July 21, 2023 – The Center for Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University and the network – Sumaa Language and Culture Institute, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University, joined to hold the first national conference on Teaching Thai to Foreigners: “Setting Phonetics Transcripts of Thai Alphabets for Thai Teaching to Foreigners” at Conference Room 3, HS.05 Building, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences and also online by Zoom Meeting. Asst. Prof. Marasri Sothip, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Administration of the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University, presided over the opening ceremony, while Asst. Prof. Issares Dolpen, Ph.D., Acting Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences made the reporting address on the objectives of the conference. The opening ceremony also featured presenting awards to the outstanding personnel in Thai teaching and Thai culture dissemination, or “Benefactor in Thai Language and Culture” of 2022, namely, Asst. Prof. Suwanna Kriengkraipet, from Sumaa Language and Culture Institute, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University.
The Conference was the first of its kind to be hosted by the Center for Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University. The Conference began with a forum on “Setting Phonetics Transcripts of Thai Alphabets for Thai Teaching to Foreigners”, which was honored to have the following guest speakers: Assoc. Prof. M.L. Charalwilai Jaroonroj, Ph.D., from Kasetsart University, Kamphaeangsaen Campus; Asst. Prof. Sujinat Jitwiriyanon, Ph.D., from Chulalongkorn University; Ajarn Cherdchart Hirunro, Ph.D., from Mae Fah Luang University; and Ajarn Sasitornyakorn Pittayaratsathian from Sumaa Language and Culture Institute, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Mae Fah Luang University, being the moderator. The afternoon session was presentation of 9 articles on Thai language teaching to foreigners.
Asst. Prof. Issares Dolpen, Ph.D., Acting Director of the Center for Lifelong Learning, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, Khon Kaen University reported that at present, more foreigners know about Thai language. Many know Thai language from entertainment media, from tourism, from contacting or relationship with Thai people, or from Thai language use in business. Thus, a lot of foreigners are interested to learn Thai language. However, the common problem in Thai language learning is to pronounce Thai correctly or at least close to Thai native speakers. When beginning to learn Thai, some foreigners have difficulty pronouncing words, some alphabets and some vowels, or even the tones.
“The standard alphabet set that replaces the Thai alphabet pronunciation and eases the language learning to foreigners will help learners to understand and pronounce Thai words more correctly or at least near native speakers. The conference that aims at setting the phonetics of Thai alphabets for foreigners is useful for teaching Thai to them. Teachers can select the alphabet set as an alternative for transferring Thai alphabet phonetics and can write a textbook from this or teach a foreigner to pronounce Thai words correctly and clearly as a native speaker.”
The conference also led to strong academic cooperation among students and lecturers teaching Thai to foreigners by strengthening their potentialities, expertise, and research experiences. The academicians also had a venue to exchange their knowledge in phonetics transcription of Thai language. Moreover, a network has been formed for academic collaboration, which is important in setting the Thai phonetics transcription. Therefore, no matter where a learner learns the language, he or she will learn from the similar system of sound and phonetics. This system will be proposed to the Royal Society of Thailand to use as one form in transferring Thai phonetics for Thai language teaching to foreigners in due course.
News: Center for Lifelong Learning
Photos: Organization Communications Unit, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
