The Perception of the Japanese /r/ Sound by Thai Learners of Japanese

Abstract

There were three objectives for the research. The first was to study the perception of the Japanese flap sound by Thai Learners. The second was to analyze the relationship between the voice recognition accuracy of Thai Learners and the JLPT level. The third was to analyze the relationship between the voice recognition accuracy of Thai Learners and their experience of passing the Japanese Pronunciation Course at Kasetsart University. The target group of the research was first- to fourth-year students in the Faculty of Humanities at Kasetsart University, both regular-program students and special-program students, for a total of 120 students. The information was gathered by using a flap sound recognition accuracy test with a total of 20 points. The following are the results of the study. One, the /ra/ sound in the initial position before the /k/ sound was the most misrecognized first syllable sound of the Thai learners, mostly misheard as /da/. In addition, the /re/ sound in the medial position after the /d/ sound was the most misrecognized non-first syllable sound, mostly misheard as /de/. Two, the difference between the Thai learners’ flap sound recognition accuracy at each JLPT level was not statistically significant. Three, there was a statistically significant difference between the students that passed and did not pass the Japanese Pronunciation Course and their accuracy in the recognition of the flap sound. Both groups mostly misrecognized the /r/ sound as the /d/ sound.