A SURVEY OF AWARENESS TOWARDS ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION AMONG THAI INTERNATIONAL
WORKERS IN EXHIBITION SERVICES
BY
MISS TIPSUDA NIAMTHET
AN INDEPENDENT STUDY PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN CAREER ENGLISH FOR
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
LANGUAGE INSTITUTE, THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2016
COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
Ref. code: 25595821040481HAG
A SURVEY OF AWARENESS TOWARDS ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION AMONG THAI INTERNATIONAL
WORKERS IN EXHIBITION SERVICES
BY
MISS TIPSUDA NIAMTHET
AN INDEPENDENT STUDY PAPER SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL
FULFILLMENT OF
THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF
MASTER OF ARTS IN CAREER ENGLISH FOR
INTERNATIONAL COMMUNICATION
LANGUAGE INSTITUTE, THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
ACADEMIC YEAR 2016
COPYRIGHT OF THAMMASAT UNIVERSITY
Ref. code: 25595821040481HAG
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Independent Study Paper Title
A SURVEY OF AWARENESS TOWARDS
ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION AMONG THAI
INTERNATIONAL WORKERS IN
EXHIBITION SERVICES
Author
Miss Tipsuda Niamthet
Degree
Master of Arts
Major Field/Faculty/University
Career English for International Communication
Language Institute
Thammasat University
Independent Study Paper Advisor
Associate Professor Supong Tangkiengsirisin,
Ph.D.
Academic Years
2016
ABSTRACT
This study was conducted to investigate Thai international workers’
awareness and attitudes toward English pronunciation. The objectives of this study
were to examine the level of awareness of Thai international workers, to investigate
their attitude towards their English pronunciation, and to explore the difficult areas of
English pronunciation. The respondents in the study consisted of 50 Thai international
workers in exhibition services. A questionnaire was used as the research instrument
for collecting the data. The results revealed that the awareness level of Thai
international workers of segmental aspects was at a high level, while the suprasegmental aspect was at a moderate level. The findings of this survey showed that
attitudes towards learning English pronunciation were at a high level in terms of
speaking the same as native speakers and using many kinds of media. The findings
indicated that stress was the most significant problem for Thai international workers.
The results of this study suggest there needs to be a greater focus on supra-segmental
aspects in order to raise awareness and improve pronunciation skill. The company
should be able to use the results to encourage and motivate Thai international workers
to enhance and acquire English pronunciation skill.
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Keywords: awareness toward English pronunciation, attitude toward English
pronunciation , level of Thai international workers’ awareness
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
For the accomplishment of this study, first of all, I would like to express my
gratitude
and
appreciation
to
my
advisor,
Associate
Professor
Supong
Tangkiengsirisin, Ph.D. for his support, guidance, and encouragement. He provided
valuable suggestions that inspired me to complete this study. I also would like to
thank all of the respondents for answering the questionnaire used in this research. In
addition, I would like to indicate my gratitude to my lovely family and parents for
supporting my master’s degree. Finally, I am greatly indebted to all of my friends who
always cheered me up and enabled me to pass through the tough periods.
Miss Tipsuda Niamthet
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
ABSTRACT
(1)
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
(3)
LIST OF TABLES
(7)
LIST OF FIGURES
(8)
CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION
1
1.1 Background of the study
1
1.2 State of the problem
3
1.3 Research objectives
4
1.4 Research questions
4
1.5 Definition of terms
5
1.6 Scope of the study
5
1.7 Significance of the study
5
1.8 Organization of the study
6
CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE
7
2.1 Definition of pronunciation
7
2.2 History of the pronunciation teaching
9
2.3 The importance of pronunciation
10
2.4 The pronunciation goals and techniques
12
2.5 The pronunciation factors
13
2.6 The pronunciation problems of Thai learners
15
2.7 Relevant studies of pronunciation
19
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CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
22
3.1 Respondents
22
3.2 Materials
22
3.3 Procedures
24
3.3.1 Research design
24
3.3.2 Data collection
24
3.4 Data analysis
24
CHAPTER 4 RESULTS
27
4.1 General background information of respondents
27
4.2 Awareness of components in English pronunciation
30
4.3 Attitudes toward English pronunciation
34
4.4 The difficult areas of English pronunciation
36
4.5 Open-ended questions
37
CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of the study
39
39
5.1.1 Objectives of the study
39
5.1.2 Respondents, Materials and Procedures
39
5.2 Summary of the finding
40
5.2.1 General background Information of the Respondents
40
5.2.2 Thai international workers’ Awareness of
40
Components in English Pronunciation
5.2.3 Thai international workers’ Attitude toward
41
learning English Pronunciation
5.2.4 The Difficult Areas of English Pronunciation
41
5.2.5 The way to solve the problems from difficult areas
41
of English Pronunciation
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5.3 Discussion
5.3.1 Pronunciation Aspects Affect the Thai-international
42
42
workers’ Awareness of English Pronunciation
5.3.2 Attitude to Learning Pronunciation among
43
Thai international workers
5.3.3 The difficult Areas in English Pronunciation among
44
Thai international workers
5.4 Conclusion
45
5.5 Recommendations for further research
45
REFERENCES
47
APPENDIX
51
APPENDIX A
BIOGRAPHY
52
56
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LIST OF TABLES
Tables
Page
2.1 Table 1. Chart and key to phonemic symbols:
8
2.2 Table 2. English Initial consonant substitutions
17
2.3 Table 3. English Final Consonant Substitutions
17
3.1 Table 4. Scale of Awareness and Rate Interpretation
23
3.2 Table 5. Scale of Attitude and Rate Interpretation
23
4.1 Table 6. Gender of Respondents
27
4.2 Table 7. Age of Respondents
28
4.3 Table 8. Years of Learning English
28
4.4 Table 9. Experience of Taking a Pronunciation Course
29
4.5 Table 10. Standardized English Test Scores of Respondents
29
4.6 Table11. Awareness Level of Each Aspect
and the Average Awareness Level
30
4.7 Table 12. Level of Awareness towards Segmental Aspect
32
4.8 Table 13. Level of Awareness towards Supra-segmental Aspect
33
4.9 Table 14. Level of Areas of English Pronunciation Problems
of Thai international workers
34
4.10 Table 15. Level of Agreement towards Learning
Pronunciation of Respondents
36
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LIST OF FIGURES
Figures
Page
4.1 Figure 1. Mean of the awareness on English pronunciation aspects
31
4.2 Figure 2. Mean of segmental and supra-segmental aspect
34
4.3 Figure 3. Frequency of pronunciation problems
37
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CHAPTER 1
INTRODUCTION
1.1
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
English is a vehicle for international communication in which pronunciation is
a key element to learn the oral skill in a second language (ESL) and foreign language
(EFL). In general, pronunciation plays a significant role to help workers to become
intelligible speakers (Morley, 1998). On the other hand, nonstandard intonation and
pronunciation will produce psychological nervousness in speakers.
In order to send a message to each other successfully in the communication
process, speakers decide to put a message, thought, or feeling into a specific form that
enables the communication, which is called “encoding”. Then, the message is
received and intends to find the interpretation in the process of “decoding”. However,
the communication process can be distorted and blocked by both internal and external
noise. External noise occurs when the environment of the communicator is distracted
by, for example, the poor grammar of a particular speaker, the sound of a phone
ringing, people talking, and unsuitable temperature or lighting in the room. Internal
noise includes the state of the speaker, such as health condition, being busy and
having no concentration, and lack of background and previous experience about
specific topics (Hamilton, 2011). Therefore, incorrect pronunciation can be
considered as noise, which misrepresents the message that a speaker expects to
convey; the receiver may then misinterpret the codes, leading to misunderstanding
each.
Pronunciation is not only a matter of pronouncing each sound correctly, but
also includes supra-segmental language features such as stress and intonation. Only
accurate production of sound is not enough because native speakers may not
understand incorrect stress and intonation patterns (Hamilton, 2011).
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Some learners may think that pronunciation is a secondary priority compared
to other language skill and they prefer to focus more on grammar and lexis (Griffiths,
2005). One reason is they can still communicate with partners, customers, or coworkers without perfect pronunciation. However, Morley (1998) said, “Intelligible
pronunciation is an essential component of communication competence”. If speakers
have inadequate pronunciation skill, their ability to communicate is severely limited.
As second language or foreign language, learners can communicate without advanced
vocabulary or grammar by using simple words instead. Nevertheless, there is no
simple pronunciation. Even if nonnative speakers use advanced vocabulary or
grammar, bad pronunciation may confuse people that they communicate with. On the
other hand, good pronunciation will make others understand them easily.
“A person who masters a foreign language but has a strong accent is perceived
as non-fluent. A person who has a perfect pronunciation but has only a limited
vocabulary is perceived as being much further along in learning the language”
(Wojcik, 2002).
In native speakers’ perspective, the communication with someone having bad
pronunciation is not satisfactory at all. Other speakers may confirm that good
pronunciation can enhance understanding and create a good first impression between
nonnative speakers and native speakers, which is an important factor for learners who
use English language as a tool in their work field and international business. When
workers meet English customers for the first time and have conversations together,
they will be able to notice immediately the worker’s pronunciation. If the
pronunciation is poor, they will probably conclude that they have bad English and
may avoid contacting with that worker.
