English and Thai Fricatives and Affricates Perceived by Thai EFL Learners
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Abstract
Learning another language is challenging when the sounds of the foreign or second language (FL/L2) differ from those of the first language (L1). A key question concerns how FL/L2 learners acquire FL/L2 sounds either similar to or different from those in their native language. Specifically, when comparing the Thai (L1) and English (FL/L2) sound systems, English has a richer set of fricatives and affricates, contrasting not only in voicing but also in place and manner of articulation. The aims of this paper are (i) to examine how Thai EFL learners perceive eight English fricatives /f, v, θ, ð, s, z, ʃ, and ʒ/ and two affricates /ʧ and ʤ/, while their native Thai language has only two voiceless fricatives: /f/ and /s/ and a voiceless affricate /ʧ/ and (ii) to find the perceptual cues for these sounds. A perception study was conducted using a novel technique for creating processed tokens. Twenty Thai EFL learners participated in the experiment, identifying test words that contained English and Thai fricatives and affricates, presented in both original and digitally modified forms. The results provide new evidence that, with the new token-processing technique, Thai EFL learners relied on perceptual cues both within the target fricatives and affricates and in the surrounding sounds. These findings contribute to a better understanding of phonetic perception in second language acquisition and suggest directions for future research.
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