Speaking With A Stranger: Intercultural Classrooms Tensions And Managing Strategies

Abstract

An increasing number of Thai students are enrolling in international programs recently with the expectation of real-life intercultural learning experiences. Most teachers in intercultural classrooms in Thailand are native English-speaking teachers who come from different cultures and have different perspectives. These teachers roles, teaching styles and relationships with their Thai students all impact instructional success and achievement in an intercultural classroom. Conflicts and tensions are expected in an intercultural classroom where diverse cultures meet. In order to enhance the quality of international education and explore classroom interactions, relationships, and conflicts; this study used qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 native English-speaking teachers and 20 Thai students at four international colleges in Thailand. The results indicate that when native English-speaking teachers and Thai students interacted, they encountered 3 dialectical tensions: stability/change, openness/closedness, and separation/connection. Additionally, they employed 6 different strategies; selection, cyclical alteration, segmentation, integrative reframing, integrative moderation, and indifference; to negotiate those tensions.