The English language has become crucial in communicating with people in all
areas. It has been considered as a world language for centuries and is used in political,
education, commercial, economic fields, as well as business and trade, government
and international agencies. In the business world nowadays, English is major tool of
international communication. The number of ESL or EFL speakers in Thailand is
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increasing in every region. Thai people learn English through early childhood in
school until university and some of them continue to learn in private courses. They
have to study many English language skills including pronunciation in order to be
able to use English in various fields and purposes effectively.
Practicing pronunciation is very important for Thai English speakers that are
planning to work abroad, as improving their pronunciation skill beforehand can
promote confidence and make them feel less reluctant in speaking English. The selfesteem and personal attitude are also the main factors for improving their English
pronunciation. Moreover, it can promote self-study when they encounter the new
vocabulary, enabling them to learn how to pronounce a new word better. Thai
international workers not only need English for comprehension in meetings, but also
for interacting and communicating in English outside the office in many situations.
1.2
STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM
Thai international workers tend to use Thai pronunciation or styles when
communicating with customers. It seems different from native pronunciation and is
hard for them to understand what Thai speakers want to communicate. In Thailand,
pronunciation has not yet received adequate attention, so people speak with
international customers with poorly trained pronunciation skill. Many workers have
difficulties in pronunciation and have problems making international customers
understand them. Although they need to speak English fluently, most of them think
that English is too challenging and they are too shy to speak English.
The idea of practicing pronunciation to increase communicative confidence
and competence for non-native speakers is clearly identified from experiences. When
Thai workers have a meeting with their foreign customers, they always mispronounce
words. Making a good conversation by pronouncing correctly can increase attention
and satisfaction. Moreover, Thai workers need to be careful when presenting,
otherwise they can have problems leading to dissatisfaction and prejudice.
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Mispronunciations can really aggravate customers. All of the customers need
to be treated as human beings, building rapport and creating a good first impression.
Surely this can lead workers to have a good relationship with their international
customers.
Pronunciation is one of the important skills of a second language and foreign
language learners should pay attention to. This skill can be learnt from mimicking
words and sounds from native speakers, then the workers can practice by drilling or
repeating that particular sound. Pronunciation does not only help the speaking skill,
but also help learners predict the sounds of the words pronounced from people they
talk with. Thus, it is important to help Thai workers rise awareness of correct
pronunciation and to be confident when speaking English, which encourages them to
speak out (Morley, 1998). They should know these advantages and practice their
pronunciation more in order to make their communication with English customers
more effective and pleasant, and they will then not be afraid of being blamed or
making mistakes. This study focus on whether pronunciation practice can increase
confidence and raise awareness for Thai international workers and help them to
become intelligible speakers.
1.3
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
1. To examine the level of Thai international workers’ awareness towards their
English pronunciation.
2. To investigate the Thai international workers’ attitude towards learning
English pronunciation.
3. To explore the difficult areas of English pronunciation among Thai
international workers.
1.4
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. What is the level of Thai international workers’ awareness towards their
English pronunciation?
2. What is Thai international workers’ attitude towards learning English
pronunciation?
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3. What are the difficult areas of English pronunciation among Thai
international workers?
1.5
DEFFINITION OF TERMS
- Workers refer to Thai international workers working in the exhibition field .
- Native speakers refer to the persons whose first language is English.
- EFL refers to English as a foreign language.
- ESL refers to English as a second language.
- Standard pronunciation refers to the ability to pronounce English words in
a standard way, which is understandable and pleasant for others to listen to.
- Non-standard pronunciation refers to pronunciation of English that is
difficult to understand and may cause misunderstanding to the receivers.
- IPA refers International Phonetic Alphabet.
- Segmental aspects refer the sounds of consonants and vowels (Gilakjani,
2012).
- Supra-segmental aspects refer the components of speech including stress,
rhythm, and intonation (Chongning, 2009).
1.6
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
1. In this study, the data was collected from 50 Thai workers in the field of
exhibition services.
2. This study was limited to an investigation of Thai international workers’
awareness of their pronunciation and their attitude toward learning pronunciation.
1.7
SIGINIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
1. Thai international workers in exhibition services will gain more awareness
about the importance of learning pronunciation to improve their English
communication skill.
2. Thai international workers will gain a more positive attitude toward learning
pronunciation.
3. The research results may make Thai workers aware of the advantages of the
pronunciation to use in their workplace.
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4. The research may be a guideline for international companies to provide
some pronunciation courses for their Thai international workers.
5. The research may be useful for Thai international workers in terms of
enabling them to avoid mispronunciation that may create problems for their
companies.
1.8
ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY
This study is divided into five chapters.
Chapter One is the introduction presenting the background, statement of the
problems, objectives and questions, scope of the study, definition of terms,
significance of the study and organization of the study.
Chapter Two presents a review of literature of the definition of pronunciation,
the importance of pronunciation, history of pronunciation teaching, pronunciation
goals and techniques, pronunciation factors, the pronunciation problems of Thai
learners and relevant studies.
Chapter Three describes the methods and research instruments employed in
this study.
Chapter Four presents the findings of the study.
Chapter Five contains the summary of the study, the discussion, the
conclusion and recommendations for further research.
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CHAPTER 2
REVIEW OF LITERATURE
This chapter reviews studies of the definition of pronunciation, the importance
of pronunciation, history of pronunciation teaching, pronunciation goals and
techniques, pronunciation factors, the pronunciation problems of Thai learners, and
relevant studies.
2.1
DEFINITION OF PRONUNCIATION
The pronunciation is one of the elements in communicative skills. When
people communicate with each other, they need to have correct pronunciation in order
to make their communication effective. There are three levels of English
pronunciation (Espressoenglish, 2016)
Level 1: People often don’t understand what you want to say. You use the
wrong sound in English words.
Level 2: People understand you with concentration, but it is unpleasant to
listen to you.
Level 3: People can understand you easily, and your English is pleasant to
listen to.
Level 3 is the level for ‘good pronunciation’. It does not mean perfect
pronunciation, but the accent must be close to the standard and be easily understood.
It is obvious that studying phonetics would help facilitate pronunciation especially for
ESL or EFL.
Pronunciation is systematically taught as one whole course. This kind of
teaching and learning pronunciation class is called a phonetics course, which includes
the science of speech sounds, the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the
production of upper and lower lips, tongue, soft and hard palate, front teeth, and vocal
chords. The combinations are more than one syllables and cluster sound groups,
rhythm, stress, and intonation (Jespersen as cited in Thupatemee, 2006).
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Many studies have established phonemic awareness. Learners could be able to
identify the individual sounds in words. Phonics represents the sounds with letters,
which are the most important for reading skill (Uderhill, 2005).
Table 1. Chart and key to phonemic symbols:
Monophthongs
i:
ɪ
see /si:/
sit /sɪt/
e
ə
egg /eg
ʊ
good /gʊd/
away /əweI/
ӕ
ʌ
cat /kӕt/
up /ʌp/
u:
two /tu:/
ɜ:
ɔ:
her /hɜ:/
four /fɔ:/
ɑ:
ɒ
ask /ɑ:sk/
on /ɒn/
Diphthongs
ɪə
eɪ
here /hɪə/
eight /eɪt/
ʊə
ɔɪ
əʊ
boy /bɔɪ/
no /nəʊ/
eə
aɪ
aʊ
there /ðeə/
my /maɪ/
now / naʊ/
cure /kjʊə/
Consonants
p
b
t
d
pen /pen
bee /bi:/
ten /ten/
do /du:/
f
v
ɵ
ð
five /faɪv/
m
me /mi:/
ʧ
chair /ʧeə/
very /verɪ/
n
nine /naɪn/
ʤ
just /ʤʌst/
thing /ɵiŋ/
ŋ
long /lɒŋ
this /ðɪs/
h
house /haʊs/
k
g
can /kӕn/
go /gəʊ/
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s
z
ʃ
so /səʊ/
zoo /zu:/
she /ʃi:/
l
r
love /lʌv/
right /raɪt/
ʒ
pleasure /pleʒə/
w
j
we /wi:/
yes /jes/
According to Laver (1994), there are differences between accents, dialect, and
language in the research of phonetics. Accent is simply manner of pronunciation.
Dialects are discernibly different to the extent that they involve different
morphological, syntactic, lexical and semantic inventories and patterns. In addition, a
language is made up of a group of related dialects and their associated accents.
2.2
HISTORY OF PRONUNCIATION TEACHING
Pronunciation has been studied only a short time since the beginning of the
twentieth century, which is less than grammar and vocabulary. Pronunciation has
taken a secondary role in language teaching as a “Cinderella” area (Celce-Murcia,
Brinto, Goodwin, & Griner 2015). It has a lower priority than grammar and other
language skills. That is the reason why most language learners have a better
understanding of grammar and vocabulary than pronunciation.
Modern pronunciation teaching is divided into two general approaches (CelceMurcia, et al., 2015).
