Thai tones in Chinese students after using the “Tone Application” and their attitudes

Abstract

This study investigates the acoustic characteristics of Thai tones produced by Chinese students learning Thai through the “Tone Application”, and conducts an attitude test towards the use of the Tone Application. A comparison of Thai tones pronounced by the participants with 40 native Thai speakers was also conducted. The acoustic characteristics studied in this research were the fundamental frequencies analyzed with the Praat program version 6.0.9. Statistical analysis such as mean, standard deviation, and t-test were used. The findings revealed that the Tone Application (a mobile phone application for practicing listening and speaking Thai) can partially promoted better tone pronunciation in Chinese students learning Thai as a foreign language. After utilizing the Thai Tone Application with the Chinese students, they could pronounce the mid, the low, the high, and the rising tones. However, the application failed to enhance falling tone which is linguistically classified as the problematic tone for Chinese students. In other words, the application helped expedite contour tones such as the high tone and the rising tone, but not the falling tone. It is questionable whether the application can replace the instructor or not. This study to also show another perspective on the acoustic study of Thai tones issues and another angle of students’ attitude towards the use of a language application.