Language Identity of Thai Women in Transnational Family on Intercultural Communication

Abstract

Transnational marriage between Thai women and western men is a prominent phenomenon in Thai society. The Thai women have their own language identity in daily speech or group peculiarity. This article describes the language identity characteristics. The data was collected from non-participant observations in public conversation contexts in Udonthani city: airports, immigration police, shopping place, and tourist spots, and 10 Thai women's YouTube channels. This research is qualitative that analyzes data using the content analysis to find out the linguistic identity and intercultural communication of Thai women.

The research finding showed the language identity of Thai women in five categories: multilingual, code-switching, code-mixing, translation, and language loyalty to their mother tongue. These women learned English as a medium for their husbands and learned a third language, the husband's language. Therefore, they have become multilingual speakers. That is Isan dialect as the mother tongue, Thai as the national language, English as the international language, and the husband's language, which is not English. Multilingualism causes language use by switching and mixing words in another language, especially English. Thai switches with Isan dialect or English are naturally used in communication through her YouTube channel. They are loyal to languages and take pride in their mother tongue by teaching and speaking their mother tongue language to their children, even if they live in their husband's country. However, how Thai women in transnational families who have to live in their husbands' countries can maintain their mother tongue in western society challenges further research.