1) An Intuitive-Imitative Approach, which depends on a learner’s ability to
listen to and imitate the rhythms and sounds of the target language without the
intervention of any explicit information. It also presupposes the availability of
good models to listen to, a possibility that has been enhanced by the
availability first of phonograph records, then of tape recorders and language
labs in the mid-twentieth century, followed by audio- and videocassettes and
more recently by compact discs and digital video discs.
2) The Analytic-Linguistic Approach, on the other hand, utilizes information
such as a chart of the vocal apparatus, contrastive information, articulatory
description, the phonetic alphabet, and other aids to supplement production,
imitation, and listening. It explicitly informs the learners of and focuses
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attention on the sound and rhythm of the target language. The approach was
developed to complement rather than to replace the Intuitive-Imitative
Approach, aspects of which were typically incorporated into the practice phase
of a typical analytic-linguistic language lesson.
Communicative Language Teaching, which is an approach to language
teaching that began in the 1980s, is also called the Communicative Approach. This is
the dominant method in language teaching because the initial purpose is to use
language in communication that should be central in all language instructions.
Nowadays, there are people whose oral communication needs special
assistance and high level of intelligibility with pronunciation (Morley, 1991):
1). Foreign teachers at universities and colleges in English-speaking countries.
2). Foreign technicians, businesspeople, and professional workers in
international business and industries in English-speaking countries.
3). International businesspeople who use English as their working lingua
franca.
4). Refugees in vocational training programs and resettlement that need to
relocate in English-speaking countries.
Two more groups can be added to Morley’s four categories:
5). Non-native English teachers who expect to serve as the main models and
sources of input in English for their students.
6). People in non-English-speaking countries that are working as customer
agents, hotel personnel, tour guides who use English to communicate with travelers
who do not speak English language.
2.3
THE IMPORTANCE OF PRONUNCIATION
The different races and nationalities of human beings affect pronunciation.
Children learn how to imitate the voices they hear. If they live in an environment
where people speak Thai, they will only be able to produce their speech in Thai
pronunciation, whereas other foreign languages can also be practiced, the sooner, the
better for their pronunciation (Ronakiat as cite in Chamnanprai, 2013). The role of
English language in Thailand is significant just as in many other countries. The study
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of pronunciation has become a controversial topic. Moreover, the study of ESL and
EFL are a necessity for communication skill.
Good pronunciation makes communication easier, more relaxed and
successful according to Dan (2006). In contrast, poor pronunciation can affect
learners’ academic, social and work development. Fraser (2000) maintains that clear
and correct pronunciation is important in learning English language. Otherwise,
learners may misunderstand poor pronunciation from other English speakers.
English language is an international language. It could refer to the
technological and educational development of those countries (Wiriyachitra, 2004). In
many countries, English has an essential role as the world language used to
communicate between speakers who speak different languages. For example,
multilingual nations include those in Africa and India. They are a restricted audience
for ESL because they communicate in English with non-native speakers only. Thus,
whenever they have to speak with natives, their pronunciation leads to communication
breakdown (Kenworthy, 1987).
According to Yong, (2004) pronunciation is the foundation of communicating
English, both spoken and written. It has been accepted as the important medium of
communication in the world; however, inappropriate pronunciation can lead to
misunderstandings.
Cook (1993) states that people receive meanings of the message through the
use of verbal and written language, while native language learners are able to
pronounce and distinguish various sounds in their mother tongue and different
intonations of the same words, which are pronounced in a dissimilar tone.
Kriedler (1989) asserts that good pronunciation may take time to learn because
there are many factors involved. Thai workers need to listen to a lot of English
pronunciation from native speakers until they become familiar with the phonetic
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sounds. Then, they can become more confident and motivated to learn English
pronunciation.
However, listening comprehension and pronunciation are linked by unified
systems with individual sounds that are related for making sense of the separate
pieces. The more English pronunciation skill is improved, the more that listening and
speaking skill are developed. Moreover, English pronunciation ability can be
improved when spelling skill is refined (Gilbert, 1984).
2.4
THE PRONUNCIATION GOALS AND TECHNIQUES
Three are many techniques and practicing materials that have widely been
used for pronunciation teaching as a part of Communication Language Teaching in
order to make the learners improve their pronunciation and reach their goals (CelceMurcia et al., 2015).
1. Listen and imitate: a technique that learners listen to English teachers who
provides correct English pronunciation model, then repeat and imitate it. This
technique could be used with video and audio recordings, computer programs, and
other technological devices in the direct method.
2. Phonetic training: this technique uses the phonetic alphabet and articulatory
descriptions and diagrams. Learners learn intonation, which may include reading
phonetically transcribed texts and practicing phonetic transcriptions.
3. Minimal-pair drills: this technique was established in the audio-lingual era to
help speakers distinguish between problematic and similar sounds in the English
language by listening and speaking practice.
4. Visual aids: this technique is a description of sound production by
audiovisual aids such as Fidel wall charts, sound-color charts, mirrors, and pictures.
These devices are used to learn more accurate production of the English sound.
5. Developmental approximation drills: this technique suggests that adults that
have difficulty pronouncing /r/ or /l/ can begin with initial /y/ or /w/ and then shift to
/r/ or /l/, while little children learning English usually get /y/ before /l/or/w/ before /r/,
respectively:
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/w/
→
→
/r/
/y/
/l/
wipe
ripe
you
lou
wed
red
young
lung
wag
rag
yes
less
witch
rich
yet
let
6. Practice of vowel shifts and stress shifts related by affixation: a generative
phonology technique used with advanced or intermediate learners. To raise awareness,
speakers learn sentences and short texts that consist of both sounds of a pair and are
then provided oral practicing materials:
Vowel shift: mine (long i) mimic (short i)
Sentence context: Street mimes often mimic the gestures of passersby
Stress shift: PHOtograph photography
Sentence context: I can tell from these photographs that you are very good at
photography.
7. Reading aloud or recitation: learners practice from short scripts or passages
and read aloud, focusing on intonation, stress, and rhythm. This technique works better
with genres, which are always intended to be spoken such as, poems, dialogues
speeches, and plays.
8. Recording of learners’ production: video and audio of spontaneous passages,
role-plays, and free conversations. Subsequent playback gives the speakers
opportunities for feedback from other listeners and self-evaluation.
Many learners dream to have an accent like native speakers because they need
to communicate on an equal level with native speakers in their occupations
(Kenworthy, 1987). For example, teachers of English should have a native accent. Air
traffic controllers or telephone operators will need to have pronunciation that can be
easily understood in less than ideal conditions because there is a limited opportunity
for repetition and second tries; indeed, these can be dangerous.
2.5
THE PRONUNCIATION FACTORS
The most important factor in learning English pronunciation is native
language. Native speakers always have the characteristics of sound in foreign accent.
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It shows that role of native language plays could make the comparison of English
systematic sounds and other languages in difficulties and problems of learners
predicted. This factor does not apply only to individual sounds but also to
combinations of sounds and features such as intonation and rhythm. The greater the
differences, the more difficulties the learner will have in pronouncing English. It can
even be said that there are ‘more favored’ and ‘less favored’ languages. However,
speakers must be careful not to oversimplify the situation and think too much in terms
of handicaps or barriers to learning. It is known that people from many different
language backgrounds can and do acquire native-like- pronunciation in English.
Another factor is the frequency of using English language in communication
of learners. Whether a learner is surrounded by English language or living in an
English-speaking country can affect pronunciation skills. If a learner never lives in an
English-speaking environment, they will not gain an advantage. However, most
learners who stay in English-speaking countries spend their time without speaking
English. Conversely, some learners live in other countries but use English in many
areas of their lives. In such complex bilingual and multilingual situations, it is
difficult to draw conclusions as it depends on how people respond to the opportunity
to use and listen to English language.
Another factor is phonetic ability. It is true that some English learners have
better ears for foreign accents than other learners do. This skill could be referred to as
auditory discrimination ability, phonetic coding ability, or aptitude for oral mimicry.
Every human being has this basic ability, unless they did not learn the sounds of their
native language. Far more interesting is the question of whether certain types of
learners, poor discriminators and good discriminators, benefit from different types of
training. The learners who have high phonetic abilities could gain from pronunciation
drills, the correct sounds are listened and the learners have to imitate repeatedly. Their
innate abilities can take advantage of all opportunities to compare with the model
presented. For poor discriminators, they do not get much benefit from pronunciation
drills (Kenworthy, 1987).
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2.6
THE PRONUNCIATION PROBLEMS OF THAI LEARNERS
According to the study of Kenstowicz and Suchato, as cited in Chamnanprai
(2013), using an 800-word corpus of loanwords from English into Thai, the
consonants lacking a counterpart in Thai phonemic system are adapted, e.g., /ʃ/ was
replaced by /ʧ/ and /v/ was replaced by /w/, in order to be similar to the sounds in
Thai language.
