Examining the role of social interactions on Thai students’ engagement in a pre- sessional EAP classroom discussion in a British university Singhanat Kenny Nomnian School of Education University of Leicester September 13th 2007

Aim of the study The study aims to examine the role of social interactions on Thai students’ classroom participation in a pre-sessional EAP (English for Academic Purposes) course in a British university.

Rationale of the study A need for more studies regarding international students in British universities (Trahar, 2007). Studies regarding Thai students’ classroom participation in Western higher education seem to be based on rigid cultural and national attributions (Ballard, 1996; Hawkey and Nakornchai, 1980 McLaren, 1998). Studies (Koehne, 2005; Morita, 2004) do not capture students’ whole experience from a pre-sessional EAP course to postgraduate study, which could enable us to better understand their classroom experience in a more holistic manner.

Theoretical framework Creese and Martin’s (2003) multilingual classroom ecologies Pavlenko and Blackledge’s (2004) identities in multilingual contexts

Creese and Martin ’ s (2003) multilingual classroom ecologies Haugen’s (1972) ecology of language examining the psychological aspects of language users and the sociological aspects of the society that impact on interactions between any given language in its particular society. Relationships and interactions between language users in multilingual classrooms are underpinned by a language ideology concerning the legitimacy of particular language and its users, which is related to unequal power relations leading to inequality in multilingual education.

Pavlenko and Blackledge ’ s (2004) identities in multilingual contexts Social constructionists view identities as discursively constructed and negotiated in the process of social interactions. Poststructuralists emphasise the role of power relations and language ideologies that impact on the language use in particular interactive contexts.

Positioning theory Davies and Harré (1990) distinguish two aspects of positioning, which are interactive and reflexive. Interactive positioning assumes that an individual positions others whereas the reflexive positioning is the process of positioning oneself.

Research methodology Qualitative case study approach 7 Thai students in a British university (5 females, 2 males) MSc Marketing (October 2005 –April 2006) Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, English speaking logs Interview transcripts

Findings: Improving self-confidence Studying in the class, like grammar and discussion, allows me to gain more confidence to speak with others outside the class and dare to ask questions. If I get lost, I dare to ask people directions. When I go back to the class, I tend to ask more questions as well. For example, when I went to London, I asked lots of questions about changing trains. When I got back here, I told my friends in class about it. I had lots of stories to tell them. (Julie, English translation, 25/08/05)

Increasing the familiarity with other students’ accent Now I understand English with Chinese accent. I don’t need to ask them to repeat what they say. I have also stored English words with Chinese accent. On my first day here, I couldn’t understand what they said. I have realised that my English isn’t as bad as I have thought. If you first come here without any confidence, things will go down the hill. I feel that I am not that bad. I can understand them. In Thailand I had no chance to practice English. Coming here is a sudden change for me. I didn’t know what to say. I wasn’t confident. When I later adjust myself, I feel much better. (Petch, English translation, 11/08/05)

Enhancing spoken English proficiency I think now my English is better than before maybe because I live in English environment. And maybe because I try to speak English everyday. When I have a chance, I want to speak English with my friends. We can know about how to pronunciation, how to stress some words or vocabulary because I think when we speak with native speaker or the foreigner, we should aware about how to pronounce the correct way or the correct pronunciation. Oudy, Original in English, 11/09/05)

Recognising the variety of English expressions and accents Like ‘Could you tell me…?’ ‘Would you tell me…?’ ‘Do you mind…?’ He told me to use these expressions because they sound more polite. But the course should focus more on these kinds of expressions. In my girlfriend’s university, they taught more of daily expressions, slang, or how British people speak and how students should speak. They should teach expressions that I could practically use in my daily life. This is like teaching grammar. I want to know like how British people actually talk. Like ‘can’t’ or how Birmingham people speak. This is more interesting than practice listening. (Sharp, English translation, 04/09/05)

Building friendship Maybe I only speak with the same group of people. I try to go out with overseas friends in order to know them more. I was told that I should get to know friends who will do the same master as me because we need to do lots of group works so that I can feel comfortable working with them. (Pook, Original in English, 11/09/05)

Discussion and pedagogical implications Developing appropriate pedagogic and practical reasons to the existence of different varieties of English as a key curriculum and classroom teaching (Leung, 2005). Introducing the concept of context-sensitive, location- specific pedagogy (Kumaravadivelu, 2003). Teaching in EIL should encourage the accomplishment of interactions promoting friendly relations rather than achieving native-like competence by developing strategies to seek clarification, establishing rapport, and minimising cultural differences (McKay, 2002).

Conclusion EAP Learners should be exposed to the varieties spoken in their communities and encouraged to learn relevant varieties of English in order to develop better understanding of their appropriate use. Target language community allows EAP learners to practice the language and simultaneously enables them to gain confidence and lived experience in their actual language use.

Thank you for your attention and is there any question please?