A Study of Enhancing Grade 2 Students' Learning Achievement in Thai Tone Mark Rules Using Skill-Based Exercises and Instructional Songs

Abstract

Background and Aims: Most students use the wrong tones. This may be because the concept of tones still needs to be linked to understanding from other Thai language contents; that is, they must first know the groups of initial consonants (middle, high, and low) because each group of consonants has a different base sound. Knowing the groups of consonants and distinguishing the sounds will be an important foundation for inflection. The purposes of this research were to: 1)  develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a skill-based exercise set combined with instructional songs for tonal mark modification, designed for grade 2 students at Nong Hoi Pang Bamnet Witthaya School, Nong Bua Daeng District, Chaiyaphum Province, based on the 80/80 efficiency criterion; 2) compare students' learning achievement in tonal mark modification before and after using the skill-based exercises with instructional songs; and 3) investigate students’ satisfaction with the instructional approach.

Methodology: The sample consisted of grade 2 students under the Tham Wua Daeng–Ta Yai Educational Quality Development Centre, Office of Chaiyaphum Primary Educational Service Area 1, during the second semester of the 2024 academic year. The samples were selected through cluster sampling and divided into three trial groups for evaluating the instructional tools: an individual trial (3 students), a small-group trial (6 students), and a field trial (30 students). Additionally, an experimental group of 20 students was used to evaluate the intervention. The research instruments included the skill-based exercise set with instructional songs for tonal mark modification, a learning management plan, and a word-reading achievement test. The data were analyzed using mean (\bar{x}), standard deviation (S.D.), and t-test.

Results: The findings revealed that the effectiveness of the skill-based exercises with instructional songs reached an efficiency of E1/E2 = 83.38/80.33, exceeding the predetermined 80/80 criterion. Students’ post-test learning achievement was significantly higher than the pre-test at the .05 level, with an average score of 84.67%. Students’ satisfaction was at the highest level, averaging 96.5%.

Conclusion: The study found that learning management using skill exercises with teaching songs significantly increased the academic achievement and tone inflection skills of students. The students achieved the criteria and had a high level of satisfaction with learning. This indicated that learning using skill exercises with teaching songs is an effective way to enhance tone inflection skills and increase learning achievement.