Word Stress Errors in Polysyllabic Words: Effects of Syllable Number and Word Familiarity Among Thai EFL Learners

Abstract

This research aims to investigate the effects of syllable number (2-, 3-, 4-syllable words) and word familiarity on English word stress production among Thai EFL learners, using polysyllabic words with neutral affixes that do not affect stress placement in the word list. The participants were 20 third-year English major students in Chiang Rai, Thailand, who had basic knowledge of stress production in two-syllable, three-syllable, and four-syllable words due to completed courses in Introduction to Linguistics and Phonology. They were required to be at the B1 level or lower by taking the CEFR level test from the British Council Global. The data were collected by giving participants a task to read aloud 60 polysyllabic words (30 familiar, 30 unfamiliar) in isolation to test word stress production. The results revealed that the number of syllables had a significant effect on participants’ word stress placement, with more syllables resulting in more stress placement errors due to increased complexity. Moreover, word familiarity also had a significant effect on word stress placement, as the unfamiliar word set had a higher error rate than the familiar word set. Participants tended to avoid using Thai stress patterns to pronounce the given words since they probably had phonological awareness. However, participants showed a tendency to apply Thai stress patterns to unfamiliar words automatically when they did not know how to pronounce those words, following the Thai stress pattern that participants were used to.