English Word Pronunciation of Thai High School Students

Abstract

English language teaching in Thai schools tends to focus on assessment or examination (Goodman, 2017).  Exam contents often include and focus on: reading comprehension, grammar and writing. These aspects are frequently emphasized in class. On the other hand, listening and speaking – including pronunciation – are taught less. Having less opportunity to practice speaking, listening, and pronunciation may hinder students’ speaking, listening, and pronunciation skills development. “In order to speak and listen effectively, pronunciation is the basic element that should be taught” (Mantali, 2006). The lack of focus on pronunciation can lead to errors in pronouncing English words, because students are not proficient or face unfamiliar grapheme-phoneme correspondences (GPC). This study aims to investigate the pronunciation of English words among Thai high school students. It strives examines whether pronunciation in isolation is the same or different from that found in reading a passage. Reasoning for their pronunciation was also investigated. Ten high school students of low proficiency levels participated in the study. They were asked to read a passage which contained 15 target words, then read the target words again, but in isolation. Pronunciation was recorded both by audio and then also transcribed. Semi-structured interviews were implemented to analyze how students pronounce English words, and indeed their reasoning for doing so. The findings revealed that students’ pronunciation from the passage and in isolation differed. Findings from the pronunciation form showed problems in GPC, especially in final positions. Moreover, the data from the semi-structured interviews revealed four underlying reasonings for pronunciations. On the basis of these findings, the pedagogical implications are included in this paper.