Domestic Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions of Internationalisation at Home in Thailand: Conflicts of Recognition Surrounding International EMI Programmes
Main Article Content
Abstract
In Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, higher education internationalisation agendas have increasingly shifted from studying abroad to offering ‘international’ English-medium instruction (EMI) programmes at home. This qualitative study explores the perceptions of seventeen domestic undergraduate students in the disciplines of Law and Business Studies regarding internationalisation at home (IaH) in Thailand. Findings from the focus group interviews revealed that domestic students positioned international EMI programmes as somewhere in the middle between studying abroad and standard domestic programmes. Moreover, these students associated international EMI programmes in Thai higher education with significant EMI, greater inbound mobility, and different teaching approaches. However, the in-between status of international EMI programmes can lead to conflicts of recognition as to whether such programmes are ‘international enough’. This article offers a close-up investigation of complex meanings that circulate around IaH in the Thai context, contributing to a broader picture of the varied enactments of IaH across higher education institutions.
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
References
Altbach, P. G., & Knight, J. (2007). The internationalization of higher education: Motivations and realities. Journal of Studies in International Education, 11(3-4), 290-305. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315307303542
Beelen, J., & Jones, E. (2015). Redefining internationalization at home. In A. Curaj, L. Matei, R. Pricopie, J. Salmi & P. Scott (Eds.), The European higher education area: Between critical reflections and future policies (pp. 67-80). Springer.
Beelen, J., & Jones, E. (2018). Internationalization at home. In P. Texeira, J.C. Shin, A. Amaral, A. Bernasconi, A. Magalhaes, B. M. Kehm, B. Stensaker, E. Choi, E. Balbachevsky, F. Hunter, G. Goastellec, G. Mahamedbhai, H. de Wit, J. Valimaa, L. Rumbley, L. Unangst, M. Klemencic, P. Langa, R. Yang & T. Nokkala (Eds.), Encyclopedia of international higher education systems and institutions. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9553-1_245-1
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77-101.
Bureau of International Cooperation Strategy Office of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation (MHESI) (2020). Internationalisation at home. MHESI.
Burford, J., Koompraphant, G., & Jirathanapiwat, W. (2020). Being, adjusting and developing satisfaction: A review of ajarntangchart (non-Thai academics) within the Thai higher education system. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 50(5), 656-675. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2018.1544482
Burford, J., Uerpairojkit, T., Eppolite, M., & Vachananda, T. (2019). Analysing the national and institutional policy landscape for foreign academics in Thailand: Opportunity, ambivalence and threat. Journal of Higher Education Policy and Management, 41(4), 416-429. https://doi.org/10.1080/1360080X.2019.1606881
Cenoz, J., & Gorter, D. (2020). Pedagogical translanguaging: An introduction. System, 92. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2020.102269
Clifford, V. A. (2011). Internationalising the home student. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(5), 555-557. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.598446
Coleman, J., Hultgren, K., Li, W., Tsui, C. C., & Shaw, P. (2018). Forum on English medium instruction. TESOL Quarterly, 52(3), 701-720.
Colucci, E. (2007). Focus groups can be fun: The use of activity-oriented questions in focus group discussions. Qualitative Health Research, 17(10), 1422–1433.
Crowther, P., Joris, M., Otten, M., Nilsson, B., Teekens, H., & Wächter, B. (2001). Internationalization at domestic: A position paper. EAIE.
