Pronunciation Training Techniques for Thai Initial Consonant Sounds for International Students

Abstract

Learning management of Thai language lessons for international students is different from that for Thai students in terms of learning objectives, contents, and measurement and evaluation.  Learning objectives, thus, identify course content and the scope of learning.  Moreover, understanding of the functioning of the brain during the learning process, which is a biological process, is important for teachers to select lead-in techniques that promote rapid learning of the lessons.  This article presents lead-in techniques used in teaching basic Thai to international students which were: repetition to get the right pronunciation, appropriate instructional pacing, and use of the language in an authentic situation, particularly pronouncing Thai names.  The teacher used these techniques following an activity of giving a Thai name to each student who learned to pronounce his/her Thai name and Thai names of other participants of the project.  The meanings of their names were given in English along with pictures of the Thai alphabets from Google websites because learning begins when the brain associates the sound with these two types of pictures.  Thus, this makes learning meaningful and sustainable.  Then, the teacher linked the sound of their Thai names with the sound system of the Thai language beginning from initial sounds which are the first sounds uttered through the mouth leading to learning of other sounds in the Thai language and conversations.