ABSTRACT

As studies of English language educators’ views on Thai English remain scant, this investigation explores the beliefs on the existence and legitimacy of Thai English of 11 English language teachers from two Thai universities who participated in individual semi-structured interviews. Qualitative analysis of the interview responses indicated that while the teachers generally agreed that Thai English exists and that using Thai English can be a means to express their local identity, they seemed to repudiate the legitimacy of Thai English in terms of its use in the classroom, for they have been relatively influenced by native speakerism (i.e. American English and British English), which has been maintained by educational infrastructures and cultural norms. Given this context, it can be assumed that Thai English’s potentials to develop in Thai society seem arduous and challenging. The study concludes with a note that in the changed and changing status of English, English language teachers need to appropriate and redefine standard varieties vis-à-vis the existence of nonnative varieties, which should not be placed in the ‘periphery.’ In this manner, language learners or users can foster affinity with different Englishes, including their own local variety, and develop critical metacultural and multi-varietal communication skills.

摘要

由于对英语教育者对泰语的看法的研究仍然很少，本次调查探讨了来自两所泰国大学的 11 名英语教师参加个人半结构化访谈对泰语存在和合法性的信念。对访谈回复的定性分析表明，虽然老师们普遍同意泰语存在，并且使用泰语可以作为表达他们当地身份的一种手段，但他们似乎否认泰语在课堂上使用的合法性，因为他们相对受母语为母语（即美国英语和英国英语）的影响，而这种语言是由教育基础设施和文化规范维持的。鉴于这种情况，可以假设泰国英语在泰国社会中发展的潜力似乎是艰巨和具有挑战性的。该研究最后指出，在英语的变化和变化状态下，英语语言教师需要针对非本土变体的存在进行适当和重新定义标准变体，不应将其置于“边缘”。通过这种方式，语言学习者或用户可以培养与不同英语的亲和力，包括他们自己的本地语言，并培养关键的元文化和多语言交流技巧。