Synthesis of Graduate-Level Research on Thai Language Teaching Using Linguistic Theories Between 1975 and 2024

Abstract

This article aims to synthesize graduate-level research on Thai language teaching using linguistic theories in the Thai Thesis Database -TDC – ThaiLIS between 1975 and 2024. The data studied includes 21 graduate-level research works from the years 1975 to -2024. The research procedure was as follows: 1) surveying and collecting research data, 2) recording the data in a table, 3) determining the points for analysis, including general information of the research, research problems, objectives, innovations used in the research, research instruments, and statistics used in the research, 4) analyzing the data by summarizing separately by topic and calculating basic statistics, such as frequency and percentage, and 5) analyzing trends and directions of research in Thai language teaching using linguistics.  The research findings showed that the research in Thai language teaching that applied linguistic theories used them for 1) solving problems in reading and spelling, and 2) solving problems in Thai pronunciation among elementary school students, foreign students learning Thai as a second language, and group students. It was found that the graduate-level research most commonly came from Chiang Mai University; there were a total of 5 works, accounting for 21.81 percent of the analyzed studies. The most common problem found in the research was from the learners themselves, totaling 8 issues, accounting for 88.88 percent were problems originating from the learner. The most common objective found in the research was an aim to study the effects of independent variables and characteristics of the Thai language, totaling 22 instances, accounting for 42.31 percent. The most used innovation in the research was activity sets, found in 2 works, accounting for 28.57 percent. There were 12 types of research tools used, with the most common being ability assessment tools, found in 6 works, accounting for 31.58 percent. There were a total of 13 types of statistical methods used in the research, with the most common being standard deviation and mean, used in 7 works, accounting for 22.58 percent. The trend found in the research was that there is currently a low number of research studies in Thai language teaching that apply linguistic theories, due to the complexity of linguistic content. Teachers only apply some linguistic knowledge in teaching and are unable to fully understand the whole body of linguistic knowledge. Therefore, most research focused on reading and writing issues, mostly at the elementary level. As for research involving the application of linguistic theories, it was found that the theories were used to analyze textbooks and determine the causes of pronunciation problems, and were applied to analyze the pronunciation of ethnic group students and students learning Thai as a second language, and to analyze communication in the Thai language.