As supported by Ronakiat’s study (as cited in Chamnanprai, 2013), some
consonants in the English language do not appear in the Thai phonological system
such as /ϴ/ and /ð/. Thus, a word with phonetic alphabets defined in a dictionary may
help English learners to distinguish the different pronunciation of the word. For
example, Cloth (noun) /ϴ/ in contrast, to clothe (verb) /ð/ and Abuse (noun) /s/ in
contrast, to abuse (verb) /z/.
Many Thai English learners cannot distinguish the different accents and
spelling produced by those from different cultures and geographical areas such as
British and American English. As a result, Thai learners often pronounce words with
more than one accent in a phrase or sentence. In addition, Tokumoto and Shibata
(2011) found that Asian students strive to be like native language users. The
participants consisted of Japanese, South Korean and Malaysian students who
evaluated themselves by a questionnaire to determine whether they could accept their
accented pronunciation. The results revealed disapproval of the varieties of their
accented English and a preference for being able to speak like the native speakers in
the South Korean and Japanese participants. In contrast, Malaysian students regarded
their own accented English as acceptable.
The correct imitation of the specific voice that includes accent, voice quality,
tone, speed and rhythms cannot be achieved without the recognition and interaction
between the voice source and imitator. Many Thai learners of the English language
possibly make errors and mistakes in English pronunciation due to a lack of speaking
and listening experience with the English native speakers since the years of primary
and secondary formal education (Saxton, 2010).
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The observation of pronunciation of /ʒ/, which is spelt with “sh” sound, and
/ʤ/, which is spelt with “ch” sound in various positions. The study found that only
/ʤ/ spelt with “ch” sound in the medial position was correctly pronounced.
Meanwhile, they were confused with the difference of the /ʃ/ and /ʧ/ that do not occur
in the sound system of Thai language. In particular, the end-sounds of the words that
were the most frequently mispronounced include /ʒ/, /ʤ/, /d/, /k/, /n/ and /s/
(Ongsuragz, 2008).
In an in-depth analysis of self-perception of nine Thai English teachers’
pronunciation difficulties, the results showed that 59 phonetic sounds were considered
difficult to be pronounced and 37 consonants did not exist in Thai language. The often
mispronunciation sound are /ʃ/ and /ʧ/ in the word such as “catch”, “fish” and
“delicious”. The learners should be careful of consonant clusters, vowel sounds and
consonant sounds in pronunciation, which do not exist, in Thai language, including /ʃ/
and /ʧ/ sounds (Sritulanon, 2007).
Thai workers who learn as ESL or EFL face difficulties in many differences
between the Thai and English systematic sound e.g., /v/, /z/ which sounds do not exist
in Thai. Moreover, word stress in English is important in pronunciation as it greatly
affects native speaker’s understanding. On the other hand, Thai is not a stressed
language so these features do not exist; instead, tone is crucial for Thai words’
meanings (Thupatemee, 2006).
The variations of –ed tense markers present syllabic features such as [id] and
[d] in context-free words and words in a context. The –ed tense markers with syllabic
and non-syllabic voiced features were also examined to differentiate the productions.
The results showed that it was difficult to correctly pronounce both context-free
words and words in context. The removal of the –ed tense makers sound also existed
in participants. Thai students should use well-known sources to practice
(Kanokpermpoon, 2005).
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Table 2. English Initial consonant substitutions
English
initials
/v/
Thai
substitutions
/w/, /f/
/
/
/
/
/
/ϴ/
/ð/
/ʃ/
/z/
/r/
/
/
/
/
/s/
/l/
/
/t/, /s/,
/d/, /t/,
/z/
/s/, /z/
/ʧ/
/
/
Table 3. English Final Consonant Substitutions
/ϴ/, /ð/, /ʃ/, /ʧ/, /s/,
English finals
/z/
Thai substitutions
/t/
/v/, /f/
/l/
/p/
/n/
According to Wei and Zhou’s study (2002) on English pronunciation problems
in Thai students called “Insight into English Pronunciation Problems of Thai
Students”, the results showed that most of Thai students face problems with vowels
and consonants, for example, the word with /z/ pronounced as /s/, word with /r/
pronounced as /l/, word with /v/ pronounced as /f/ and word with /ei/ pronounced as
/e/. Intonation and stress between wh-question and yes-no question are also problems
for Thai students. The final sound is always voiceless and unaspirated. Moreover, the
English pronunciation difficulties of Thai people are found in the fricatives; they will
be substituted by the similar sounds in Thai language instead, as shown in the above
table.
The study of “The Pronunciation of English Final Consonant Clusters by Thai
Students” showed that there were five responses from Thai student’s productions,
which were that they deleted one sound and replaced the others, inserted extra sounds,
correctly pronounced two given sounds, replaced one or both sounds, or deleted one
of two sounds. The difficulty in the degree of pronouncing a final consonant cluster
ranked from the hardest were a fricative followed by a stop /-sk/, a stop followed by a
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fricative /-ks/, a nasal followed by an affricate /-nʧ/, a lateral followed by a stop /-lt/, a
nasal followed by a fricative /-ns/, and a nasal followed by a stop /-nt/ (Mano-im,
1999).
The study of “A development of practice Packages on the Vowels and
Consonants in English Word Pronunciation skill for Prathom Suksa Six Students” by
Panseetong (1996) focused on the sounds that always cause problems for Thai
students such as [ɵ], [ei], [-g], [ʧ], [əʊ], [ð], and [ij]. In teaching pronunciation
courses, English teachers should focus on three processes: the first is production,
which means English teachers must produce the target language the same as native
speakers. Secondly, English teachers need to have a good perception skill. The last
process is correction that English teachers must be able to correct and perceive the
mispronunciation of their students.
The study of “Variation of Thai Air Hostesses’ pronunciation of the Final
Consonants (ʧ, ʤ, ʃ) in English words” was conducted with two groups: high Englishlanguage experience and low English-language experience. The result of both final
consonants /ʤ/ and /ʧ showed that learners with low English experience had a bias for
Thai pronunciation especially in Thai contexts and less so in English contexts.
Nevertheless, the learners with high English experience had a bias for English
pronunciation especially in English contexts and diminished in Thai contexts. For the
final consonant /ʃ/, both groups produced irregular interlanguage (Nimphaibule,
1996).
The study of “An Analysis of English Pronunciation of English Major students
at High Certificate of Education Level” found that there were many errors in
segmental phonemes, which are consonant and vowel and supra-segmental elements,
such as intonation and stress. The failures in the learning process of students and the
difficulties of English pronunciation influenced Thai students’ English pronunciation
(Janyasupab, 1982).
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2.7
RELEVANT STUDIES OF PRONUNCIATION
In a study of the production of /ϴ/ English words by speakers with different
English language experience, the researcher analyzed the production of /ϴ/, the
language transfer and correlation between English-experiences and the production
characteristics in Thai people. The findings showed that the most frequent variant was
[th]; the targeted variant [ϴ] was 11.25 times less produced than [th]. However, both
groups of high and low experience produced [th] as the greatest variant. The result
also revealed that English-language experience were related to the /th/ production
characteristic and native language transfer effect; the high experience group produced
more /ϴ/ in total and had less native language transfer than the low experience one
(Khirin, 2011).
The acquisition of the native language in children is derived from the mental
and cognitive process, while the learning of other language, besides the mother or first
language, in adolescents or adults occurs after the acquisition during the teenager
period. The process of foreign language learning in adults remarkably slows down
compared to the native language (Schreier, 2005).
In Serthikul’s (2004) study on “The production of the final /l/ in English
words in Thai an English Contexts by Thai speakers with Different English-language
experience”, the results indicated that the final /l/ has five variants, ranked from the
lowest to highest as follow: [r], [l], [n], [ɵ], and [w]. The group of high experience in
English-language had fewer effects in native language.
In the study of “ The Production and Perception of English Monophthongs by
Thai Speakers with different English-Language Experience”, it was found that those
with both low and high experience in English-language produced the pairs of
monophthongs /ɑ:-ʌ/, /u:-ʊ/, and /i:-ɪ/ systematically like native speakers. Moreover, a
relationship between the production and perception of two monophthong pairs /ɑ:-ʌ/
and /i:-ɪ/ was clearly found whereas /u:-ʊ/ was not (Kijkar, 2004).
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The research of “Perception and Production of English Word Stress of First
Year Students at Rangsit University” by Jarusan (1997) showed that the student’s
experiences is the key in the production and the perception of word stress in English
language. Its competence related to how long the learners are exposed to English
language and the listening skill needed to practice and continuous exposure.
In the study of “Variation of Final /l/ in English Loanwords in Thai according
to style and Educational Background”, the results showed that final /l/ in English
loanwords in Thai language has four significant variants, which were [r], [l], [w], and
[n]. In formal style, there was more frequent use of [l] and in informal style there was
more frequent use of [w], [r], and [n]. Those with a higher educational background
would use [l] more than those with a low educational background. In contrast, later on
they use [w], [n], and [r] more than previously (Sirivisoot, 1994).
