Differences in Daily Communication between Chinese and Thai people

Abstract

     The result of the rapid growth of China’s economy brings about the trend of learning Chinese around the world.  At present, the increasing number of schools, undergraduate and graduate institutions both in Asia and overseas have opened Chinese classes to serve those who are interested in learning Chinese. In addition, establishment of Confucius Institutes in those countries to encourage non-native speakers to learn more Chinese becomes one of the main policies approved by the central government of China for making “World” understand China more by using Chinese as the important tool.  In Thailand, schools and universities have also opened Chinese courses since 2001.  It is said that the global trend of “Chinese Fever” has been in Thailand as well.The result of the rapid growth of China’s economy brings about the trend of learning Chinese around the world.  At present, the increasing number of schools, undergraduate and graduate institutions both in Asia and overseas have opened Chinese classes to serve those who are interested in learning Chinese. In addition, establishment of Confucius Institutes in those countries to encourage non-native speakers to learn more Chinese becomes one of the main policies approved by the central government of China for making “World” understand China more by using Chinese as the important tool.  In Thailand, schools and universities have also opened Chinese courses since 2001.  It is said that the global trend of “Chinese Fever” has been in Thailand as well.

     This paper summarized the comparison on the characteristics of addressing forms, greetings, compliments and acknowledgements in daily communicative expressions made by Chinese and Thai students. The questionnaires (open-ended questions) were distributed to both targeted groups.  The findings revealed that there were some differences on the characteristics of communicative expressions between these two groups.