The Speech Act of Instructing in Thai: A Case Study of Parent and Children in Lopburi Province

Abstract

Objectives: This research aims to study language strategies used for the speech act of instructing and the relationship between language strategies and parents’ education level.

Methods: Research data were collected from a discourse-completion task (WDCT).  The research population comprised 100 parents in Lopburi province who were selected by purposive sampling and were divided into two groups: 1) 50 parents who did not hold a bachelor’s degree and 2) 50 parents who held a bachelor’s degree or other post-graduate degrees. The data was analyzed using frequency and percentage to determine the relationship between the parent’s education levels and their language strategies usage.

Results: The results suggested that the parents employed thirteen language strategies for the speech act of instructing, which were categorized into two groups: bold on-record and off-record strategies. Ranking from the most frequently used strategies to the least, the bold on-record strategies included 1) commanding, 2) reprimanding, and 3) threatening. The off-record strategies included 1) giving advice, 2) using expressions to give opinions, 3) using expressions to give questions, 4) using the expression to show conditions, 5) reasoning, 6) offering assistance, 7) referring to a person, rule, or regulation, 8) requesting, 9) giving examples of consequences from the action, and 10) giving compliments. From the results, the samples used the off-record strategies more than the bold on-record strategies.  Moreover, education level also influenced the language strategy usage. The results also reflect three types of social characteristics in Thai society: 1) high power distance, 2) collectivism, and 3) high context communication.

Application of this study: The results could be a model for research studies of the same or different pragmatic types and contexts. They could also be employed for the cross-cultural study on speech acts based on the interlanguage pragmatics notion, which could lead to a huge contribution to Thai language teaching for foreign learners.