Intercultural citizenship development: a case of Thai study abroad students in EMI programs

Jaewon Jane Ra; Yusop Boonsuk; Chittima Sangiamchit

doi:10.1515/jelf-2022-2071

Article

Intercultural citizenship development: a case of Thai study abroad students in EMI programs

Jaewon Jane Ra
Jaewon Jane Ra is an ESP/EAP instructor at business schools in Paris, France. Before this, she was a lecturer in Language Teaching at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia at Mahidol University, Thailand. She holds a PhD degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southampton, UK and an MA degree in TESL/TEFL from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research interests include Global Englishes, ELT, EMI, intercultural communication, internationalization of higher education, interculturalcitizenship, interculturality and translanguaging.
, Yusop Boonsuk and Chittima Sangiamchit
Chittima Sangiamchit is a lecturer at University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok, Thailand. She has published and presented internationally on English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), online intercultural communication, English Language Teaching and English as a Medium of Instruction. Her recent work involves interculturality of English conversation among international students and transcultural communication in a social network community. She is also a joint editor of the book Interculturality and the English Language Classroom (Palgrave Macmillan).

Published/Copyright: June 13, 2022

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From the journal Journal of English as a Lingua Franca Volume 11 Issue 1

Abstract

Currently, HE institutions in Anglophone countries cater for the largest number of international students (particularly non-native English speakers) and thus, have benefited the most from internationalization policies. In such intercultural educational environments, Anglophone Englishes now play a much less significant role in HE. This paper aims to explore to what extent Thai students who came back from study abroad (SA) in Anglophone countries have developed a sense of intercultural citizenship and their experiences and perceptions in relation to intercultural communication, ELT and SA. A mixed-method approach was adopted at four universities in Thailand. Extracts from semi-structured interviews and questionnaire data have been analyzed. Findings have been divided into three themes: 1) The usefulness of intercultural citizenship courses, 2) The development of intercultural citizenship from lived experience, and 3) ELF mindedness. According to the findings, we argue that intercultural citizenship education (Byram, Michael. 2008. From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters) ought to be part of the pedagogic approach in both EMI and ELT classrooms, and ELT courses in Thailand should put more emphasis on strengthening learners’ intercultural competence and awareness while also moving away from traditional methods associated with standard language ideologies.

ปัจจุบัน สถาบันอุดมศึกษาในประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ รองรับนักศึกษาต่างชาติจำนวนมากที่สุด (โดยเฉพาะกลุ่มผู้เรียนที่ไม่ได้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นภาษาแม่) นักศึกษากลุ่มนี้จึงได้รับประโยชน์สูงสุดจากนโยบายความเป็นสากล ในสภาพแวดล้อมทางการศึกษาแบบต่างวัฒนธรรมเช่นนี้ ภาษาอังกฤษตามแบบฉบับของประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ มีบทบาทสำคัญน้อยมากในสถาบันอุดมศึกษาปัจจุบัน บทความนี้มีจุดมุ่งหมายเพื่อสำรวจว่านักเรียนไทยที่กลับมาจากการศึกษาในประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ ได้พัฒนาความรู้สึกของการเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรม ตลอดจนประสบการณ์และการรับรู้เกี่ยวกับการสื่อสารระหว่างวัฒนธรรม การสอนภาษาอังกฤษและการเรียนในต่างประเทศ ในระดับใด วิธีการเก็บข้อมูลการศึกษาแบบผสมผสาน ได้นำมาใช้เก็บข้อมูล ในมหาวิทยาลัย 4 แห่งในประเทศไทย ข้อมูลการศึกษาที่ได้จากการสัมภาษณ์และแบบสอบถามได้นำมาวิเคราะห์ ผลการวิจัย แบ่งออกเป็นสามหัวข้อ: 1) ประโยชน์ของหลักสูตรความเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรม 2) การพัฒนาความเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรมจากประสบการณ์ และ 3) การตระหนักถึงการใช้ภาษาอังกฤษระหว่างผู้ใช้ภาษาอังกฤษ จากผลการวิจัย เราโต้แย้งว่าการศึกษาเรื่องความเป็นพลเมืองข้ามวัฒนธรรม (Byram, Michael. 2008. From foreign language education to education for intercultural citizenship: Essays and reflections. Clevedon: Multilingual Matters) ควรเป็นส่วนหนึ่งของแนวทางการสอนทั้งในห้องเรียนแบบใช้ภาษาอังกฤษเป็นหลักในการสอน และการสอนภาษาอังกฤษ อีกทั้งหลักสูตรการสอนภาษาอังกฤษในประเทศไทยควรเน้นการเสริมสร้างความสามารถและความตระหนักระหว่างวัฒนธรรมของผู้เรียน โดยหลีกเลี่ยงวิธีการสอนแบบดั้งเดิมที่เกี่ยวข้องกับภาษาอังกฤษตามมาตรฐานของประเทศต้นกำเนิดภาษาอังกฤษ

Keywords: ELF; ELT; EMI; intercultural citizenship; study abroad

Corresponding author: Jaewon Jane Ra, Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia (RILCA), Mahidol University, Nakhon Pathom, Thailand, E-mail: jr3g14@alumni.soton.ac.uk

About the authors

Jaewon Jane Ra

Jaewon Jane Ra is an ESP/EAP instructor at business schools in Paris, France. Before this, she was a lecturer in Language Teaching at the Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia at Mahidol University, Thailand. She holds a PhD degree in Applied Linguistics from the University of Southampton, UK and an MA degree in TESL/TEFL from the University of Birmingham, UK. Her research interests include Global Englishes, ELT, EMI, intercultural communication, internationalization of higher education, interculturalcitizenship, interculturality and translanguaging.

Chittima Sangiamchit

Chittima Sangiamchit is a lecturer at University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, Bangkok, Thailand. She has published and presented internationally on English as a Lingua Franca (ELF), online intercultural communication, English Language Teaching and English as a Medium of Instruction. Her recent work involves interculturality of English conversation among international students and transcultural communication in a social network community. She is also a joint editor of the book Interculturality and the English Language Classroom (Palgrave Macmillan).

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Published Online: 2022-06-13

Published in Print: 2022-03-28

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/jelf-2022-2071

Keywords for this article

ELF; ELT; EMI; intercultural citizenship; study abroad