چکیده (انگلیسی):

An increasing number of Thai students are enrolling in international programs recently with the
expectation of real-life intercultural learning experiences. Most teachers in intercultural
classrooms in Thailand are native English-speaking teachers who come from different cultures
and have different perspectives. These teachers’ roles, teaching styles and relationships with their
Thai students all impact instructional success and achievement in an intercultural classroom.
Conflicts and tensions are expected in an intercultural classroom where diverse cultures meet. In
order to enhance the quality of international education and explore classroom interactions,
relationships, and conflicts; this study used qualitative in-depth interviews with 20 native Englishspeaking teachers and 20 Thai students at four international colleges in Thailand. The results
indicate that when native English-speaking teachers and Thai students interacted, they
encountered 3 dialectical tensions: stability/change, openness/closedness, and
separation/connection. Additionally, they employed 6 different strategies; selection, cyclical
alteration, segmentation, integrative reframing, integrative moderation, and indifference; to
negotiate those tensions.