Additionally, Charmikorn (1988) studied “Variation in the pronunciation of
Final Alveolar Fricatives in English Loanwords: A Case study of Thai Offices”. The
result showed that the frequency of the voiceless alveolar stop /t/ was half of the
voiceless alveolar fricatives /s/. Moreover, experience abroad, age, and gender as a
social variable could affect production. Normally, the Thai voiceless alveolar
fricatives /s/ are used in the initial positions, but is now used as the final consonants in
Thai.
It is significant that in English and many other languages, learners make a
distinction between ‘hearing’ and ‘listening’. Hearing needs mere presence plus ears,
listening requires work; people can listen carefully and not listen to what others have
said. It is realized that some people have more difficulty listening than others, and
when listening to a foreigner speaking a native language, the learner expects to have
to work a little bit harder. A person pronounces in such a way those other speakers
have to constantly ask for repetitions – then at some stage tolerance is reached. They
would become irritated and maybe even resentful of the effort required. In some
cases, the learner might be willing to be patient and be ultra-tolerant, but for the most
part, they expect conversation with non-native speakers to be ‘comfortable’. In setting
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goals for the learners, the effect of mispronunciation on the listener and the degree of
tolerance listeners would have must be considered (Kenworthy, 1987).
Based on all of the abovementioned research and related literature, Thai
learners have many problems in English pronunciation from youth to adulthood,
which include consonant clusters, vowels, consonants, intonation and stress, -ed
sounds and final sounds. Moreover, some sounds or letters do not exist in Thai
language, so this makes it difficult for Thai speakers to learn English pronunciation.
All of these problems can lead to mispronunciation. Thus, Thai learners or Thai
workers who contact with English customers should learn more about how to
pronounce correctly and practice to improve their pronunciation skill.
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CHAPTER 3
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
This chapter first describes the subjects. Second, the materials are discussed.
Third, the procedures used in the collection of the data are detailed followed by the
data analysis.
3.1
RESPONDENTS
The population of this study was 107 Thai international workers in fields of
Exhibition Sales, Location Sales, Event Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Creative,
Design, and Administration who always contact with international customers. The
data was collected from a random sample of 50 workers using the convenience
sampling method.
3.2
MATERIALS
The research instrument in the study was a questionnaire adapted from a
relevant study (Thupatemee, 2006). Phirualee (2013) defined that it consisted of five
main parts as follows:
Part I “The general information of the respondents”.
The respondents were asked to answer five questions about personal
information; gender, age, number of years for learning English, experience of taking a
pronunciation course, and their English test scores.
Part II “Awareness of English pronunciation components”.
This part consisted of two main sections regarding the components of English
pronunciation, which are the awareness of segmental features; the consonant sound
(item no.1-7) and vowel sound (item no.8-9), and the awareness of supra-segmental;
features, stress, rhythm and intonation (item no.8-15). It contained 15 closed-ended
questions, which were measured on a five-point Likert scale from “lowest” to
“highest” to rate. The scales of awareness were categorized as follows:
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Table 4. Scale of Awareness and Rate Interpretation
Scales of Awareness
Rate Interpretation
Lowest
1
Low
2
Average
3
High
4
Highest
5
Part III “Degree of attitude towards English pronunciation”.
The third section measured the attitude toward English pronunciation from the
respondents with 10 questions, with a five-point Likert scale ranging from “strongly
disagree” to “absolutely agree”. The ranking criteria were as follows:
Table 5. Scale of Attitude and Rate Interpretation
Interpretation of the scale
Rate of Attitude
Strongly disagree
1
Disagree
2
Moderate
3
Agree
4
Absolutely agree
5
Part IV “The difficult areas of English pronunciation”.
There were six lists provided. The respondents were asked to check more than
one area that they thought there were difficult in English pronunciation, which
included consonant sounds, vowel sounds, stress, rhythm, intonation, and others.
Part V “The respondents’ opinions.”
This section asked the respondents to share their ideas on the first question
about how to solve the problems in the most difficult areas in English pronunciation.
The second open-ended question gave them a chance to provide their opinions on
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whether the company should offer a pronunciation course for Thai international
workers.
3.3
PROCEDURES
This section describes the procedure for conducting this study.
3.3.1
Research Design
This research was based on the survey method. The tool was a
structured questionnaire, which was used as an instrument to get the information from
the respondents. To ensure validity, the questionnaire was designed to collect the data
in support of the study. Firstly, the questionnaire written in English was developed
based on the theory and the data from the pilot study as well as qualitative interviews
with a few respondents. After revision, the pilot group consisted of 10 Thaiinternational workers. The results from the pilot study showed some questions needed
to be adjusted. The length of some questions was too long and some parts had specific
words about pronunciation; therefore, the researcher decided to reduce the words in
each sentences and put in the Thai meanings of hard words. After the piloting process
and the test run of the instrument, final adjustments were made to the questions. The
revised questionnaire was then distributed to the respondents individually.
3.3.2
Data Collection
The questionnaires were randomly distributed to 50 Thai international
workers at the company from 3rd April to 16h April 2017. It was requested that the
questionnaires be returned to the researcher after completion.
3.4
DATA ANALYSIS
The quantitative data was analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences on a personal computer (SPSS/PC). For the reliability and the validity of the
findings of the whole study samples, the statistics used to analyse the data mainly
focused on frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.
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The data collected from the general information of the respondents was
analysed in the form of frequency and percentage. The data on the awareness of the
English pronunciation component is presented in the form of descriptive statistics,
which include frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation.
In order to determine the awareness of English pronunciation in two different
groups, the analysis of the different factors in comparison was processed to measure
the respondents’ awareness on pronunciation aspects. The width of each level was
calculated as follow:
Level Interval
=
Range
The width of level
=
The highest width –The lowest width
The width of level
=
5-1
5
=
0.80
The criteria for interpreting the levels of awareness and attitude are shown in
the following range of mean scores:
Very high
=
4.21 – 5.00
points
High
=
3.41 – 4.20
points
Moderate
=
2.61 – 3.40
points
Low
=
1.81 – 2.60
points
Very Low
=
1.00 – 1.80
points
As described, regarding the range of mean scores, if the mean score was
between 4.21 and 5.00, the level of awareness and attitude would be very high. When
the mean scores were from 3.41 to 4.20, it meant the awareness and attitude would be
high. If the mean scores were between 2.61 to 3.40, the level of awareness and
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attitudes would be moderate; mean scores between 1.81 to 2.60 indicated a low level,
whereas mean scores between 1.00-1.80 indicated very low awareness and attitudes.
Also, the Thai international workers were asked about the difficult areas in
English pronunciation. Frequencies were counted for each of the features with regard
to the respondents’ opinions on five different English pronunciation areas.
This chapter presented the respondents, materials, procedures and data
analysis in this research study. In the next chapter, the results of the data analysis will
be presented.
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CHAPTER 4
RESULTS
This chapter reports the results of the questionnaire survey, divided into five
parts based on first, the general background information of respondents; second,
awareness of English pronunciation; third, attitude of the respondent to English
pronunciation; and fourth, the difficult areas of English pronunciation. Moreover, the
last part is open-ended questions.
4.1
GENERAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION OF RESPONDENTS
The demographic data shows the background information of the respondents
that are presented in five categories; first, gender of respondents; second, age of
respondents; third, years of learning English; fourth, experience taking a
pronunciation course. In addition, the last one is the standardized English test of
respondents. The results are presented below:
Table 6. Gender of Respondents
Gender
Frequency
Percent
male
26
52.0
female
24
48.0
Total
50
100.0
Table 6 displays the respondents of this study, which consisted of 50 Thai
international workers: 26 were males (52.00 percent) and 24 were females (48.00
percent).
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Table 7. Age of Respondents
Age
Frequency
Percent
21-25 years old
7
14.0
26-30 years old
31
62.0
31-35 years old
9
18.0
36-40 years old
2
4.0
more than 40 years old
1
2.0
Total
50
100.0
Table 7 shows that the majority of respondents (62.00 percent) were between
26-30 years old, 18.00% were between 31-35 years old, and 14.00% were between
21-25 years old.
Table 8. Years of Learning English
Years
Frequency
Percent
less than 10 years
5
10.0
11-15 years
11
22.0
16-20 years
20
40.0
21-25 years
9
18.0
more than 25 years
5
10.0
Total
50
100.0
Table 8 displays the number of years of learning English of the respondents.
The majority of the respondents, 20 respondents (40.00 percent), claimed to have
studied English for 16-20 years, followed by 11 respondents (22.00 percent) for 11-15
years, and 9 respondents (18.00 percent) for 21-25 years, respectively.
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Table 9. Experience of Taking a Pronunciation Course
Taking a Pronunciation
Frequency
Percent
Yes
23
46.0
No
27
54.0
Total
50
100.0
course
Table 9 shows that 23 respondents (46 percent) had experience with taking a
pronunciation course, whereas the rest of them, 27 respondents (54 percent), had
never taken a pronunciation course.
Table 10. Standardized English Test Scores of Respondents
TOEIC
IELTS
Score
Frequency
Percent
301-500 score
6
12.0
501-700 score
8
16.0
701-900 score
8
16.0
5.5 score
2
4.0
6 score
4
8.0
6.5 score
2
4.0
20
40.0
50
100.0
None
Total
Table 10 shows the range of the respondent’s standardized English test scores.
