handling foreign teachers, since most of them do not or cannot speak English. They should know the
bottom line why there are some foreign teachers who are not happy with the system, as this could
affect the teacher-student relationships, which could affect the teaching-learning process.
Conclusion
With the recurring themes and classroom issues which appeared in this study, Thai students’ learning
style appeared incompatible with the teaching approaches introduced by the foreign teachers to them.
A careful examination of this view indicates that Thai students are not accustomed to the foreign
teachers’ teaching methods - the interactive, and the free-thinking approaches. The reasons that turned
out to have affected this, is the ‘no failing grade policy’ of Thai schools, student empowerment in the
classrooms, and the choice for foreign teachers with their English accent and ethnicity.
While many Thai students learn English language with foreign teachers, it is undeniable that most
of them have been facing cultural gaps apart from a language barrier, which is one of the most visible
issues in the classroom. Although Thais have a long history of studying English, many demonstrate
low degrees of profi ciency, particularly in the productive skills of speaking and writing. It seems that
English language pedagogy in Thailand is still in its infancy (Wongsothorn et al. 2002, cited in
Laopongharn, & Sercombe, (2009).
Recommendation
Hopefully, this study has brought a cross-cultural awareness in Thai classrooms. The next step would
be to evaluate how the issues in the classroom connect the dots of cultural understanding, leading to
productive language learning between the foreign teachers and Thai students.