Chinese And Thai Modal Particles Comparison And Instruction

Modal particle is a special feature for expressing the tune. There are many kinds of modal particles in Chinese language and they are one of the outstanding characteristic of Chinese language. For Chinese language, it is very important to use the right modal particle for the right timing. Using wrong modal particle may cause misunderstanding in communication. Furthermore, Chinese modal particle would be placed in "function word", which has no role within the sentence. In order to understand Modal particle, we will not only to understand how to use it, but also we have to understand how to pronounce and write it as well. There are not Modal particle in Thai language as in Chinese and it will not change format or sound, like the word ’啊’ in Chinese. However, Modal particle in Thai language can represent status, gender, age and politeness of the speaker. By the differences in language between Chinese and Thai, it would be difficult for Thai students to study Chinese Modal particles. Also, learning Modal particle in Thailand is often ignored by teachers. The reason is that Modal particle is not focused as it should, such as how to pronounce, how to write and how to use ’啊’. Therefore, it is difficult for Thai students to understand. We have found out that Thai students always use the wrong words and haven’t been corrected by teachers. It would cause some students to avoid using Modal particle.