Ability in Reading Thai Words among Undergraduate Students in the Language and Applied Thai Program, Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University

Abstract

The objective of this study was to examine ability in reading Thai words correctly according to the Office of the Royal Society’s principles. The subjects were 120 first to fourth year students in the academic year 2015 in the Language and Applied Thai Program of the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Prince of Songkla University selected through nonprobability and convenience sampling. Data were collected using a questionnaire asking how to read 50 Thai words selected through drawing lots from the book titled “How to Read and How to Write” published by the Office of the Royal Society (B.E.2557). The study found that the percentages from the highest to lowest of the subjects who read the word correctly according to the Office of the Royal Society’s principles were as follows: 69.20 percent read three-syllable words correctly; 61.67 percent read six-syllable words correctly; 59.50 percent read two-syllable words correctly, 54.58 percent read five-syllable words correctly, and 47.92 percent read four-syllable words correctly.