The Effects of Cross-Cultural Issues on Language
Learning in Thai Classrooms
Marlon Domagco Sipe
Abstract. English language learning in Thailand has become popular in Thai schools through the years.
This mixed qualitative and quantitative study recognizes the incessant infl ux of foreign English teachers,
along with the cultural concerns it brings to Thai classrooms. These problems prompted the researcher
to investigate various issues that are both benefi cial and disadvantageous to Thai students and foreign
teachers. A total of 136 Thai secondary school students in Khon Kaen were surveyed and observed in
actual classroom settings, and 50 foreign teachers from 15 countries participated in the survey and
13 of them were selected for interview. The surveys were analyzed quantitatively, while the classroom
observation notes and interviews were qualitatively assessed. The fi ndings revealed several themes
that included the common problems that foreign teachers experienced in Thai classrooms, the factors
that affected the learning interest of Thai students, and the factors that affected the foreign teachers.
Ethnicity, discipline and language barrier appeared to be the leading classroom issues among Thai
students.
Keywords: Cross-cultural issues, Language Learning, Socio-cultural Theory, Culture, Language
Acquisition, Second Language Acquisition
Introduction
Culture has become an increasingly important component of English language teaching in recent
times, as it plays a vital role in language learning, especially in a classroom of cultural distinction
between the teacher and the students. Culture and communication are inseparable. This is because
culture does not only dictate who talks to whom, about what, and how the communication proceeds;
it also helps to determine how people encode messages, the meanings they have for the messages, and
the conditions and circumstances under which various messages may or may not be sent, noticed, or
interpreted. Culture, therefore, is the foundation of communication (Samovar, Porter, & Jain, 1981).
With culture as the groundwork of communication, English has become fi rmly established as the
international language. Thais, for example, have decades of experience learning English in the
classroom, as the language is used and taught in a diverse range of situations and cultures throughout