The English Rhythmical Patterns in the Readings of Thai Learners with High and Low English Language Experience, and the Degree of Comprehensibility Judged by L1 English and L1 Thai English Teachers

Abstract

This research is (1) To study the English rhythmical patterns produced by Thai learners (2) To explore the problems of Thai learners with high and low English language experiences in their English rhythmical patterns (3) To examine L1 English and L1 Thai English teachers’ degree of comprehensibility towards the readings of Thai learners and (4) To find the correlation between the problems in English rhythmical patterns and the degree of comprehensibility in two groups of judges, L1 English and L1 Thai English teachers.

This research consists of two main studies, i.e., production study and perception study. For the production study, the sample groups were selected by stratified random sampling. They were 30 undergraduate English major students in the School of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University. They were selected by the English Language Experience scores. There were 2 groups, those with high English language experience or the EFL-High group and those with low English language experience or the EFL-Low group. The data were collected from English passage reading. The rhythmical patterns of each student were analyzed in terms of tonality or the division of their reading into tone groups or information by pauses and the division of the tone group into rhythmic units or feet by stresses. These productions were then compared to the productions of three native English speakers [NSs], who served as a controlled group. In terms of perception study, 6 L1 English teachers of English and 6 L1 Thai teachers of English were asked to rate the degree of comprehensibility towards the readings of the 30 Thai learners. For descriptive statistical analysis, mean, percentage, and standard deviation [SD] were used. For the study on the correlation of the production scores and the comprehensibility scores, One-way ANOVA [Post-Hoc Test], t-test and Pearson’s Correlation were employed.

The results were found as follows: (1) English rhythmical patterns in the production of the EFL-High were more similar to those of NS than the EFL-Low. (2) Problems regarding English rhythmical patterns in the readings of Thai learners were as follows: misplacement of tone group boundaries (pause within a phrase and pause within a word) were found, and misplacement of accents (incorrect stress patterns in polysyllabic words and stress on function words), were also found. (3) Both L1 English and L1 Thai teachers of English rated higher degrees of comprehensibility towards the readings of the EFL-High group than the EFL-Low group. (4) The relationship between the problems in rhythmical patterns in the production and the degree of comprehensibility by the two groups of judges showed a high negative correlation value [r = - 0.54] which leads to the conclusion that the more problems in the students’ productions, the degrees of comprehensibility in the perception of the judges are less.

For pedagogical implication, this study will be advantageous in designing pronunciation courses and teaching materials for Thai students to improve their English pronunciation.