A total of 44% of the respondents took TOEIC when they applied for the company,
whereas the rest of them took IELTS (16 percent). None of them submitted a TOEFL
score. Moreover, 40% of the respondents did not test because they used their English
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subject grade from their university to meet the requirement of the company. The
majority of the respondents (16.00 percent) received TOEIC scores in the ranges of
501-700 and 701-900, while only 12% of the respondents were in range of 301-500.
However, 8% of the respondents got a 6 score for IELTS, and 4% of the respondents
earned 5.5 and 6.5 score equally.
4.2
AWARENESS OF COMPONENTS IN ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
In this study, the components of English pronunciation were divided into two
aspects. First, the segmental aspect, which are consonant and vowel sounds; second,
the supra-segmental aspects were stress, rhythm, and intonation. The results are
shown using the descriptive statistics of frequency, percentage, mean, standard
deviation, and overall mean for the two main sections. To interpret and analyze the
data, the criteria for the degree of awareness and attitude were divided into five levels:
highest, high, average, low, and lowest as presented in the criteria in Chapter 3.
Table 11. Awareness Level of Each Aspect and the Average Awareness Level
Pronunciation Aspect
Mean
Std. Deviation Interpretation
Segmental Aspects
Consonant sounds
3.59
0.96
High
Vowel sounds
3.44
1.02
High
3.52
0.99
High
Stress
3.01
1.08
Moderate
Rhythm
3.14
1.03
Moderate
Intonation
3.12
1.06
Moderate
Total
3.09
1.06
Moderate
Average
3.31
1.03
Moderate
Total
Supra-segmental Aspects
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Table 11 shows the mean average of awareness levels in both aspects of
pronunciation, which are the segmental aspect and supra-segmental aspects. It
includes the average mean, standard deviation of the average awareness of the Thaiinternational workers. The segmental aspect consists of consonant and vowel sounds
while the supra-segmental aspect is composed of stress, rhythm, and intonation. In the
resulting table, the average level of awareness was moderate (3.31 mean score) while
the mean score of the segmental aspect (3.52 mean score) represented a high level and
the mean score of the supra-segmental aspect (3.09 mean score) showed a moderate
level. The results revealed that the respondents had higher awareness towards
pronunciation on segmental features more than supra-segmental features.
Figure 1. Mean of the awareness on English pronunciation aspects
Awareness Level of Pronunciation Aspect
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3
2.9
2.8
Segmental Aspet
Supra-segmental Aspect
Figure 1 shows the results of the awareness of the respondents in the form of a
bar graph. It illustrates the level of the awareness from 15 questions consisting of both
the segmental aspect, which are consonant and vowel sounds, and the suprasegmental aspect, which are stress, rhythm, and intonation. When the two aspects of
pronunciation were compared, it was found that the respondents were more awaren of
the segmental aspect (3.52 mean score) than the supra-segmental aspect (3.09 mean
score).
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Table 12. Level of Awareness towards Segmental Aspect
Consonant sounds
1. [You know how to pronounce /k/
and /g/ sound.]
2. [You know how to pronounce /l/
and /r/ sound.]
3. [You know how to pronounce /s/
and /z/ sound.]
4. [You know how to pronounce
/sh/ and /ch/ sound.]
5. [You know how to pronounce
word(s) ending with /-ed/ and /-s/.]
6. [You know how to pronounce
initial or final /v/ sound.]
7. [You know how to pronounce
initial or final /th/ sound.]
Total
Mean
Std. Deviation
Level
3.64
0.92
High
3.60
1.01
High
3.90
0.86
High
3.38
1.02
Moderate
3.62
0.96
High
3.40
0.99
Moderate
3.56
0.97
High
3.59
0.96
High
3.28
1.03
Moderate
3.60
1.01
High
3.44
1.02
High
Vowel sounds
1. [You can produce and identify
long and short vowel sounds.]
2. [You know that one vowel can
present different sounds.]
Total
Table 12 reveals the results of the highest mean score on pronunciation
awareness of the segmental aspect was the consonant sound of /s/ and /z/ at 3.90 mean
score at a high level and the lowest mean score on pronunciation awareness was
produced and identify long and short vowel sound at 3.28 mean score at the moderate
level. The finding indicated awareness of the segmental aspect with a consonant and
vowel sound at a high level, with mean scores of 3.59 and 3.44 respectively.
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Table 13. Level of Awareness towards Supra-segmental Aspect
Supra-segmental
Mean
Std. Deviation
Level
3.10
1.09
Moderate
3.12
1.11
Moderate
2.92
1.06
Moderate
2.88
1.06
Moderate
3.12
1.06
Moderate
3.14
1.03
Moderate
3.05
1.07
Moderate
1. [You pay attention to word stress
by putting stress on the correct
syllable.]
2. [You pay attention to placing
stress on content words (e.g. nouns,
verbs, adjectives, or adverbs).]
3. [You pay attention to placing
stress on the suffixes (e.g. -ial, -ian,
-ity, -ious).]
4. [You pay attention to putting
stress on the compound nouns or
compound verbs]
5. [You use different intonation
patterns to signify different
meanings and intentions.]
6. [You always focus on strong and
weak stress in a sentence.]
Total
Table 13 shows that the highest mean score on pronunciation awareness was
the focus on strong and weak stress on the sentence, with the rhythm feature at a
moderate level of 3.14 mean score. The results showed that the lowest mean score
was stress on the compound nouns or compound verbs at 2.88 mean score. However,
the overall mean score was at a moderate level at 3.05.
In Figure 2, the comparison of the two aspects on English pronunciation with
regard to the awareness level towards the segmental aspect and the supra-segmental
aspect is shown. The respondents were aware of consonant sounds the most with the
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highest mean score (3.59 mean score) in the area of segmental aspect. For the suprasegmental aspect, rhythm had the highest mean score (3.14 mean score). On the other
hand, stress got the lowest mean score (3.01 mean score) of the supra-segmental term.
Thus, respondents had a lack of awareness in this area.
Figure 2. Means of segmental and supra-segmental aspects
Awareness Level towards Segmental and Supra-segmental Aspects
3.7
3.6
3.5
3.4
3.3
3.2
3.1
3
2.9
2.8
2.7
4.3
ATTITUDES TOWARD ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
In this section, the attitudes of respondents toward English pronunciation in
the 10 questions was measured with a five-point Likert scale ranging from “Strongly
Disagree” to “Absolutely Agree”
Table 14. Level of Agreement towards Learning Pronunciation of Respondents
Attitude toward learning
pronunciation
1. [You want to have good
pronunciation.]
2. [Pronunciation is important in
communication.]
Mean
Std. Deviation
Level
4.50
0.67
Very high
4.28
0.67
Very high
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Attitude toward learning
pronunciation
Mean
Std. Deviation
Level
4.08
0.77
High
4.22
0.67
Very high
4.02
0.86
High
4.46
0.73
Very high
4.54
0.73
Very high
3.78
0.97
High
3.82
0.87
High
3.88
0.71
High
4.16
0.77
High
3. [You believe that taking
pronunciation courses help you to
improve your pronunciation.]
4. [You find that your pronunciation
can be improved if you start
imitating correct pronunciation
first.]
5. [You find that reading aloud
helps you to improve your
pronunciation.]
6. [You believe that often watching
English movies or listening to
English songs can help you to
improve your pronunciation.]
7. [You believe that speaking with
native speakers can help you to
improve your pronunciation.]
8. [You think that listening to
pronunciation from online
dictionary helps you to improve
your pronunciation.]
9. [You think that it is necessary to
have pronunciation as close to that
of native speakers as possible.]
10. [You think that pronunciation
courses should be provided as part
of work training.]
Total
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Table 14 shows the respondents their attitudes toward learning English
pronunciation. Among the 10 questions, it was found that speaking with native
speakers helped the workers to improve the pronunciation had the highest mean of
4.54 score. Moreover, watching English movies or listening to English song and start
imitating correct pronunciation first helped to improve pronunciation was at a very
high level, with mean scores of 4.46 and 4.22, respectively. In contrast, the lowest
mean score was on listening to pronunciation from an online dictionary at 3.78.
However, the results also showed that the mean score of all 10 questions regarding the
attitude of learning pronunciation was at a high level at 4.16.
4.4
THE DIFFICULT AREAS OF ENGLISH PRONUNCIATION
This part covers the most difficult areas that lead the respondents to have
problems in pronunciation.
Table 15. Areas of English Pronunciation Problems of Thai international workers
English Pronunciation Problem
Frequency
Consonant sounds
13
Vowel sounds
15
Stress
32
Rhythm
22
Intonation
26
Others
0
Table 15 presents the difficult areas of pronunciation for the respondents.
They were asked to choose more than one area and illustrate the answer as best as
possible. The results revealed that stress in supra-segmental aspect was found to be
the most difficult area with 32 respondents from 50 workers. Intonation and rhythm
followed with a frequency of 26 and 22 respondents, respectively. Moreover, this was
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followed by two less significant problems, which were vowel and consonant sounds
with a frequency of 15 and 13 respondents, respectively.
