COMMUNICATION COMPONENTS IN THE THAMMA SAWASDEE’LIVE PROGRAM: AN ETHNOGRAPHIC APPROACH TO COMMUNICATION

Abstract

This research aimed to investigate the components of communicative events in the Thamma Sawasdee’ Live program based on the concept of Ethnography of Communication, employing Hymes’ SPEAKING model as the analytical framework. The study was qualitative in nature and employed interpretive content analysis. The data consisted of 51 episodes of the Thamma Sawasdee’ Live program broadcast on the SDS Channel on YouTube during 2019 - 2021. The episodes were purposively selected from programs with high viewership rates (no fewer than 5,000 views). The research instruments included a communicative event recording form and an analytical framework for examining the components of communicative events. Data collection was conducted through viewing and transcribing the program episodes, followed by an analysis of communicative components within the context of Dhamma communication through digital media. The findings revealed that communication in the Thamma Sawasdee’ Live program occurred within a digital media context characterized by hybrid communication, integrating both synchronous and asynchronous modes, including replay viewing through online platforms. The communicative event components based on the SPEAKING framework-Setting and Scene, Participants, Ends, Act Sequence, Key, Instrumentalities, Norms of Interaction, and Genre-played significant roles in shaping linguistic choices and interaction patterns between the communicator and the audience. The study further demonstrated that Dhamma communication was not merely the transmission of religious content, but also functioned as a semi-public communicative space that operated as a social mechanism connecting language, context, and digital media in constructing meanings of life experiences in contemporary society.The knowledge contribution of this research lies in explaining the communicative components of Dhamma communication within the context of Digital Transformation, which differs from traditional forms of religious communication. The study systematically elucidates the relationship between media context, linguistic choices, and the audience’s meaning-making processes.