AN INTERLANGUAGE STUDY OF ENGLISH RHYTHMICAL PATTERNS IN THE READINGS OF THAI LEARNERS, AND THE DEGREE OF COMPREHENSIBILITY JUDGED BY L1 ENGLISH AND L1 THAI ENGLISH TEACHERS

Abstract

This research is to 1.) study the English rhythmical patterns produced by Thai learners 2.) explore the problems in English rhythmical patterns of Thai learners with high and low English language experiences 3.) examine L1 English and L1 Thai English teachers’ degree of comprehensibility towards the readings of Thai learners and 4.) find the correlation between the problems in rhythmical patterns and the degree of comprehensibility. This research consists of two main studies, i.e., production study and perception study. For production study, sample groups were selected by stratified random sampling. They were 30 undergraduate English major students in the School of Liberal Arts at Mae Fah Luang University. They were selected by the English Language Experience Questionnaire: 1.) those with high English language experience or the EFL-High group and 2.) those with low English language experience or the EFL-Low group. The data were collected from English passage reading of Thai learners. Then, their productions were compared to three native English speakers [NSs], who served as a control group, for comparison purposes. In terms of perception study, 6 L1 English English teachers and 6 L1 Thai English teachers were asked to rate comprehensibility scores towards the readings of Thai learners. For statistical analysis, mean, percentage, standard deviation [SD], One-way ANOVA [Post-Hoc Test], T-test and Pearson’s Correlation were employed. The results were found as follows: 1.) English rhythmical patterns consisted of the division of tone groups or pause-defined units, and feet 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 misplacement of tone group boundaries [pause within a phrase and pause within a word] found at tone group boundaries, and misplacement of accents [incorrect accentual patterns in polysyllabic words and stress on function words], found at foot boundaries. 3.) L1 English and L1 Thai English teachers 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 production and the degree of comprehensibility by the judges showed a high negative correlation value [r = - 0.54], which means more problems, less comprehensibility. For pedagogical implication, this study will be advantageous in designing pronunciation courses and teaching materials for Thai students to improve their English pronunciation.