EXPLORING GRAMMATICAL CHALLENGES AND CULTURAL DIVERSITY IN EFL WRITING: A CASE STUDY OF THAI UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS

Abstract

The integration of linguistic and cultural diversity into English as a
Foreign Language (EFL) writing is essential for fostering global communication
and intercultural competence. This study examines the writing skills and
linguistic diversity of second-year political science students at Prince of Songkla
University, focusing on their use of cultural narratives and multilingual
influences in EFL writing. An analysis of 60 self-introduction essays reveals
recurring grammatical challenges, including subject-verb agreement errors,
tense inconsistencies, prepositional misuse, and sentence structure issues,
largely stemming from first-language transfer due to structural differences
between Thai, Malay, and English. Despite these challenges, students
demonstrate strengths in incorporating cultural narratives and multilingual
elements such as code-switching and lexical borrowing from Thai and Malay.
However, these strengths also introduce challenges, including direct translation
errors, idiomatic misuse, and inconsistencies in academic English conventions.
This study advocates for culturally responsive teaching strategies that leverage
students’ multilingual backgrounds, integrating linguistic diversity, intercultural
communication, and structured translanguaging practices into EFL pedagogy.
The findings provide practical implications for curriculum development and
teacher training, offering strategies to enhance students’ writing proficiency
while fostering cross-cultural communication skills.