Five group discussions with 45 students of six nationalities in Bangkok English programmes found flexible multilingual practices. Suggestions that international students should learn Thai also reflected Thai-language hegemony that may constrain English as a lingua franca. Some participants showed critical awareness of non-Thai residents' experiences and monolingual policy. These qualitative interpretations do not estimate national prevalence.
Key findings
- Participants shifted languages by context. Some Thai students urged international peers to learn Thai, interpreted as evidence of Thai-language dominance, while others recognised barriers faced by non-Thai residents. International students connected monolingual policy with local and intercultural consequences.
Why this matters globally
The findings can inform orientation, multilingual signage, language support and critical-language activities that do not place adaptation on one group, especially in Global South universities balancing English and national languages.
Thai researcher contribution
Zhaoyi Pan of Mahidol University's Research Institute for Languages and Cultures of Asia studied language and power directly in Thai universities while including multiple Asian nationalities.
Limitations to consider
A small Bangkok English-programme sample may be more multilingual than average. Group dynamics and discussion language may shape responses; hegemony is interpretive, with no observed behaviour or academic outcomes.