The pronunciation of English stop-liquid and stop-glide clusters in word-initial position by native speakers of two different dialects of Thai

This study investigated, at the phonetic level, the interlanguage phonology of adult EFL learners from two different dialects of Thai to test two main issues: (a) dialect effects on L2 pronunciation, and (b) the validity of two L2 theories, the Language Transfer and the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (MDH). The investigation focused specifically on the pronunciation of English stop-liquid and stop-glide clusters in word-initial position.; The study investigated 13 Thai speakers: six from Dialect A (those who pronounce liquids in Thai clusters), and seven from Dialect B (those who delete liquids in Thai clusters). The subjects were asked to perform three tasks: picture description, sentence reading, and word-list reading.; The study's results showed that learners' L2 production is affected by the structure of their L1 dialect. The Language Transfer theory was found to provide a better account for L2 phonetic data than the MDH. The Language Transfer is, however, not the only theory that can account for the data of the present study. Universal markedness also plays a role, but not in the way proposed by the MDH. In addition, it has been found that task types and orthography may also affect their L2 pronunciation.; Based on the findings of this study, it is argued that, in order to have an effective L2 pronunciation teaching, EFL teachers may not assume that learners from the so-called same L1 would speak the L2 in the same manner and share the same problems. Teachers need to be aware that dialectal differences within an L1 play a crucial role in how learners pronounce L2 sounds.; In order for the EFL teacher to have a successful EFL pronunciation class, it is suggested that the teacher collect production samples from the students' own language before or during the very first session of the class so as to permit diagnosis of the learner's problems, and develop the class in a way to minimize such problems. The focus of the class should be on helping the learners with the sounds whose incorrect pronunciation could cause communication breakdowns.