KOTESOL International Conference 2016
(Concurrent Session)
Supatranut Singhanuwananon, Lecturer of English
Intelligibility Redefinition and Students' Confidence in English Speaking in Thai ELT
Abstract
The intelligibility of pronunciation definitions may vary, depending on different principles and models. Teaching pronunciation is a bitter pill for many non-native teachers. However, Jenkins (2002) proposes the English as an International Language model (EIL) or Lingua Franca Core (LFC) for non-native speakers which excludes some sounds that do not significantly affect the meaning of the speech. It is different from the Native Speaker model (NS). This research tries to examine the EIL model with Thai technical students who have slight chance to be exposed to the English language and find pronunciation a difficult area of English language learning. The tasks are designed to distinguish between unintelligible students and intelligible ones using the NS model, and then use the EIL model to measure their intelligibility. Also, this should point out issues of confidence as the pronunciation is involved. Thus interviews are adopted to probe into such question.
Biographicals
Supatranut Singhanuwananon is currently a part-time lecturer of English at King Mongkut's University of Technology North Bangkok, Thailand, a freelance English teacher and a master degree's student of English Language Studies. She received a bachelor's degree in English with first class honors from Thammasat University, Thailand in 2009. She is interested a wide range of fields in applied linguistics, such as pronunciation, speaking skills, syllabus and materials design, and critical language awareness. Supatranut is an enthusiastic lecturer and researcher. She is keen on creating a desirable learning environment. Her future research will be about intelligible pronunciation in various groups of students and professionals and also critical language awareness in University English majors.
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