; Deardorff, 2009 )

Intercultural Communication through English

(e.g. Fay et al., 2010; Sifakis, 2004;Alptekin, 2002 )

Thailand within ASEANEconomic Community

1) To see the extent to which the concerns for intercultural communication within Thailand and ASEAN are discussed;

2) To study the ways in which the notion of Intercultural (Communicative) Competence is described or might mean by the top level discourse; and3) To look for possible implications for the roles of Thai TESOL practitioners like myself.

What I’m currently working on: Policy documents analysis Aims

1) are now emerginge.g. การทำ�างานข้�ามวัฒนธรรม [cross-cultural working], ทำกษะในการติ�ดติ�อสื่��อสื่ารข้�ามวัฒนธรรม [cross-cultural communication skills] and ‘inter-cultural skill’

2) co-occur with ‘working or employment opportunity’3) co-occur with ‘English ability’ but not as a part of

Policy documents analysis

Initial findingsThe concerns for intercultural communication and ICC…

4) ICC in the policy discourse include:• Respect for / understand / appreciate different

cultures (languages and religions);• Recognize/ understand/ accept/ value

multiculturalism, multiple identities;• Having an open worldview; and• Being aware of (and being responsible for) being a

member (citizen) of ASEAN and world community.

Initial findings (Cont.)

Policy documents analysis

Conclusions

•The concerns for ‘intercultural communication’ and ICC are ‘emergent’ in the policy discourse.

•Next steps: to figure out how these findings could inform the role of Thai ELT (and to fit in my PhD!)

•Fieldwork in September to explore teacher perspectives. ข้อบคุ�ณคุะ

Thank you for your attention.