Problems faced by Thai students making the transition from the Thai school system to the international school system

Abstract

The purpose of this thesis is to identify, analyse and evaluate common cultural and linguistic problems experienced by Thai students who have come from Thai secondary schools to study in majority-Thai international schools within Thailand. It also seeks to analyse the causes and effects of these problems. Following a case study approach, using in-depth interviews, tests and observation, the study reveals that cultural problems experienced by students include difficulty in taking responsibility for one's own work and completing assignments without direct guidance from the teacher, low self-esteem resulting from the perceived lower level of academic rigour, uncertainty with regard to norms of propriety in different contexts, strained relationships with less wealthy peers at Thai schools, and fear and/or disdain of Western students. The study reveals that linguistic problems experienced by students include difficulties with regard to both language use and proficiency. With concern to use, it finds that students' main problem is in contending with the overwhelming pressure to speak Thai, on the one hand, and the strict enforcement of English speaking policies on the other. In regard to proficiency in English, it shows that students possess particularly poor Reading and Writing skills, and a weak command of grammatical structures. The study shows that the causes of the cultural problems include the use of a Thai cultural framework as the basis of judgement and action within the school, and an "international school" framework as that outside of school, a lack of proficiency in English, and the absence of the correct supports for intercultural 1 literacy. It shows that the causes of the problems regarding language use include a lack of recognition of the social and linguistic reasons behind students' choice of language, and that the source of problems concerning language ability relates to students' mixing of Thai and English, as well as the large amount of Thai that they use, and the fact that their already limited use of English is further restricted by their fear of interaction with Western students. The study finds that the effects of the cultural and linguistic problems include educational disadvantage, weakened literacy in and a less than positive attitude towards their mother tongue, Thai, division from peers outside of the international school circle, and xenophobic attitudes towards Western students.