THE DEVELOPMENT OF GRADE 1 STUDENTS’ PROFICIENCY IN PRONOUNCING THAI WORDS WITH THE WORD-ENDING PROTOCOL “MAE-KOT” SPELLED WITH IRREGULAR CONSONANTS THROUGH BRAIN-BASED LEARNING ACTIVITIES

Abstract

The objectives of this research article were 1) to compare grade 1 students’ proficiency in pronouncing Thai words with a Thai word ending protocol “Mae-Kot” (the Thai final sound /t/) spelled with irregular consonants or other consonants than ‘ด’ (Do Dek) before and after their learning through brain-based learning activities and 2) to examine their satisfaction towards brain-based learning activities. The cluster random sampling was employed to recruit a sample of a classroom of 27 grade 1 students studying in the second semester of the academic year 2020 in a private school in Pathum Thani Province. Research instruments consisted of: 1) 8 Thai language learning management plans, 2) a pronunciation proficiency test with 30 true-false questions; and 3) a 5-point scale questionnaires with 10 questions on student satisfaction towards learning management through brain-based learning activities. Data were analyzed using statistics including mean, standard deviation, the Kolmogorov–Smirnov test, and the dependent sample t-test. The results revealed that 1) students demonstrated higher proficiency in pronouncing Thai words with the word ending protocol “Mae-Kot” after learning through brain-based learning activities with a significance level of .01, and 2) their satisfaction towards the brain-based learning activities was at a highest level with a mean of 4.91.