Abe reflected on the close, supportive relationship he experienced with his Thai supervisor and how she treated him like her family. His responses illustrate how his attitude to his UK teachers evolved over the academic year.
In his first interview he referred to ‘krengjai’ which roughly translated means to show deference, respect for authority and not losing face. He expressed his concern at the prospect of challenging his teachers:
‘In Thailand we have …. krengjai … is afraid of er criticise people and losing face …It’s make something difficult but it’s not bad at all it’s … just kind of our culture. [In UK]…I barely barely ask question or criticise anything because it’s higher level. Seminar is really into the research field. For now no criticise but in future maybe.’ [Abe: Interview Term 1]
By the end of the Term 3 Abe seemed to have modified his opinion and compares the attitude of UK lecturers towards Masters and PhD students:
‘They don’t care much about you [Masters students], they just care about doing their research yeh and when you can get in as a PhD then they’ll care about you because you work for them.’ [Abe: Group discussion Term 3]
Challenging the views of the teacher can be a cause of cultural angst for Thai students. Jin and Cortazzi (1997: 49) noted that ‘…while British students may ask as a way of learning (and this heuristic questioning is expected by British teachers), Chinese students may ask
162 after learning. For Chinese students, one has to learn something and know something about a topic before one can ask, otherwise a question will look foolish’.
Sid explained how he would respond if the teacher made an error in class:
‘I would just keep it to myself and maybe do some research to confirm that OK he’s done a mistake but then I wouldn’t go and correct him’. [Sid: Interview Term 1]
In a later interview, he reflected on the different behaviour of Western students compared to those in Thailand:
Students here [in UK] tend to ask more and seem to question the lecturers more than Thai students. In Thai we just we just sit and then we listen. But I notice that … the UK students … they don’t they don’t feel like… they don’t think like that and no one takes the questions personally, I guess’. [Sid: Interview Term 3: Reflections]
This emic perspective is very interesting and reveals Sid’s perception that UK students think and feel differently from Thai students and that in the UK ‘no one takes the questions personally’ however, in Thailand it would be disrespectful to question a teacher. He identifies with the Thai students ‘othering’ the UK students who he notes possess a different mind-set ‘…they don’t think like that’. One questionnaire respondent commented:
‘Students in UK are brave to challenge their teachers’ views’ [Questionnaire respondent: M68]
The prospect of interactive participation and questioning teachers was also reflected in comments from Plum and Sid:
‘I think the nature of Thai student which has been in, you know, kind of Thai traditional academic style we don’t really expose ourselves in class. We just sit there and listen. That’s just what we do… because … we’re never encouraged to say something in class.’ [Plum: Interview Term 1]
163 Plum describes ‘the nature of the Thai student’ and a reluctance to ‘expose ourselves’ by responding in class. Her comment ‘that’s just what we do’ is linked to her observation that Thai students are not encouraged by their (Thai) teachers to participate / contribute vocally in class. In a separate interview Sid also voiced this view:
‘I might be a bit scared of looking stupid if I ask something that is, you know, absurd or doesn’t make sense and would be embarrassed’. [Sid: Interview Term 3 Reflections]
Tweed and Lehman (2002: 95) refer to an Australian study conducted by Mullins, Quintrell & Hancock (1995) who noted that ‘…serious difficulty with tutorial participation was four times as likely to be self-reported among a predominantly Asian group of international students as among local students’. Plum confirmed that small teaching groups were also unfamiliar to most Thai:
‘We don’t have tutorials at all [in Thailand] …we just got lectures’. [Plum: Interview Term 1]
In a separate interview, Sid also agreed that it was difficult to respond in these particular situations:
‘When the teacher questions something, I might not be able to respond like in that moment but I have to take time, like maybe back home I read over again just figure it out for what he meant…. I might be a bit of a slow learner for lectures. [Sid: Interview Term 1]
The questionnaire responses in my study suggested that levels of stress were high during debates and discussions.
164 Table 5.4: Frequency table showing responses to Q. 78
Q78 DEBATES AND DISCUSSIONS DURING SEMINARS
VERY STRESSFUL 5 8%
STRESSFUL 22 35%
UNDECIDED 22 35%
HARDLY STRESSFUL 14 22%
NOT STRESSFUL AT ALL 0 0%
TOTAL 63 100%
Only 22% found these situations not to be a source of stress. This view was supported by Plum and Sid:
‘…it takes time for… Thai students to actually…contribute themselves in class, raising hand and asking questions … it is rare.’ [Plum: Interview Term 1] ‘Actually … I’ve never wanted to ask any questions in class before because I normally tend to ask my friends’. [Sid: Interview Term 2]
The frequency table below supports this view with only 10% of respondents agreeing that they always offer to answer questions in lectures.
Table 5.5: Frequency table showing responses to Q. 39
Q39 I ALWAYS OFFER TO ANSWER QUESTIONS IN THE LECTURES
STRONGLY AGREE 0 0% AGREE 6 10% UNDECIDED 18 29% DISAGREE 30 48% STRONGLY DISAGREE 9 14% TOTAL 63 100%
165 This opinion was supported by an Asian finance lecturer who informed me that he was of Punjabi heritage but who had been educated in North America:
‘Thai students are very quiet and it is difficult to know if they understand anything. Students from the U.S. talk anyway and tend not to be embarrassed speaking in public. Also older students tend to participate better, they don't care what others think of them and they are more self-confident. Students who respond the best in lectures tend to come from the UK, India and Germany. [Interview Lecturer 09 / Sid]
Teachers commented on the importance placed on interaction within the classroom e.g. Abe’s physics teacher:
‘The only way I can assess their work is if they ask questions … this is an advanced studies and therefore they have the responsibility of coping with material … and ask questions. They should ask questions constantly. Seeing they absolutely understand and then they are able to move to the next topic.’ [Interview Lecturer 02/ Abe]
Reflecting on Thai students, Sid’s finance lecturer commented:
‘The Thai students tend to feel embarrassed and do not participate. …If the Thai student asks a new question it is normally after the lecture on a specific point.’ [Interview Lecturer 03/ Sid]
Questionnaire respondents however, appreciated the effort made by teachers to encourage student engagement with 68% agreeing / strongly agreeing that the lecturer makes students comfortable about asking questions.
166 Table 5.6: Frequency table showing responses to Q. 27
Q27 LECTURER MAKES STUDENTS COMFORTABLE ABOUT ASKING QUESTIONS STRONGLY AGREE 12 19% AGREE 31 49% UNDECIDED 13 21% DISAGREE 4 6% STRONGLY DISAGREE 3 5% TOTAL 63 100%