Relationships Between Thai EFL Learners’ Factors, Intelligibility, and Comprehensibility Towards Varieties of English

Abstract

This study aims to investigate intelligibility levels of Thai EFL learners, relationship between intelligibility and learners’ variables, and relationship between intelligibility and comprehensibility scores toward varieties of English. Seventy-five students were recruited as a sample group through stratified random sampling technique. Seven research instruments were used in the study, including a quick placement test, a questionnaire, an intelligibility test, an accent familiarity judgment report, a comprehensibility test, an attitudinal test, and four speech samples produced by speakers of 4 different nationalities. Data were quantitatively analyzed by means of arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation coefficients. The findings revealed that Thai EFL learners received high scores in their intelligibility tests for all speech samples. Thai speaker was rated as the most intelligible to the learners, while American speaker was rated as the least intelligible one. Correlations between intelligibility and other learners’ variables were found only in accent familiarity, language proficiency, and attitude. A significant correlation was also found between intelligibility and comprehensibility scores towards varieties of English of Thai EFL learners.