A speech-perception experiment examined how Thai learners distinguish English /θ/ and /ð/ from nearby categories across accents and vowel contexts. American and Philippine stimuli were generally identified more accurately; /ð/ was often assimilated to /d/, while /θ/ was heard as /f/ or /t/. The findings support exposure to accent diversity rather than one prestige model.
Key findings
- Accent affected /ð/ identification across vowel contexts. Vowel context affected /θ/ in low and high vowels, while accent did not significantly affect /θ/ in the back-vowel context. /d-ð/ was difficult in British, Indian and Thai accents; /t-θ/ was difficult in several Indian and Thai contexts.
Why this matters globally
The study can inform pronunciation and listening pedagogy for English as a lingua franca by targeting empirically difficult contrasts and contexts rather than one native-speaker norm.
Thai researcher contribution
A Naresuan University researcher framed the study around Thai phonology in collaboration with a Hong Kong scholar, producing directly relevant evidence for Thai learners.
Limitations to consider
The abstract omits participant count, age, proficiency, accent exposure, speaker count and tokens per accent. Isolated words do not represent conversation, and accent familiarity may partly explain performance.