Spelling errors in Thai made by Chinese and Lao students speaking Thai as a foreign language

Abstract

When learning a foreign language, it is important to learn how to accurately spell as it is crucial for communication. To accurately spell in the Thai language is challenging for both native and foreign learners of Thai. However, there are few studies that address the spelling errors made by foreign learners of Thai. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to analyze the patterns and causes of spelling errors made by Chinese and Lao students speaking Thai as a foreign language. In order to gather data for this analysis, thirty Chinese students and thirty Lao students took part in a composition writing and dictation exercise. A group of Thai students was also involved in the study as a basic group for comparison. The results suggest that the main spelling problem for Chinese students is spelling Thai vowels, whereas Lao students tend to misspell more Thai initial consonants. For Chinese students, the complexity of the Thai writing system and the interference from Chinese phonology are found to be the main causes of their spelling errors. As for the Lao students, apart from a few idiosyncratic errors, most of the errors are found to result from complexity of the Thai writing system, interference from Lao phonology, and differences between the Lao and Thai writing systems. The findings of this study imply that foreign learners of Thai made more intralingual errors than interlingual errors in spelling.