The Recognition and Production of English Word Stress of Thai University Students

This study aimed to find out whether English major students who had basic knowledge of Linguistics are able to assign word stress to two-syllable, three-syllable and four-syllable English words correctly, whether there is a significant correlation between their competence in recognizing and in producing English word stress, and to determine the factors affecting word stress recognition and production. The participants were 14 second year English major students who had basic knowledge of Linguistics. The data were collected by using a word stress assignment. The participants were assigned to mark the primary stress on 45 words, and read all of them. The results revealed that over 70% of the stress placements of two-syllable, three-syllable and four-syllable English words were correct. For the stress productions, it was found that over 70% of them were correct. It can be assumed that the ability of the students to assign the primary stress to the two-syllable, three-syllable, and four-syllable words correlated with their ability to pronounce them. From the interview, it was found that the differences between English and Thai, the complexity of the syllables, and the inadequate knowledge of syllable structure might be the factors affecting students’ word stress errors.