Mapping the Intercultural (Communicative) Competence Territory:

1. Sutraphorn Tantiniranat (Khwan) The Manchester Institute of Education,The University of Manchester Mapping the Intercultural (Communicative) Competence Territory: Analyzing Educational Policy Documents within an ASEAN Economic Community Context (Thailand) Kaleidoscope Graduate Student Research Conference University of Cambridge, UKMay 30th, 2014 (Theme: Opening up the ivory tower)

2. Outline • Background and purposes • Methodology • Findings • Implications • How my study might have a potential to open up the ivory tower Nelson's tower, CaltonHill, Edinburgh

3. Part I: The context and purposes Thailand and the ‘single ASEAN’ economic community English as the regional and global lingua franca for intercultural communication The working language of ASEAN shall be English. (ARTICLE 34, ASEAN CHARTER)

4. Part II: Methodology • 2.1 Research questions • To what extent do thechosenpolicy documents respond to or comment on the intercultural age? • What skills or attributes do these policy documents focus on with regard to Thai graduates functioning in this intercultural age? (Concerns for Intercultural Communication) • (Intercultural (Communicative) Competence)

5. Part II: Methodology (Cont.) • 2.2 The selected documents • consider the impacts of the establishment of ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) • 1 ASEAN policy document • 2 Thai policy documents written by the Office of Higher Education Commission of Thailand (OHEC)

7. Part II: Methodology (Cont.) • 2.3 Data Analysis • Open coding  categories  themes  concept maps (using MAXQDA)  interpretations

8. Part III: Key findings Finding 1: Theextent to which the chosen policy documents respond to or comment on the intercultural age

9. Examples of coded segments • วิสัยทัศน์: บัณฑิตไทยมีความสามารถในระดับสากล และมีความรับผิดชอบในฐานะสมาชิกประชาคมอาเซียนและประชาคมโลก [Vision: Thai graduates have international quality, are responsible as members of the ASEAN and world community.] • (Code: “beyond ASEAN” from The Strategies of Thai HE for the Preparation for the ASEAN Community in 2015 ) Universities should reflect multifaceted and multicultural nature of a society. (Code: “multiculturalism” from the Framework of the Second 15-year Long Range Plan) RECOGNIZING the importance of education sector in contributing to the establishment of an ASEAN Community that is people-centred and socially responsible with a view to achieving enduring solidarity and unity among the nations and peoples of ASEAN by forging a common identity and building a caring and sharing society which is inclusive and where the well-being, livelihood, and welfare of the peoples are enhanced; (Code: “people-to-people interaction” from Chaam-Huahin Declaration)

10. Part III: Key findings (Cont.) Finding 2: Skills /attributes regarding to Thai graduates functioning in this intercultural age

11. Part IV: Implications for Thai TESOL and practitioners Emerging concerns for the intercultural age in the top-level discourse Challenges of integrating the intercultural aspects into curricula Quote Possibility to teach ‘intercultural competence’ through English language teaching in Thailand

12. Part V: Conclusion • Adding more views to ‘the ivory tower’ • Problematizing ‘the ivory tower’ • Offering some implications for Thai TESOL and Practitioners

13. Hope you enjoy the view from the top! ขอบคุณค่ะ Thank you Special thanks to my main supervisor: Dr Richard Fay

14. Example quote:Challenges of integrating the intercultural aspects into curricula “Hence, the strategy strongly encourages higher education institutions to produce the graduates of international quality who equipped with professional skills, language skill and inter-cultural skill. To fulfill this ambition, the strategy calls for a reform of languages education, an additional student mobility programme, which emphasises on the credit transfer, and a cultural exchange programme”. (From the strategies of Thai HE for the Preparation for the ASEAN Community in 2015 )