Comments on: Disenchanted in Bangkok

By: Hubert

Hubert — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 05:59:37 +0000

Thanks for this post, Kimie – an interesting perspective given your position in Thailand as a(n ‘international’?) scholar. Could you please cite (some of) the research to date in ALx that has focused on the complex experiences of “fee-paying Asian students studying in English speaking countries” – this part of that paragraph doesn’t sound like it is based on “anecdotes”. Also: hasn’t the research focus in ALx that you are referring to been done primarily with tertiary aged-students? Also: I’m not clear on whether you’re proposing to study the complex experiences of fee-paying ‘Asian’ students who have the means to “opt out of going to an expensive English-speaking country”, or whether you’re proposing that there’s a need to study how ideologies of nationality/race/language are at work in different ways when tertiary (English) education internationalizes in non-English speaking countries. Thanks in advance!

By: Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江

Kimie Takahashi 高橋君江 — Thu, 24 Oct 2013 04:08:23 +0000

Thanks, Ken and Floura, for your comments. Fyi, there is an interesting PhD study looking at experiences of Chinese students enrolled in English MoI international programs in Bangkok underway, conducted by Zhiguang Huang at the Graduate School of English, Assumption University.

By: Floura

Floura — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 14:28:27 +0000

Actually, as I studied in Thailand, I could compare the high education method used in the class between Thailand and China, my mother told me that it is mostly student-centered in the university that she teaches, students rarely participate in the class, however, I found English is useful when I have to use it in the class that I am assigned to do group discussions, projects and presentations. Moreover, in terms of discrimination, some of my Burmese friends said they thought they were discriminated and it was hard for them to find a job in Thailand. Discrimination, as far as I am concerned, is happened not only among different countries, even in one nation, some people from big cities such as Shang Hai, Beijing, look down folks from small cities. In 2009, I went to Shanghai to shopping with my father, and I speaked my dialect which was understandable, however, the shop asisstant ignored me and my father, I was so angry at that time. Thus, economic and social status sometimes are the factors influence people’s judgements.

By: Ken

Ken — Wed, 23 Oct 2013 06:57:53 +0000

Thank you for writing this article.