COMMUNICATION FOR THE FOREIGN FOOTBALL PLAYERS’ CULTURAL ADJUSTMENT IN THAILAND LEAGUE FOOTBALL CLUB

Abstract

The research has the four objectives as follows:

1. To examine and develop a causal model of factors influencing of Demographic characteristics, Communication skills, Attitude toward Thai people, Interpersonal communication and Media usage behavior to be affected the foreign football players' adjustment in Thailand league football clubs.

2. The analysis of the direct effect, indirect effect and total effect, is focused on testing the Demographic characteristics, Communication skills, Attitude toward Thai people, Interpersonal communication and Media usage behavior that affect the foreign football players' adjustment in Thai football league clubs.

3. To study factors that affect to the foreign football players' cultural adjustment in Thai football league clubs.

4. To study communication strategies of foreign football players' adjustment in Thai football league clubs.

This study employed both qualitative and quantitative research techniques. Data for the quantitative research was collected from 299 foreign football players regarding their adjustment in the Thai Premier League football clubs. The data collected was analyzed using Path Analysis in the LISREL statistical package. The quantitative research consisted of in-depth interviews from 29 foreign football players, who had experience playing in the Thai League, coaches, along with Thai football players and journalists, who had experience in foreign football clubs.

The results can be summarized as follows:

1. Intercultural communication model has an impact on foreign football players' adjustment in the Thai football league clubs. This is consistent with empirical data as evidenced through the model Goodness of Fit.

2. The factors that have positive direct effect impacting foreign football players' adjustment in Thai football league clubs were Demographic characteristics, Communication skills, Attitude toward Thai people, Interpersonal communication and Media usage behavior. It is also found that foreign football players who exhibited high levels in the aforementioned factors also had a high ability for adjustment.

3. Foreign football players' adjustment in Thai league football clubs comprises of five factors, which are Demographic characteristics, Communication skills, Attitude toward Thai people, Interpersonal communication, Media usage behavior and Cultural adaptation. Furthermore, these factors can be categorized as the means to communicate with foreign football players and the necessary support from Thai people in the community.

4. Communication model for foreign football players' adjustment in Thai football league clubs called SMART model which comprises of 5 dimensions: 1) (S) Learning social media usage pattern; 2) (M) Usage's monitor; 3) (A) Use for adaptation; 4) (R) Use for make relationship in Thai society; and 5) (T) Use for training in football and in daily routine learning.