The Development of Thai Language Pronunciation Skill with the Tonal Conjugation of Three Groups of Letters Exercises Practicing for 7 Grade

Abstract

Background and Aims: The importance of pronunciation in Thai is significant for communication, whether in academic contexts or storytelling. Due to the unique combination of consonants and tonal marks in Thai, words with different tones can have distinct pronunciations and meanings. This has led the researcher to focus on pronunciation, as most students encounter issues with pronunciation that can sometimes cause communication problems. The objectives of this research are: 1) To study the ability to pronounce Thai words in the subject "Thai Literature Properties" among Grade 7 students. 2) To compare the pronunciation abilities of Thai words before and after learning the subject "Thai Literature Properties" among Grade 7 students.

Methodology: The research follows a pre-experimental design with a one-group pretest-posttest design. The target group consisted of 114 students from Grade 7, during the second semester of the 2022 academic year at Surawiwat School, Suranaree University of Technology. Data was analyzed using basic statistics, including descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage) and inferential statistics using a dependent samples t-test.

Results: The research findings are as follows: 1) 7^th-grade read aloud 45 words, divided into three groups: middle, low single, and low double letters. The most accurately pronounced letters are the middle letters Jig (จิก), while the most inaccurately pronounced letters are the middle letters Kwan (กว๊าน), followed by the high letters Fang (ฝาง). 2) 7th-grade students' pronunciation of the Thai language after using is higher than before using, with an average score of 44.66 and a standard deviation of 1.04 after, compared to an average score of 41.66 and a standard deviation of 2.67 before teaching.

Conclusion: Students often mispronounced words in the following categories: 1) middle consonant group, such as "กว๊าน" and "กว้าน", 2) high consonant group, such as "ฝาง", and 3) low consonant group, such as "ฟ่าง".  When the researchers compared the scores obtained from the pronunciation practice of the three consonant groups, it was found that the average pronunciation score of the three consonant groups after learning was significantly higher than before learning.