Insights into English Pronunciation Problems of Thai Students.

This paper investigates problems with English pronunciation among Thai students, identifying key reasons for the pronunciation problems and recommending solutions. It begins by discussing the value of intelligible pronunciation and reviewing the relevant literature. Next, it focuses on Thai students' pronunciation problems with consonants and vowels (e.g., words with transcriptions ended with a consonant; consonant clusters; words with /ei/, usually pronounced as /e/; words with /r/, usually pronounced as /1/; words with /v/, usually pronounced as /f/; and words with /z/, usually pronounced at /s/ or voiceless); intonation problems (yes-no questions and whquestions); and stress problems. Finally, it examines the causes of these problems (e.g., words directly borrowed from English into the Thai language are pronounced in Thai ways; the Romanization of the Thai language influences English pronunciation; Thai intonations are applied into English pronunciations; speakers may be shy to speak in a native speaker's way; and Thai final consonants are always unaspirated and unvoiced). Suggested solutions include the following: provide pronunciation training courses to language teachers, have teachers lecture in English, and provide students with articulatory descriptions of the mother tongue and target language. (Contains 26 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL HAS BEEN GRANTED BY 1 TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) Insights into English Pronunciation Problems of Thai Students Youfu Wei & Yalun Zhou* Abstract U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality.U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) This document has been reproduced as received from the person or organization originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent official OERI position or policy. The purpose of this article is to investigate some important English pronunciation problems of Thai students. The authors explored relevant research in this area and vz) demonstrated the advantages of speaking English with intelligible pronunciation. The authors also identified some key reasons for Thai students' problems with English pronunciation. Finally, the authors recommended solutions to these problems and provided implications for future research.