Exploring the connectedness of the aspects of Thai KFL learners’ phonological awareness, orthographic awareness, and pronunciation production

Abstract

This study aimed to explore how the aspects of Thai KFL (Korean as a foreign language) learners’ (beginner-level, 79 persons) Phonological Awareness (PA), Orthographic Awareness (OA), and Pronunciation Production (PP) are connected in terms of L1 interference. To investigate the aspects of these three realms, PA and OA tasks, which were modified from the previous study, were implemented for the learners, and the data on PP was collected from oral tests. The format of PA and OA tasks was developed in three domains for each: PA items were divided into initial phonemes, final phonemes, and vowel phonemes, while OA items were classified into initial consonants, final consonants, and vowels. Through the results of PA and OA tasks, ㅊ and ㅈ, and ㅍ and ㅂ were derived as the most challenging initial phonemes/letters for Thai learners. ㄹ and ㄴ were also seen as challenging final phonemes/letters. However, new error types were also found in transferring ㄴ into ㄹ, which is the reverse of the previous studies done (ㄹ was transferred into ㄴ). Diphthongs such as ㅠ, ㅛ, ㅕ, and ㅖ have emerged as the most challenging vowels. The aspects of PA and OA were closely reflected in PP, and in turn, the aspects of PP are reflections of the underlying abilities of PA and OA. Therefore, to enhance learners’ pronunciation production, Korean language educators should note that the above-mentioned phonemes and letters are difficult for Thai learners and they need to provide explicit instructional strategies for the corresponding items.