Figure 3. Frequency of pronunciation problems
Frequency of pronunciation problems
35
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
Consonant
sound
Vowel sound
Stess
Rhythm
Intonation
Others
As presented in Figure 3, the most problematic areas of pronunciation
problems as indicated by highest frequency of 32 respondents was stress and the
second most problematic area was intonation with 26 respondents, followed by
rhythm with 22 respondents. This figure also shows that 15 and 13 respondents,
respectively, found vowel and consonant sounds to be problematic.
4.5
OPEN-ENDED QUESTIONS
This part presents two open-ended questions and provides information
regarding the opinions about how to address the difficult areas of English
pronunciation of the respondents.
For the first question, the respondent’s answers can be divided into five main
categories to solve the problems from difficult areas of English pronunciation, which
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were learning from textbooks, watching English movies and listening to English
songs, talking with native speakers, using the sound of an online dictionary, and
practicing.
The second question asked their opinions about whether the company should
provide a pronunciation course for them or not and why. Most of respondents agreed
that the company should provide a pronunciation course for many reasons e.g. it could
make the Thai international workers to improve their pronunciation skill and they saw
it as important part in communication that they use in their career. On the other hand,
a few respondents thought that it was unnecessary to learn pronunciation, but they
needed some skills instead such as a conversation class, grammar, vocabulary, or
communicative skill. One or two respondents disagreed with the course for the reason
that they could practice with native English customers.
In summary, this chapter presented the results regarding the English
pronunciation awareness of Thai international workers in exhibition services. The
finding of the study will be summarized and discussed in Chapter 5.
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CHAPTER 5
CONCLUSION, DISCUSSION, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
This chapter presents first, a summary of the study; second, a summary of the
findings; third, a discussion of the findings; fourth, the conclusion; and lastly, the
recommendations for further research.
5.1
SUMMARY OF THE STUDY
This section summarizes the investigation of the Thai international workers’
awareness toward their own English pronunciation and the attitudes of the Thai
international workers toward learning English pronunciation.
5.1.1
Objectives of the study
1. To examine the level of Thai international workers’ awareness
towards their English pronunciation.
2. To investigate Thai international workers’ attitude towards learning
English pronunciation.
3. To explore the difficult areas of English pronunciation among the
Thai international workers.
5.1.2
Respondents, Materials and Procedures
The respondents of this study were 50 Thai international workers in
exhibition services.
The research instrument in the study was a questionnaire adapted from
a relevant study (Thupatemee, 2006). Phirualee (2013) defined that it consisted of
four main parts: general information of the respondents, awareness of components in
English pronunciation, attitude towards English pronunciation and opinions of
respondents.
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The first part was general background information of the respondents,
which had five parts; gender, age, number of years for learning English, experience of
taking a pronunciation course, and their English test scores. The second part of the
questionnaire was the awareness of components in English pronunciation measured
by the awareness level of segmental and supra-segmental aspects. The third part was
the respondents’ attitude toward learning English pronunciation. In the last part, openended questions allowed the respondents to provide their opinion as to whether the
company should provide a pronunciation course for Thai international workers.
The questionnaires were distributed randomly to 50 Thai international
workers in exhibition services. The respondents were asked to fill out the
questionnaires and return them to the researcher. The data was computed and
analyzed using the SPSS program. The descriptive statistics of the findings were
presented in terms of frequency, percentage, mean and standard deviation. The results
were shown in the forms of tables and figures.
5.2
SUMMARY OF THE FINDING
The results of the study can be summarized as follows:
5.2.1
General background Information of the Respondents
There were 50 respondents in this study. On the aspect of gender, there
were almost an equal number of males and females. The majority of respondents were
between 26-30 years old. Regarding the years of learning English, nearly half of them
had been learning English for 16-20 years. The results showed that more than half of
the respondents had never taken a pronunciation course. The majority of the
respondents took TOEIC when they applied for the company.
5.2.2
Thai international workers’ Awareness of the Components in
English Pronunciation
The statistical findings revealed that Thai international workers were
aware of English pronunciation regarding the segmental aspects and supra-segmental
aspects at a moderate level. The overall findings showed that they were more aware of
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segmental more supra-segmental aspects. The results indicated that consonants got the
highest mean score in the segmental aspect while stress was ranked the lowest among
the supra-segmental aspects.
5.2.3
Thai international workers’ Attitude toward learning English
Pronunciation
The findings in this part indicated that Thai international workers seem
to have positive attitudes towards learning English pronunciation by speaking with
native speakers to improve their pronunciation the most. In addition, watching
English movies or listening to English songs can also help the respondents to improve
their pronunciation. Moreover, an English pronunciation course provided by the
company is an important factor to improve their pronunciation. The results also
showed that using an online dictionary is slightly important to improve English
pronunciation.
5.2.4
The Difficult Areas of English Pronunciation
The findings revealed that the most difficult area of English
pronunciation for Thai international workers was stress. It could clearly be confirmed
that respondents thought English pronunciation of supra-segmental aspects was most
difficult.
5.2.5
The way to solve the problems from difficult areas of English
Pronunciation
The respondent’s opinions for solving the problems from difficult
areas of English pronunciation were learning from textbooks, watching English
movies and listening to English song, talking with native speakers, using the sound of
online dictionaries, and practicing. In addition, most of respondents answered that the
company should provide a pronunciation course for them in order to improve their
pronunciation skill and this would lead to increased profit for their company.
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5.3
DISCUSSION
The results of this study showed several important issues related to the
awareness and attitudes toward English pronunciation.
5.3.1
Pronunciation
Aspects
Affect
Thai
international
workers’
Awareness on English Pronunciation
The finding showed that workers considered segmental aspects at a
high level while supra-segmental aspects were at a moderate level; however, the
average of awareness for both aspects was generally at a moderate level. The reason
may come from most of them have never taken a pronunciation course so they do not
know much about both aspects. This supports the study of Walker (2010) that English
pronunciation may in fact be conditioned more by supra-segmental contexts than
segmental contexts as shown in the finding and pronunciation of segmental may
actually be less problematic to a learner’s communicative competence than suprasegmental pronunciation patterns. The result revealed that the highest mean score on
pronunciation awareness of the segmental aspect was the consonant sound of /s/ and
/z/. The reason why they were aware of it the most from their previous experience
could be explained with the study of Thupatemee (2006) because Thai workers might
face many difficulties due to the differences between the Thai sound system and the
English sound system, with some sounds not existing in Thai. On the other hand, the
lowest mean score on pronunciation awareness was producing and identifying long
and short vowel sounds at a moderate level. This could be due to the fact that Thai
language is a tonal language, which means syllables pronounced with a different pitch
would carry a different meaning. This finding is in line with Smith and Swan (2000)
that vowel length in English language is significant, with a difference made between
long and short vowels; for example, “sheep, ship”; “green, grin”; “least, list”; “meet,
mitt” or “deed, did”.
The results of this study showed that Thai international workers got the
highest mean score on pronunciation awareness of the supra-segmental aspect about
the focus on strong and weak stress on the sentence, which is a rhythm feature. Since
Thai learners study the rising and falling tones as the major difference from their
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language, they were well aware of it. This supports the study of Celce-Murcia et al.
(2015) that found that learners focus attention on the sounds and rhythms of the native
language. However, the lowest mean score was stress on the compound nouns or
compound verbs, which mean Thai-international workers, did not pay enough
attention to the supra-segmental features in terms of word stress. This was supported
by Janyasupab (1982)’s study that errors were found in supra-segmental elements,
which were stress and intonation. In addition, the wrong placement of stress can cause
unintelligibility in speech at both the national and international level, which was
confirmed by Jindal, Sadanand, and Sethi (2005). From the results, Thai international
workers should raise their awareness of both segmental aspects and supra-segmental
aspects in order to improve their English pronunciation skill.
5.3.2
Attitude of Learning Pronunciation among Thai international
workers
The findings revealed that Thai international workers seek to learn and
develop English pronunciation at a high attitude level. The findings of this study
showed that speaking with native speakers helped the workers to improve the English
pronunciation at the highest mean score. Most of the time when working, they could
practice English pronunciation with their international customers. This result relates
to Bohn and Munro (2007), which indicated that high-quality input from native
speakers plays an important role in second language pronunciation. Moreover, it was
supported by Tokumoto and Shibata (2011) that Asian students desire for their
English pronunciation to be like native language users.
The findings also revealed that watching English movies or listening to
English songs helped to improve pronunciation. At present, many Thais choose to
watch soundtrack English movies more than in the past and they would adapt it for
their working life. This supports Rindal (2010), who found that “it is difficult to avoid
the impression that learner’s pronunciation is influenced by spoken media”. In
addition, the findings showed that starting to imitate correct pronunciation helped to
improve pronunciation because all learners would recognize the correct pronunciation
better after their mistakes. This is in line with Saxton (2010), who determined that the
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correct imitation of a specific voice including accent, voice quality, tone, speed and
rhythms cannot be achieved without the right recognition and interaction between the
voice source and the imitator. On the other hand, the findings showed that the lowest
mean score was on listening to pronunciation from an online dictionary; this supports
the study of Phirualee (2013), who determined that “it is not convenient to use
dictionary in order to ensure the correct use of pronunciation”.
