| Confusable word is one of the most difficult aspects of Chinese language for Thai students.In recent year,the research of Chinese confusable words has been increased,but the amount of research on Chinese confusable words that focused on Thai students is insufficient.As the importance of Chinese language study in Thailand becomes more apparent,the correct understanding of Chinese confusable words needs to be raised urgently.Hence,this research is conducted base on the interlanguage theory that concentrated on the investigation of Thai students with different skill levels of Chinese(New HSK level)with the aim to provide the useful reference for the teaching and studying of Chinese confusable words in Thailand.This research's methodology consists of data gathering,error analysis,interviews,and corpus.The research provides 96 groups of Chinese confusable words for Thai students.After that,76 groups of words are selected to assess Thai students with different Chinese language skill levels about Chinese confusable words.The results which consist of the Chinese confusable words for Thai students,the percentages of confusable words,the difficulty rate of confusable words,the types of confusable words,and the relationships between each group of Chinese confusable words are gathered and analyzed.In addition,this research in-depth analysis of the causes of the confusion in Chinese vocabulary usages among Thai students and the combined interview results with the possible tactics and strategies for both Chinese language teachers and Thai students on the confusable words are also provided.From these analyses,the results can be divided into five sections.The first section is the analysis of the Chinese confusable words for Thai students.Chinese confusable words together with Thai equivalents are gathered and categorized into tables.After that,these words are used to assess Thai students with different levels of Chinese language(New HSK system)to find the percentages of the language confusion among students and the difficulty rates.From the results,words with the highest percentages are categorized into "the table of confusable words for Thai Chinese language students" which consists of 96 groups:beginner level(New HSK3)13 groups,intermediate level(New HSK5)12 groups,and advanced level(New HSK6)71 groups.Second,the research conducted the analysis about the commonly used Chinese confusable words in Thai students by assessing 274 Thai students in the beginner level,intermediate level and the advanced level students on the beginner level Chinese confusable words;the intermediate level and the advanced level students on the intermediate level Chinese confusable word;and the advanced level students on the advanced level Chinese confusable words.The results suggested the separate statistics of the percentages of confusable words as three degrees of high,medium,and low ratings that Thai students frequently used incorrectly.Furthermore,the research found that there are five groups of Chinese confusable words that considered the most difficult among Thai students in beginner level,as well as 13 groups for the intermediate level students and 13 groups with the highest difficulty for the advanced level students.After that,these groups of Chinese confusable words with the highest difficulties for Thai students in each level are compared.The results suggested that the percentages of confusable words in beginner level are higher than the other levels,which,in turn,indicate that the higher the level of Chinese language competency is,the less likely the confusion occurred.However,there are some confusable words that Thai students in each level have the same rate of confusion such as ?-? and ??-?.?-? has the high rate of confusion for all beginner,intermediate and advanced level students,while ???? has medium rate of confusion for all the beginner,intermediate and advanced level students.Third,the analysis of the types of Chinese confusable words in Thai Students and the relationship between each group.The types of Chinese confusable words among Thai students can be divided into seven categories:(1)the synonymous or homonymous of the words,such as ??-??;(2)the synonymous or homonymous of the words,as well as the similarity of the alphabets,such as ??-??;(3)the synonymous or near-synonymous of the words,alphabets,and pronunciations of the words,such as ??-??;(4)the similarity of their translation of the words,such as ?-?;(5)the near-exact similarity of the alphabets of the words,such as ?-?;(6)the same pronunciations of the words,such as ?-?;(7)the exact or near-exact similarity of the alphabets,and pronunciations of the words,such as ?-?.Moreover,the relationships of the Chinese confusable words in Thai students can be divided into three major aspects:one word with one word relationship;one word with several words relationship;and several words with one word relationship.In addition,it should be noted that there are also the complicated relationship in some of the Chinese confusable words as well.Fourth,the causes of the confusion in Chinese vocabulary usages among Thai students.From the results of investigation together with the interviews from Thai students,the research can sum up the causes of the confusion in Chinese vocabulary usages among Thai students into two major factors:(1)the ontology of Chinese language which consists of six aspects:the similar alphabets,the same alphabets,the homonym,the same pronunciations,different syntax functions,different of collocation objects;(2)the influence of Thai as a native language,including the similarity of its translation.And fifth,the tactics and strategies for Chinese language teaching and studying.Through the interviews together with the results of the confusable words test,this research serves as the base summary for the possible tactics and strategies for Chinese language teachers in Thailand.Before the class session,the best approaches for teachers are to be prepared and familiarized with Chinese vocabulary structures and grammars.Furthermore,while in class,teachers should be focusing on the suitable explanation to the language competency of the students in class,the definitions and the possible usage of the words,the morphmes and Chinese character components of words,teaching by the use of situational contexts,as well as emphasizing the collocation of words.In additional,the research provides four aspects of the possible tactics and strategies for Thai students.Chinese language students with beginner,intermediate,and advanced skill level should be focusing on the basic of studying processes,meanings and usages of words.The beginner level students should be focusing on Chinese calligraphy,memorizing the alphabets,the compositions of Chinese characters,the syntactic function of words,the differences between Thai and Chinese words structures,the differences connotations which can be differentiate between spoken language words and written language words.The focuses of the lessons for the intermediate level students need to be on the connotations that differentiate between positive and negative meanings,as well as the collocation object of words.On the other hand,the students in advanced level need to be concentrated on the distinctions of the Chinese confusable words,practice to discriminate and analyze the differences between confusing words,as well as to pay close attention to the structures and meanings of Chinese words. |
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