Family Communication Patterns and English Communicative Skills in Thai University Students

Abstract

AbstractFamily is an important institution of a society. It is said that the way an individual behaves is influenced by the characteristics of his or her family. Family communication patterns can be seen as representation of the characteristics of a specific family. Previous studies have indicated that family communication patterns influence success and failure of students in terms of academic achievement. This quantitative research aimed to study the family communication patterns in the Thai context and how they influence Thai university students’ English communicative skills. The total number of 331 participants was used as group sampling. Revised Family Communication Patterns and modified English Communicative Skills Questionnaires were used as the research instruments. It was found that the consensual type best represented the type of the family communication pattern of the participants. Statistical analysis indicated there were significant differences in the level of English communicative skills of the participants in different groups. Discussions and implications for English language teaching are offered in this research article.Keywords: English communicative skills, Family communication patterns, English language teaching, Thai family, Thai university students