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The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage

This research examined how Thai undergraduates acquired English marked and unmarked fricatives in their interlanguage. It also determined what sounds the learners used to replace some fricatives and how variable they were. Based on the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH), unmarked fricatives...

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Main Author: Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017
Online Access:http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11158/1/15364-49549-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11158/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/904
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spelling my-ukm.journal.111582017-12-23T03:41:10Z http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11158/ The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin This research examined how Thai undergraduates acquired English marked and unmarked fricatives in their interlanguage. It also determined what sounds the learners used to replace some fricatives and how variable they were. Based on the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH), unmarked fricatives are /s/ and /f/, and marked ones are /ʃ/, /v/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ/. The former are considered unmarked because they are available in Thai, whereas the latter are not. The participants included three groups: high, intermediate, and low proficiency students who were studied through three types of tasks: word list, sentence list, and oral interview. The word and sentence lists required the learners to produce the target fricatives in a formal situation, while the oral interview in a natural context. The results demonstrated that marked fricatives /v/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ/ were difficult for the participants. Only the advanced informants could acquire unmarked /s/ and /f/ as well as marked /ʃ/ both initially and finally. According to the MDH, the learners produced /s/, /f/, and /ʃ/ before marked /v/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ/. They also appeared to produce various substitutions for the problematic sounds. Plausible explanations to account for the Thai learners’ difficulty of English fricatives involve the first language (L1) transfer, distribution of a particular sound, voicing, systematic variability, and design of a task. In pronunciation classes, teachers or educators may design tasks appropriate for their learners and employ strategies that suit their learning style preferences. Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia 2017 Article PeerReviewed application/pdf en http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11158/1/15364-49549-1-PB.pdf Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin (2017) The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage. 3L; Language,Linguistics and Literature,The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies., 23 (1). pp. 15-34. ISSN 0128-5157 http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/904
institution Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
building Perpustakaan Tun Sri Lanang Library
collection Institutional Repository
continent Asia
country Malaysia
content_provider Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
content_source UKM Journal Article Repository
url_provider http://journalarticle.ukm.my/
language English
description This research examined how Thai undergraduates acquired English marked and unmarked fricatives in their interlanguage. It also determined what sounds the learners used to replace some fricatives and how variable they were. Based on the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH), unmarked fricatives are /s/ and /f/, and marked ones are /ʃ/, /v/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ/. The former are considered unmarked because they are available in Thai, whereas the latter are not. The participants included three groups: high, intermediate, and low proficiency students who were studied through three types of tasks: word list, sentence list, and oral interview. The word and sentence lists required the learners to produce the target fricatives in a formal situation, while the oral interview in a natural context. The results demonstrated that marked fricatives /v/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ/ were difficult for the participants. Only the advanced informants could acquire unmarked /s/ and /f/ as well as marked /ʃ/ both initially and finally. According to the MDH, the learners produced /s/, /f/, and /ʃ/ before marked /v/, /z/, /θ/, /ð/, and /ʒ/. They also appeared to produce various substitutions for the problematic sounds. Plausible explanations to account for the Thai learners’ difficulty of English fricatives involve the first language (L1) transfer, distribution of a particular sound, voicing, systematic variability, and design of a task. In pronunciation classes, teachers or educators may design tasks appropriate for their learners and employ strategies that suit their learning style preferences.
format Article
author Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin
spellingShingle Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin
The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage
author_facet Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin
author_sort Sridhanyarat, Kietnawin
title The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage
title_short The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage
title_full The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage
title_fullStr The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage
title_full_unstemmed The acquisition of L2 fricatives in Thai learners’ interlanguage
title_sort acquisition of l2 fricatives in thai learners’ interlanguage
publisher Penerbit Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia
publishDate 2017
url http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11158/1/15364-49549-1-PB.pdf
http://journalarticle.ukm.my/11158/
http://ejournal.ukm.my/3l/issue/view/904
_version_ 1643738394521501696
score 13.211869

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