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Phithakphongphan, Theethat (2020) The Role of Intercultural Awareness in Intercultural Communication: A Case Study of English Student Trainees at a Thai Airport. Doctoral thesis, York St John University. Downloaded from: http://ray.yorksj.ac.uk/id/eprint/4878/ Research at York St John (RaY) is an institutional repository. It supports the principles of open access by making the research outputs of the University available in digital form. Copyright of the items stored in RaY reside with the authors and/or other copyright owners. Users may access full text items free of charge, and may download a copy for private study or non-commercial research. For further reuse terms, see licence terms governing individual outputs. Institutional Repository Policy Statement RaY Research at the University of York St John For more information please contact RaY at [email protected] The Role of Intercultural Awareness in Intercultural Communication: A Case Study of English Student Trainees at a Thai Airport Theethat Phithakphongphan Submitted in accordance with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy York St John University School of Education, Language and Psychology September 2020 0 The candidate confirms that the work submitted is his own and that appropriate credit has been given where reference has been made to the work of others. This copy has been supplied on the understanding that it is copyright material. Any reuse must comply with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 and any licence under which this copy is released. © 2020 York St John University and Theethat Phithakphongphan The right of Theethat Phithakphongphan to be identified as Author of this work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view … until you climb into his skin and walk around in it.” -Atticus Finch in To kill a mocking bird by Harper Lee This thesis represents a milestone and conclusion for my four-year PhD journey. I would never have been able to complete this thesis without the support from many people. It is my turn to thank the people who contributed to this study and made my time in the UK a wonderful experience. Firstly, I would like to thank the Office of the Higher Education Commission, Thailand, who financially sponsored me with a four-year scholarship and gave me a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to do my PhD at York St John University, York, the United Kingdom. Many thanks go to the Office of Educational Affairs, the Royal Thai Embassy, London, who supported me throughout this journey. Next, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Professor Christopher J Hall, my main supervisor, for his support and understanding and for his patience in my abilities. He has always been available when I needed help and suggestions. I would not have been able to complete this PhD project without his guidance and copious comments. Similarly, many thanks to Dr Rachel Wicaksono, my co-supervisor, who has always been a source of suggestions, encouragement, and positive energy. Also, I would like to extend my appreciation to all participants for their contributions and valuable time sharing their stories with me during my data collection in Thailand. Without them, this study would never have been possible. In addition, I am thankful to all my teachers and friends in Thailand for their continuous support at every stage of my PhD journey. Also, I am grateful for the kind supports, laughter, and friendships from all my PhD classmates, my new ii friends in York, and especially my old friends in Stirling, Aberdeen, Sheffield and London. Finally, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my mother, my brothers, and other family members for their love, support, and understanding, no matter what, and my father who has been watching over me from up above. They have also been parts of this study. I would never have come this far without them. iii ABSTRACT In English as a lingua franca (ELF) contexts, such as Thailand, many previous studies have focused on the importance of English in intercultural communication of students in higher education, while the role of intercultural awareness (ICA) has not been paid enough attention. In fact, when intercultural communication takes place, language and culture interact. To shed light on ICA and the complexity of culture, this study sought to investigate the role of ICA in intercultural communication through English. Adopting interpretivism, this phenomenological study relied on a qualitative approach to understand the role of ICA through participants’ experiences in intercultural communication. This resulted in the formulation of research questions aiming to explore the extent of participants’ ICA and identify their communication challenges and associated strategies in intercultural communication. To collect in- depth data, the semi-structured individual interview was employed as a main research instrument. Twelve Thai university students majoring in English who worked as student trainees for the airlines at a Thai airport were selected as participants. Thematic analysis was utilised to organise data while interpretive analysis was employed to interpret data. The findings revealed that ICA not only played a role in participants’ perceptions towards cultural challenges but also had impacts on their employment of associated strategies in dealing with those challenges. They illustrated the complex relationship between ICA, communication challenges, and associated strategies since participants brought different cultural realities into their intercultural encounters. This confirms the fluid and emergent nature of culture. The findings also suggest useful abilities, namely the ability to control emotions and the ability to forgive, needed by participants in dealing with cultural challenges for successful intercultural communication through English in ELF contexts. This study, therefore, contributes to the understanding of culture and the significance of ICA in intercultural communication in both educational and occupational contexts. iv CONTENTS Topic Page Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................1 1.1 Background ........................................................................................................1 1.2 Statement of problems .......................................................................................4 1.3 Rationale of the study .........................................................................................7 1.4 Objectives and research questions ......................................................................9 1.5 Context of the study..........................................................................................10 1.6 Significance of the study...................................................................................12 1.7 Structure of the thesis........................................................................................13 Chapter 2: Literature Review .............................................................................15 2.1 Intercultural communication ............................................................................15 2.1.1 Culture ..............................................................................................16 2.1.1.1 The essentialist paradigm ...................................................19 2.1.1.2 The non-essentialist paradigm ...........................................23 2.1.2 English in the world...........................................................................28 2.1.2.1 English language use in Thailand .......................................32 2.1.2.2 English language teaching in Thailand ...............................35 2.1.3 Culture, language and ELT ...............................................................39 2.2 Intercultural awareness ....................................................................................41 2.2.1 Developments of ICA concept ..........................................................42 2.2.2 Definitions of ICA ............................................................................44 2.2.3 Characterisations of ICA ...................................................................46 2.2.4 A model of intercultural awareness ...................................................47 2.3 Challenges in intercultural communication ......................................................52 2.3.1 Challenges with the English language ...............................................52 2.3.2 Challenges with cultures ...................................................................55 2.4 Communication strategies ................................................................................60 2.4.1 Strategies in dealing with the English language.................................61 2.4.2 Strategies in dealing with cultures......................................................65 v 2.5 Conceptual framework .....................................................................................68 2.6 Summary and conclusion .................................................................................69 Chapter 3: Research Methodology .....................................................................71 3.1 Research philosophy ........................................................................................71 3.1.1 Ontology ...........................................................................................72

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