The Impact Of Cultural Factors On Mandarin Language Learning And Teaching Methods In Thailand

China and Thailand have maintained strong and long-standing relations that have spanned over several centuries. Chinese Thai population is also considerably high in Thailand. Thus, the relationship between the two nations is like a family. Mandarin language is a vital communication tool, which plays a very important role in establishing, building and maintaining relationship between the two nations. As a result, number of Thai citizens learning Mandarin language are rising nowadays.In cultural perspectives, Thai culture has been influenced by Chinese culture, causing the difficulty in distinguishing the originating country of certain aspects of culture and leading to assumption that the Thais are familiar with the Chinese culture. Therefore, Chinese cultural details are not sufficiently reflected in the learning and teaching methods in Thailand. Yet, it is undeniable Thais who learn Mandarin language and Mandarin language itself do possess different cultural backgrounds.Through careful and thorough consideration, a number of cultural differences exist. This often leads to linguistic mistakes in the learning and teaching processes. Vocabularies used in particular context or situation are not in accordance. Serious mistakes may also occur. Obstacles in use of Mandarin language and comprehension are inevitable, which can eventually result in cultural conflicts. The root causes of these linguistic problems are all from the impact of cultural differences and native language.Obviously, cultural factors cannot be ignored in Mandarin language learning and teaching methods. There is a very close correlation between language and culture. Language is an element of culture. Hence, cultural factors are crucial to the learning and teaching methods. Foreigners who learn Mandarin should be able to communicate with the Chinese people and truly understand their culture. Mandarin learners should not only learn and understand grammar and pronunciation, but also cultural factors.Even though Mandarin language education is now widespread and continuously developed in Thailand, cultural factors are minimally incorporated into the learning and teaching methods. As a consequence, the learners are not able to understand the cultural connotation in Mandarin language, which causes mistakes in use of Mandarin language in their daily life.The purpose of this thesis is to flag the importance and impact of Chinese culture on Mandarin language learning and teaching methods as well as recommend Chinese culture learning and teaching techniques in Mandarin language class in order to increase the effectiveness of the Mandarin language learning and teaching methods in Thailand.