de Wit, H., & Hunter, F. (2015). The future of internationalization of higher education in Europe. International Higher Education, 83, 2-3. https://doi.org/10.6017/ihe.2015.83.9073
Ek-Uru, S., & Pavel, A. N. (2019). Internationalisation at home and mobility to promote PSU students’ international competency. In R. Beinhauer & T. Shanmuganathan (Eds.), Internationalisation of higher education in South East Asia: A perspective from the Marco Polo project (pp. 73-90). Editorial Universidad de Sevilla. https://dx.doi.org/10.12795/9788447229420
Evison, J., Bailey, L., Taylor, P., & Tubpun, T. (2019). Professional identities of lecturers in three international universities in Vietnam, Thailand, and Malaysia: Multilingual professionals at work. Compare: A Journal of Comparative and International Education, 51(2), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2019.1608814
Ferguson, M. R. (2020). International colleges and the cultivation of social capital in a divide Thailand: A narrative study of leadership perspectives at a Bangkok-based campus. Education, Citizenship and Social Justice, 15(3), 227-242. https://doi.org/10.1177/1746197919844716
Ferguson, M. R. (2021). Internationalizing higher education with Thainess: A narrative case study of a rural-based university in Thailand. International Journal of Leadership in Education, 1-22. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603124.2021.1882702
Flick, U. (2007). Managing quality in qualitative research. Sage Publications.
Galloway, N., Kriukow, J., & Numajiri, T. (2017). Internationalization, higher education and the growing demand for English: An investigation into the English medium of instruction (EMI) movement in China and Japan. British Council.
Galloway, N., & Sahan, K. (2021). An investigation into English medium instruction in higher education in Thailand and Vietnam. British Council.
Higher Education Policy Institute (2015). What do home students think of studying with international students? Higher Education Policy Institute and Higher Education Academy.
Ishikura, Y. (2015). Realizing internationalization at Home through English-medium courses at a Japanese university: Strategies to maximize student learning. Higher Learning Research Communications, 5(1), 11-28. https://doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v5i1.237
Jon, J. E. (2013). Realizing internationalization at home in Korean higher education: Promoting domestic students’ interaction with international students and intercultural competence. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(4): 455–470. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315312468329
Jones, E., & Reiffenrath, T. (2018). Internationalisation at home in practice. European Association of International Education, August 21. Accessed 14 September 2021. 2018. https://www.eaie.org/blog/internationalisationat-home-practice.html
Kanjananiyot, P., & Chaitiamwong, C. (2018). The internationalization of Thai higher education over the decades: Formidable challenges remain! In G. W. Fry (Ed.), Education in Thailand: An old elephant in search of a new mahout (pp. 271-321). Springer Nature.
Kirkpatrick, A. (2012). English as an Asian lingua franca: The ‘lingua franca approach’ and implications for language education policy. Journal of English as a Lingua Franca, 1(1), 121-140.
Knight, J. (2004). Internationalization remodeled: Definition, approaches, and rationales. Journal of Studies in International Education, 8(1), 5-31. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315303260832
Lao, R., & Hill, C. (2017). The legacy of European education in Thai higher education. In C. Hill & R. Fernandez-Chung (Eds.), Higher education in the Asian century (pp. 59-72). Routledge.
Lavankura, P., & Lao, R. (2017). Second-order change without first-order change: A case of Thai internationalization of higher education. In H. G. Lee (Ed.), Education and globalization in Southeast Asia: Issues and challenges (pp. 59-82). ISEAS Publishing.
Lavankura, P. (2013). Internationalizing higher education in Thailand: Government and university responses. Journal of Studies in International Education, 17(5), 663–676. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315313478193
Manning, A., & Colaiacomo, S. (2021). Innovations in internationalisation at home. Cambridge Scholar Publishings.
Ministry of Labour (2020). Notification of Ministry of Labour B. E. 2563 [2021] regarding prohibited professions for foreigners. Royal Thai Government Gazette, 137, 14.
Nghia, T. L. H., Giang, H. T., & Quyen, V. P. (2019). At-home international education in Vietnamese universities: Impact on graduates’ employability and career prospects. High Education, 78, 817–834. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00372-w
Nilsson, B. (1999). Internationalisation at home—Theory and praxis. EAIE Forum, 12.
Patterson, M. E., & Williams, D. R. (2002). Collecting and analyzing qualitative data: Hermeneutic principles, methods, and case examples. Sagamore.
