An Investigation into Pronunciation Deviations in German Final Sounds among Thai YouTubers Teaching German Through YouTube

Abstract

          This research study aims to examine and corroborate the hypothesis that Thai individuals encounter difficulties in accurately pronouncing certain German final consonants, particularly clusters, due to the distinct phonological functions associated with these sounds. The investigation will delve into the linguistic and phonetic aspects of both languages to explore potential underlying factors influencing this phenomenon. A comparative analysis of Thai and German phonological systems will be conducted, focusing on final consonant articulation, phonetic rules, and language-specific phonotactic constraints. The outcomes of this study enhance our comprehension of cross-linguistic speech production difficulties, revealing that Thai individuals learning German encounter challenges with specific German final sounds due to variations in the phonotactic patterns of final consonants. The finding shows that some final consonant sounds are pronounced accurately, while others, like /t^h, k^h, n, f, s, ç, x, l, st^h, nt^h, çt^h, xt^h, t͡ʃ/, are problematic due to differences between Thai and German phonetics.