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Voices from the Margin: Language, Power, and Identity in Thailand

Explore the complexities of language and power dynamics in Thailand, focusing on hegemonic English and standard Thai. Learn about marginalized experiences in educational and professional contexts, shedding light on linguistic discrimination and cultural identity. Uncover the struggles faced by language users in a society dominated by dominant language ideologies. Discover the role of English in shaping identity and cultural hierarchies in Thailand.

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Voices from the Margin: Language, Power, and Identity in Thailand

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  1. When I Speak English, They Respect Me More Than When I Speak Thai : Hegemonic English, Standard Thai and Voices from a Margin 11th Thai Studies Conference Adcharawan Buripakdi, Ph.D School of Liberal Arts, Walailak University ajarngob@gmail.com

  2. To give millions a knowledge of English is to enslave us (Mahatma Gandhi, 1908)

  3. Issues: language & power • The political agenda and the dominance of English as a global language • The inequality of discourses and linguistic discrimination

  4. Aims • To shed light on the status of the English and Thai language in Thailand

  5. Aims • Power of standard forms of languagein Thailand • Legitimacy of dominant language

  6. Episodes of marginalized experiences

  7. 2 contexts • Educational context • Job market or professional context

  8. 4 Language users • Tang- Taiwanese, Chinese teacher • Pan, Kati, and Pong – Southerners, English majorstudents

  9. Tang # school context • Taiwanese in Thai mainstream culture • Uses Thai to fit in the local culture • Her attempt is not welcomed by the local. • Switches to use English for social acceptance

  10. Tang’s voice • When I speak English, they (Thai people) respect me more than when I Speak Thai. I know they don’t even understand my English or can’t speak English at all.

  11. Pan # school context • Speaks English with a southern Thai accent • His American teacher evaluated his accent based on Standard English • Fears of expressing himself in English

  12. Pan’s voice my teacher says my English has a Thinglishsymptom.

  13. Pan’s narrative • Reflected an inferior position when his accented English was compared with Standard English.

  14. Kati & Pong # professional context • Unable to speak Standard Thai fluently, both failed an interview for a job in Bangkok.

  15. Kati & pong’s narrative • Khon-krung-thep vs. khon-ban-nok • Their accented Thai became a footnote of an outsider or Other.

  16. What do these 4 language users have in common? • Subaltern position (Otherness) in dominant linguistic structure

  17. the episodes of their experiences coincidently and interestingly echo the same phenomenon—the marginalized positions in Thai society.

  18. What do their stories reflect? • Dominant language ideology vs Language hierarchy

  19. Hierarchyof discourses

  20. Dominant vs. stigmatized discourses • Good English vs bad English • Good Thai vs bad Thai

  21. Language is power • Myth of standard language vs. • Its legitimacy

  22. Status of English in Thailand English is not infused in the Thai identity. English, to Thai people, is the language of the others. (Watkhaolam, 2005, p. 155)

  23. conclusion • The ideological position of English and standard Thai reflects the notion of language as symbolic power (Bourdier,1991)

  24. Conclusion • Language use is deeply embedded in a Standard language paradigm construct. • English use in Thailand is situated in a hierarchy of discourses and cultural, symbolic and ideological domination of mainstream English

  25. Conclusion • Language usage is never apolitical. and • Especially English, it is always involved in global inequality and imposition of ways of thinking (Pennycook, 1994; Phillipson, 1992).

  26. Hegemonic English • English is intrinsically and extrinsically a superior language and that Standard English, in particular, is a sacred language (Bhatt, 2002; Pennycook, 2001)).

  27. Is English another new form of cultural imperialism?

  28. Thank you ajarngob@gmail.com

  29. limitation • Limited generalization

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