Thai Variety of English (TE) Appeared in the English for International Communication (EIC) Students’ Writing Tasks, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Rajamangala University of Technology Srivijaya (RMUTSV), Songkhla

Abstract

The two purposes of this research were 1) to investigate the Thai English (TE) appeared in the writing tasks of students in the course of English for International Communication (EIC) at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, RUTS, Songkhla; and 2) to identify the use of TE performed in the writing tasks by the students in the EIC Course. The subjects were 36 EIC twilight program students who studied Writing I Course (1-2018). The research instruments were audio recordings, feedback writing checklists and semi-structured interviews. The statistic used in data analysis was the percentage. The findings revealed that the TE features functioned as expressions of repetition for emphasis (42.48%), confirmation (24.32%), politeness (14.08),and gender (12.08%) and formation of a new TE based on their group discussions in the pre-writing activities for (6.02%) and others as (1.02%). Meanwhile, the various characteristics of linguistic functions varied in the social functions, and the kinds of activities, topics and settings. In addition, it was found that the linguistic motivations were mainly employed for effective communication i.e. for better understanding, conceptualizing, explaining difficult English concepts, reprimanding, as a tone-softener and as a language of youth. Finally, this result is implied as significant because it will enable providers of the writing course to recognize that TE occurs at all levels of writing tasks and activities in particular in the pre-writing discussions and must be given appropriate attention as it can be transferred to the writing products. It will also serve as a reference point for future research into language changes or shifts in Thailand.