Framing, stance and style in Thai-English group discussions

This paper presents the results of a study of Thai university students’ use of English in the speech event of group discussion. Our general aim has been to identify, analyze and describe the discourse features of their language use in this speech event. In particular, we were interested in how the Thai students structured or organized their discussion. Participating in a discussion involves expressing one’s opinion and reacting to the opinions expressed by others, and we were also interested in how the students did this, especially, the lexical and grammatical resources that they made use of in taking a stance. The speech event of group discussion is an important one for university students in Thailand and other countries where English is widely used and taught. Some Thai university students continue their studies overseas in English first-language environments where group discussions are an important class activity. Many other students find employment after graduation with foreign firms and discussion skills are also important in this context. Thus, there is a positive value in identifying and describing the discourse features which characterize this speech event as such information can be used in the development of teaching materials to train students to perform effectively in discussions. Such training may be desirable in light of Asian students’ reluctance or inability to participate effectively in group discussions (Cheng 2000, Liu & Littlewood 1997, Jones 1999).