Thai international workers also indicated that providing pronunciation
courses in the company helps them to improve their pronunciation learning at a high
attitude level. Pronunciation is not only concerned with correct production of
phonemes but it must be considered as another important part of communication such
as grammar, vocabulary, and syntax, which confirms the study of Morley (1991).
5.3.3
The Difficult Areas in English Pronunciation among Thai-
international workers
According to the results of the study, it could be inferred that the most
frequent problem area in English pronunciation in the supra-segmental area relates to
the stress feature. The workers are always confused about stress when they speak both
words and sentences. They do not know what the correct word stress is; however,
only accurate production of sound is not enough because native speakers may not
understand incorrect stress patterns. This confirms the study of Hamilton (2011),
which determined that pronunciation is not only a matter of pronouncing each sound
correctly, but one also needs to have a good or understandable pronunciation; this
requires practice pronouncing the supra-segmental language features such as stress.
Moreover, it relates to the study of Khamkhien (2010), which stated that stress is one
of the possible factors affecting Thai learner’s competence. The result also appears to
concur with Jindal et al. (2005) that a simple word could be misheard if speakers
wrongly stress the right syllable. However, it is not only stress that is the most
difficult feature in English pronunciation for Thai international workers, but other
features including intonation, rhythm, vowel and consonant sounds also cause them a
problem in their English pronunciation.
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5.4
CONCLUSION
Since this company is a major company that provide service for international
exhibitions in Thailand, the Thai international workers in fields of Exhibition Sales,
Location Sales, Event Sales, Marketing, Accounting, Creative, Design, and
Administration are always in contact with international customers. There were many
problems of mispronunciation between workers and international customers that lead
the company to lose profit and credibility. Therefore, this study sought to investigate
the awareness and attitudes toward English pronunciation among Thai international
workers in order to explore the difficult areas of English pronunciation and find the
way to solve them. Moreover, this study would allow the company to know how
necessary a pronunciation course is for Thai international workers.
The results showed that Thai-international workers were more familiar with
English consonants and vowels than supra-segmental features, and they reported that
stress was the most difficult area of English pronunciation. This was because most
Thai learners focus more on grammar and vocabulary, but less on pronunciation skill
despite the fact that this skill is one of the communication skills that can make
international customers satisfied. Most respondents learn pronunciation by speaking
with native speakers to improve their English pronunciation; however, this was not
enough because they thought that a pronunciation course could make them improve
their pronunciation skill and they were willing to take a course that the company
provided.
In addition, this study can raise respondents’ awareness about the importance
of the supra-segmental aspect, which includes stress, rhythm, and intonation.
Furthermore, Thai international workers would pay more attention to their
pronunciation when communicating with international customers in order to avoid
mispronunciation and make problems for their company.
5.5
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH
Based on the findings and conclusions of this study, the following
recommendations are made for future research
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5.5.1
Future studies should conduct interviews to collect data in detail from
the respondents to investigate the relationship between Thai international workers’
pronunciation competence and their actual performance.
5.5.2
To increase the validity of future research, other sounds of consonants
and vowels should be investigated to see whether respondents are aware of other
sounds in the segmental aspect or not. Moreover, they should be asked about other
supra-segmental areas that could affect the awareness of respondents.
5.5.3
As the result of this study showed that a pronunciation course is
important for learners, future research should seek to determine what respondents
need to learn in order to provide a suitable course for workers.
5.5.4
According to the scope of this study that investigated only the level of
awareness and attitude of the respondents, future research should be extended to find
the causes of pronunciation problems in supra-segmental aspects.
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APPENDIX
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APPENDIX A
A SURVEY OF AWARENESS TOWARDS ENGLISH
PRONUNCIATION AMONG THAI-INTERNATIONAL
WORKERS IN EXHIBITION SERVICES
This questionnaire is a part of research paper submitted in partial fulfillment of
the requirement for a Master of Arts Program in English for Careers, Language
Institute, Thammasat University (LITU). We would like to ask you to help us by
answering the following questions concerning about awareness and attitudes towards
English pronunciation of Thai-international workers in exhibition services. This is not
a test so there no “right” or “wrong” answers. Please give your answers sincerely, as
only this will guarantee the success of this study. Your cooperation in answering the
questionnaire is highly appreciated.
Part I
Personal background information
1. Gender:
Male
Female
21-25
26-30
2. Age:
31-35
36-40
> 41
21-25
> 26
3. How long have you been learning English?
< 10
11-15
16-20
4. Have you ever taken a pronunciation course?
Yes
No
5. Have you ever taken an English test?
IELTS
TOFEL
Others (please specify)
TOEIC
score: __________
score: __________
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Part II
Awareness of components in English pronunciation
In this part, we would like you to indicate how much you agree or disagree with the
following statements by simply marking check on a number from 1 to 5. Please do not
leave out any of the items.
1= lowest
2= low
3= Average
4= high
ี งพย ัญชนะ)
Consonant sounds (เสย
5= highest
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1
2
3
4
5
1. You know how to pronounce /k/ and /g/ sound.
2. You know how to pronounce /l/ and /r/ sound.
3. You know how to pronounce /s/ and /z/ sound.
4. You know how to pronounce /sh/ and /ch/ sound.
5. You know how to pronounce word(s) ending with /-ed/ and
/-s/.
6. You know how to pronounce initial or final /v/ sound.
7. You know how to pronounce initial or final /th/ sound.
ี งสระ)
Vowel sounds (เสย
8. You can produce and identify long and short vowel
sounds.
9. You know that one vowel can present different sounds.
ี ง จ ังหวะ และ
Stress, rhythm, and intonation (การเน้นเสย
ี งสูงตา
การออกเสย
่ )
10. You pay attention to word stress by putting stress on the
correct syllable.
11. You pay attention to placing stress on content word (e.g.
nouns, verbs, adjective, or adverbs).
12. You pay attention to placing stress on the suffixes (e.g. ial, -ian, -ity, -ious).
13. You pay attention to putting stress on the compound
nouns or compound verbs.
14. You use different intonation patterns to signify different
meanings and intentions.
15. You always focus on strong and weak stress in a sentence.
Ref. code: 25595821040481HAG
54
Part III
Attitude towards English pronunciation
In this part, we would like you to indicate how much you agree or disagree with the
following statements by simply marking check on a number from 1 to 5. Please do not
leave out any of the items.
1= strongly disagree 2= disagree 3= moderate 4=agree 5= absolutely agree
Your attitudes towards pronunciation
1
2
3
4
5
1. You want to have a good pronunciation.
2. Pronunciation is important in communication.
3. You believe that taking pronunciation courses help you to
improve your pronunciation.
4. You find that your pronunciation can be improved if you
start imitating correct pronunciation first.
5. You find that reading aloud helps you to improve your
pronunciation.
6. You believe that often watching English movies or listening
to English song can help you to improve your pronunciation.
7. You believe that speaking with native speakers can help you
to improve your pronunciation.
8. You think that listening to pronunciation from online
dictionary helps you to improve your pronunciation.
9. You think that it is necessary to have pronunciation as close
to that of native speakers as possible.
10. You think that pronunciation courses should be provided as
part of work training.
Ref. code: 25595821040481HAG
55
Part IV
The difficult areas of English pronunciation
1. What areas of English pronunciation are difficult? You may choose more than 1
area.
ี งพยัญชนะ) _________________________________
Consonant sounds (เสย
ี งสระ) _________________________________________
Vowel sounds (เสย
ี ง) ____________________________________________
Stress (การเน ้นเสย
Rhythm (จังหวะ) ________________________________________________
ี งสูงตา่ ) ____________________________________
Intonation (การออกเสย
Others (please specify) ___________________________________________
Part V
Open-ended questions
1. If you found that English pronunciation are difficult, how do you solve those
ี งพยัญชนะ), Vowel sounds (เสย
ี ง
problems? For example, Consonant sounds (เสย
ี ง), Rhythm (จังหวะ), and Intonation (การออกเสย
ี งสูงตา่ ).
สระ), Stress (การเน ้นเสย
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. In your opinion, should the company provide a pronunciation course for Thaiinternational workers? And why?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Thank you very much for your cooperation
☺
Ref. code: 25595821040481HAG
56
BIOGRAPHY
Name
Miss Tipsuda Niamthet
Date of Birth
December 31, 1988
Educational Attainment
2011: Bachelor of Arts (B.A.), Assumption
University of Thailand (ABAC)
Work Position
State enterprise
EGAT
Work Experiences
2016 - present: State enterprise
EGAT
2015 - 2016: Sales and Marketing Executive
N.C.C. IMAGE Co., Ltd / Queen Sirikit National
Convention
2015 - 2013: Project Executive
Noble Development Public Co., Ltd. (Bangkok,
Thailand)
2013 - 2011: Project Sales Executive
Plus Property Co., Ltd. (Bangkok, Thailand)
Ref. code: 25595821040481HAG