TEFL Ireton Iowa

There are challenges and issues unique to the thai learner regarding their study of the english language. Some of these problems deal with grammatical and pronunciation differences between the thai and english languages while others have to do with cultural, background, and learning style differences. The difference in writing style also presents specific challenges for the thai learner. All of these problems will be addressed in the following paragraphs to give a very brief overview of what esl teachers are likely to face when teaching english to thai students. Grammar, Pronunciation, and Writing Style The thai language is in no way related to the english language – they come from completely different language families. The thai language is very basic in structure with little grammar which makes a good understanding of english grammar extremely difficult. thai is an uninflected language so nouns and verbs do not change their forms for number, genders, or person but instead use separate words for such purposes. This gives way to much confusion on the part of the thai student and can cause frequent errors in terms of number, agreement, tenses, aspects, and irregular verbs. There are no verb conjugations and no words that correspond to the english determiners ‘a', ‘an', or ‘the'. Many thai learners seem to have repeated difficulties related to these grammar issues. thai also has a Subject-Verb-Object structure; however, the subject and the object are often dropped if they can be worked out from the context. thai learners will often carry this pro-drop feature to english and wrongly produce sentences without a subject or object. Another difference in the thai structure is that adjectives occur after the noun they modify and since many adjectives in thai can behave like verbs, thai students tend to omit the auxiliary verb ‘to be' in the english sentence structure. There are certain english sounds that are absent in the thai language. These would be /ð/, /?/, /?/, /z/, /?/ and /v/. thai students will often substitute one of these sounds for one that is close (i.e. “v” will be pronounced as “w”). Other sounds are often used interchangeable such as “r” and “l” (i.e. “fried rice” becomes “fried lice”). thai leaners also find it hard to pronounce the initial consonant clusters that do not occur in their language, such as /dr/, /fl/, /fr/, /sl/, /sp/, /st/, and /sw/. Another tendency that is common with thai learners is to drop final consonants or reduce final consonant clusters. In words that end in two consonants such as “band”, the second consonant is normally dropped. In thai there are only a limited number of sounds that a word or syllable can finish in. Words ending in sounds other than these are often converted to another sound or dropped all together. Another problem thai learners deal with is pronouncing words with two consecutive consonants in the same syllable. Therefore, thai students will often insert an extra vowel between the consonants (i.e. “strawberry” becomes “satarawberry”). thai is a tonal language which invariably causes problems with the pronunciation of english. thai students will find it difficult to speak english using the correct stress patterns due to their tendency to give equal stress and timing to each syllable. The thai script is completely different from the Roman script which is used for english. Therefore, not only does the thai student have to learn new grammar and pronunciation, they also have to learn a new alphabet. Culture, Background, and Learning Style There are many things in the thai culture and background of the students that will affect the thai learner. Elders, parents, and teachers are held in high regard and teachers will automatically get respect by virtue of their position. Students look to the teacher as one who contains all knowledge and students are taught not to criticize their teachers. Out of respect, thai students may not feel comfortable asking questions or voicing their opinions or properly evaluating the teacher which makes it difficult for the teacher to gauge how well the students understand the material. Face is an inherent part of the thai culture and therefore it carries over to the classroom setting. thai students are afraid to make a mistake or say something wrong because they fear they may lose face. This may make the students reluctant to use english, answer questions, or participate in interactive class activities. A prominent feature of thai learning is rote memorization. Students will be dedicated to spending time memorizing grammar rules and vocabulary but will often neglect oral practice. As a result most thai learners will have better reading and writing skills than speaking abilities. The above paragraphs highlight just a few of the most common hurdles an esl learner in thailand will face during their english learning journey. This in no way an extensive account but gives a brief overview of the complexities that both the esl teacher and student will come up against. Through proper awareness, research, and planning the teacher can help the students overcome these challenges and aid them to effective english communication.