The English Articulatory Phonetics for Development of Learners Related Skills Abilities in Classifying Sound Features of Words and Pronouncing Words Correctly

Abstract

            This quasi-experimental research contained 2 objectives: firstly, to compare learners’ abilities in classifying words’ sound features through dictation activities and the words’ pronunciation before studying English Articulatory Phonetics, practicing sound transcription, and practicing phonemic script pronunciation in an English-English dictionary, and secondly, to compare the learners’ mentioned abilities after studying and practicing these. Using a purposive sampling technique, this study involved 32 first-year English majors at Thaksin University, Songkhla. The research instruments included (1) four sets of tests (Tests 1-4), (2) one set of English vocabulary, and (3) fifteen lesson plans on articulatory phonetics. Concerning data analysis, the statistics comprised mean (x̄), percentage, and standard deviation (S.D.). The findings revealed that (1) before studying English Articulatory Phonetics, the percentages of the learners capable of writing the correct English words in Test 1-4 were 67.5, 43.4, 58.9, and 37.5, respectively, with their abilities being at very low and moderate levels, their pronunciation abilities without using a dictionary were at a low level (x̄ = 2.5; S.D. = 0.7), and their pronunciation abilities with a Thai-English dictionary being applied were at a moderate level (x̄ = 2.7; S.D. = 0.3). However, their abilities after the completion of the fifteen lesson plans were found increasing. Namely, (2) the percentages of the leaners capable of writing the correct English words in Tests 1-4 were 96.9, 91.6, 96.4, and 90.6, respectively, with their abilities in all the tests being at high levels, their pronunciation abilities without using a dictionary were at a high level (x̄ = 4.1; S.D. = 0.6), and their pronunciation abilities with an English-English dictionary being used was at the highest level (x̄ = 4.7; S.D. = 0.4). This shows that their abilities after studying are higher than those prior to studying. The findings indicate that the knowledge on the articulatory phonetics and other applied teaching activities help develop learners in terms of classifying words’ sound features and better word pronunciation. These also suggest that both areas of their abilities are interrelated and positively beneficial to each other.