Phan, L. H. (2018). Higher education, English, and the idea of ‘the West’: Globalizing and encountering a global South regional university. Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education, 39(5), 782-797. https://doi.org/10.1080/01596306.2018.1448704
Pimpa, N. (2011). Strategies for higher education reform in Thailand. In S. Marginson, S. Kaur & E. Sawir (Eds.), Higher education in the Asia-Pacific (pp. 273-289). Springer.
Rhein, D. (2016). Westernisation and the Thai higher education System: Past and present. Journal of Educational Administration and History, 48(3), 261-274. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2016.1184133
Rhein, D., & Jones, W. (2020). The impact of ethnicity on the sociocultural adjustment of international students in Thai higher education. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 19, 363-388. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10671-020-09263-9
Robson, S., Almeida, J., & Schartner, A. (2018). Internationalization at home: Time for review and development? European Journal of Higher Education, 8(1), 19-35. https://doi.org/10.1080/21568235.2017.1376697
Samat, N., Lah, S. C., Omar, H. C., Ahmad, A. H., & Bandira, P. N. A. (2019). Internationalisation at home by design, Universiti Sains Malaysia style. In R. Beinhauer & T. Shanmuganathan (Eds.), Internationalisation of higher education in South East Asia: A perspective from the Marco Polo project (pp. 45-54). Editorial Universidad de Sevilla. https://dx.doi.org/10.12795/9788447229420
Schreiber, S. T. (2011). Internationalization at home? Exploring domestic students’ perceptions of and interactions with international students at a large Midwestern research institution. [MA dissertation, University of Nebraska].
Shams, F., & Huisman, J. (2016). The Role of institutional dual embeddedness in the strategic local adaption of international branch campuses: Evidence from Malaysia and Singapore. Studies in Higher Education, 41(6), 955-970. https://doi.org/10.1080/03075079.2014.966669
Snodin, N. (2019). Mobility experiences of international students in Thai higher education. International Journal of Educational Management, 33(7), 1653-1669. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJEM-07-2018-0206
Soria, K. M., & Troisi, J. (2014). Internationalization at home alternatives to study abroad: Implications for students’ development of global, international, and intercultural competencies. Journal of Studies in International Education, 18(3), 261–280. https://doi.org/10.1177/1028315313496572
Sperduti, V. R. (2019). Internationalization as westernization in higher education. Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education, 9, 9–12.
Surichai, W. (2002). Chula and society. Chulalongkorn University Publishing.
The Higher Education Policy Institute (HEPI) (2015). What do home students think of studying with international students? https://www.advance-he.ac.uk/knowledge-hub/what-do-home-students-think-studyinginternational-students [Accessed 15/9/21]
Tang, K. N. (2021). Implementing English-medium instruction (EMI) in Thailand: University students’ perspectives. KKU Research Journal (Graduate Studies) Humanities and Social Sciences, 9(2), 95–108.
Taylor, P. (2021). The ‘Intercultural’ and English as a lingua franca in international higher education: Expectations, realities, and implications for English language teaching. In M. Victoria & C. Sangiamchit C. (E ds.), Interculturality and the English language classroom (pp. 205-232). Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-76757-0_8
Trahar, S., & Hyland, F. (2011). Experiences and perceptions of internationalization in higher education in the UK. Higher Education Research & Development, 30(5), 623-633. https://doi.org/10.1080/07294360.2011.598452
Welch, A. (2010). Internationalisation of Vietnamese higher education: Retrospect and prospect. In G. Harman, M. Hayden & P. T. Nghi (Eds.), Reforming higher education in Vietnam (pp. 197-213). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-3694-0_14
Winichakul, T. (2010). Coming to terms with the west: Intellectual strategies of bifurcation and post-westernism in Siam. In R. V. Harrison & P. A. Jackson (Eds.), The ambiguous allure of the West (pp. 135-151). Southeast Asia Program Publications. https://doi.org/10.5790/hongkong/9789622091214.003.0007
Yuen, F. C. (2004). ‘It was fun…I liked drawing my thoughts’: Using drawings as a part of the focus group process with children. Journal of Leisure Research, 36(4), 461-482.