The investigation of Chinese TFL learners’ abilities to distinguish Thai initial consonant sounds
Article Sidebar
Main Article Content
Abstract
This study investigates the ability of Chinese learners of Thai as a Foreign Language, (TFL), to distinguish between pairs of Thai initial consonant sounds. There were two groups of participants: (i) Chinese undergraduate students and Thai language instructors participated in a survey and; (ii) Chinese undergraduate students took part in listening experiments to explore these potential challenges. Research instruments included: (i) needs analysis questionnaires, one for Chinese TFL undergraduate students and another for Thai language instructors, to assess perception of difficulty, and; (ii) a minimal pair listening task. The results identified the Thai initial consonant sound pairs /ŋ/ and /ʔ/, /d/ and /t/, /b/ and /p/, and /r/ and /l/ as being difficult for Chinese TFL learners to be distinguished, whereas /t/ and /th/, /k/ and /kh/, and /p/ and /ph/ did not present serious problems for this group of Chinese students. In terms of underlying causes of Chinese TFL learners’ listening and speaking errors, the interference from Chinese phonology and the irregular learning of Thai phonology are the two main causes for their listening and speaking errors. These findings may prove useful for teaching the Thai language to Chinese TFL learners, especially in the design of learning materials to improve understanding of Thai initial consonant sounds.
Downloads
Article Details
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
All rights reserved. Apart from citations for the purposes of research, private study, or criticism and review,no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any other form without prior written permission by the publisher.
References
Damrongrojsakul, S. and Phunphon, S. (2017). Pronunciation problems and Thai teaching activities to Chinese students. Payap University Journal 27(2): 31-40. [in Thai]
Defense Language Institute. (1974). A Contrastive Study of English and Mandarin Chinese. Monterey, CA: Defense Language Inst. [Online URL: https://bit.ly/2UfL15P] accessed on November 27, 2018.
Diller, A. V. N. (2008). Resources for Thai Language Research. In The Tai-Kadai Languages, edited by A. V. N. Diller, J. A. Edmondson and Y. Luo, pp. 31-82. Abingdon: Routledge. [Online URL: https://www.routledgehandbooks.com/doi/10.4324/9780203641873.ch3] accessed on June 15, 2021.
Dow, F. D. W. (1972). An Outline Mandarin Phonetics. 2nd ed. Canberra: Faculty of Asian Studies in Association with the Australian National University Press.
Garrett, A. and Johnson, K. (2013). '3 Phonetic Bias in Sound Change. In Origins of Sound Change: Approaches to Phonologization, edited by A. C. L. Yu, pp. 51-97. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Gilakjani, A. P. (2011). A study on the situation of pronunciation instruction in ESL/EFL Classrooms. Journal of Studies in Education 1(1): E4.
Hobbs, M. (2019). The Ultimate Guide to the “Chinese Alphabet”. [Online URL: https://ltl-school.com/chinese-alphabet/] accessed on April 6, 2021.
Hou, P. (2019). Spelling errors in Thai made by Chinese students learning Thai as a foreign language. Manusya 22(3): 358-374.
International Phonetic Association. (1999). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Jaroonroj, J. (2009). Introduction to Linguistics. Bangkok: Kasetsart University Press. [in Thai]
Krejcie, R. V. and Morgan, D. W. (1970). Determining sample size for research activities. Educational and Psychological Measurement 30(3): 607-610.
Kupongsak, N. (2012). Problems of using Thai language of foreign students: A case study of Chinese students at Bangkok University. Ramkhamhaeng University Journal Humanities Edition 31(1): 123-139. [in Thai]
Lapyai, R. (2016). Guidelines and best-practices in teaching Thai as a foreign language for Chinese students. Journal of Liberal Arts, Rangsit University 12(21): 37-48. [in Thai]
Leelapornpinit, S. (2016). A comparative study of Thai and Chinese phonology for the use of basic Thai language teaching as a foreign language. Suthiparithat 30(93): 33-46. [in Thai]
Lianghiranthaworn, S. and Chapoo, L. (2019). Thai language pronunciation problems of Chinese overseas students of Maejo University, Chiang Mai, Thailand. Journal of Liberal Arts Maejo University 7(2): 114-129.
Lightbown, P. and Spada, N. (2013). How Languages Are Learned. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Norman, J. (1988). Chinese. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Nunan, D. (2002). Listening in Language Learning. In Methodology in Language Teaching: An Anthology of Current Practice, edited by J. Richards and W. Renandy, pp. 238-241. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Office of the Higher Education Commission of Thailand. (2018). International Students Studying in Public and Private Higher Education Institutions in Thailand for Academic Year of 2013 [Data set]. Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation.
Panthumetha, B. (2011). Thai Language Characteristic. 18th ed. Bangkok: Ramkhamhaeng University Press. [in Thai]
Paton, S. (2008). A Dictionary of Chinese Characters Accessed by Phonetics. Abingdon: Routledge.
Permkesorn, N. (2008). Thai usage problems of Chinese TFL students. Vannavidas 8: 146-159. [in Thai]
Pimpuang, K. (2015). Guideline for preparing 2+2 joint-program: international dual undergraduate degree program between Department of Thai Language, Kasetsart University and Pusan University of Foreign Studies, Republic of Korea. Journal of Korean Association of Thai Studies 22(2): 117-135.
Piyapasuntra, S. (2018). Introduction to Thai language. 2nd ed. Bangkok: Thammasat University Press. [in Thai]
Plangsorn, R. (2017). The Science of Teaching Thai as a Foreign Language. Bangkok: Chulalongkorn University Press. [in Thai]
Rost, M. (1990). Listening in Language Learning. London: Longman.
Sheng, L. (2010). A Development of Thai Language Pronouncing Instructional Model Using Phonetic Alphabet and Personal Interaction for Chinese Student. Doctoral dissertation. Burapha University, Thailand. [in Thai]
Sheng, L. (2012). A development of Thai language pronouncing instructional model using phonetic alphabet and personal interaction for Chinese students. Journal of Administration and Development Mahasarakham University 4(1): 122-142. [in Thai]
Slayden, G. (2009). Central Thai Phonology. [Online URL: http://www.thai-language.com/resources/slayden-thai-phonology.pdf] accessed on June 15, 2021.
Suen, C. Y. (1982). Computational Analysis of Mandarin Sounds with Reference to the English Language. In J. Horecky (Ed.), COLING 82: Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Computational Linguistics, pp. 371-376. Prague: Academia. [Online URL: https://aclanthology.org/C82-1060.pdf] accessed on November 27, 2018.
Thonglor, K. (2011). Principles of the Thai Language. 4th ed. Bangkok, Thailand: Ruamsarn. [in Thai]
Trask, R. (1996). A Dictionary of Phonetics and Phonology. London: Routledge.
Treiman, R., and Kessler, B. (2013). Learning to use an alphabetic writing system. Language Learning and Development 9(4): 317-330.
Třísková, H. (2008). The sounds of Chinese and how to teach them. Archiv Orientalni 76(4): 509-544.
Yang, J. (2006). Hanyu Jiaocheng Vol. 1. Beijing: Beijing Language and Culture University Press. [in Chinese]
Yildirim, S. and Yildirim, Ö. (2016). The importance of listening in language learning and listening comprehension problems experienced by language learners: A literature review. Abant İzzet Baysal Üniversitesi Eğitim Fakültesi Dergisi 16(4): 2094-2110.
Yip, M. (2002). Tone. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Yooyen, W. (2013). Teaching Material: Sounds and Sound Systems in Thai. Bangkok: Faculty of Humanities, Kasetsart University. [in Thai]