Contrastive Analysis of “Verb teiku” in Japanese and “Verb + pai” in Thai: Suggestions for Improving the Instruction of the Japanese Language to Thai Learners

Abstract

This research aims to study the result of a contrastive analysis of the teiku form in Japanese and the form verb+pai in Thai in reference to related fields to suggest how to improve the instruction of the teiku form to Thai learners. The analysis shows that the teiku form is process-oriented, focusing on the manner of the movement of a particular subject, while the verb+pai is goal-oriented, focusing on the subject's movement up to a particular point. The different focus of the two forms leads to both a lexical and/or structural correspondence and a non-correspondence between the usages of the two forms. The non-corresponding usages believed to present difficulties to Thai learners of Japanese are keiki, keizoku and takaiteki-keizoku.

This research suggests a redefinition and re-categorization of the current usage of futai and keiki and the teaching sequence of the teiku form to accommodate Thai learners. Concerning the latter, the research recommends that textbooks for Thai learners introduce the keizoko usage, common among native speakers, at the beginner level through vocabulary rather than the form tsureteiku, as the former does not pose problems for Thai learners due to the correspondence of the two languages. In addition, the research suggests that of the eight usages of the teiku form, keiki should be taught last because it is much less commonly used and is also challenging for Thai learners. This work also indicates what should be taken into consideration by instructors of Thai learners when teaching the teiku form.