THE PROBLEMS OF CHINESE PRONUNCIATION AMONG KAREN ETHNIC STUDENTS IN THE EDUCATION PROGRAM IN CHINESE TEACHING, LAMPANG RAJABHAT UNIVERSITY

摘要

The purpose of this research was to study the problems of Chinese pronunciation among Karen ethnic students in the education program in Chinese teaching at Lampang Rajabhat University. The data were collected from 14 Karen ethnic students who were studying in the education program in Chinese teaching at Lampang Rajabhat University by focusing on Chinese pronunciation in pinyin system including consonants, vowels, and tone marks. The research instruments were a test and an interview validated by experts. The data were analyzed with basic statistics and content analysis of the interview data.

The study results show that most student had a problem in pronouncing the consonant sound of ‘ch’ at the highest level (26.20%), followed by the problem in pronouncing the consonant sounds of ‘c’ and ‘x’ at the same percentage (11.91%). In addition, most students had the problem in pronouncing the vowel sound of ‘ê’ (40.48%), followed by the problem in pronouncing the vowel sounds of ‘üe’ and ‘üan’ at the same percentage (23.81%). The students had the problem in pronouncing the tone marks of 3 words i.e., 展览馆, and 片儿at the same percentage (59.53%). Finally, the students had the problem in pronouncing the sentences of 门上有一个眼儿and啊! 蜕变的桥at the same percentage (80.96%). The problem is that the learners placed the organs in the mouth incorrectly. It may result from learning a first language or mother tongue.