ABSTRACT

Thai is a tonal language in which each syllable has a contrastive lexical tone. Differences in pitch or fundamental frequency (f0) are used to distinguish lexical meaning. This study is a continuous series in investigating the effect of language background and training on auditory discrimination and production of Thai tones proceeded by Filipino learners. It aims to find practical methods and tools for guiding learners to produce and apply Thai distinctive tones communicatively. The data analysis was carried out with both auditory stimuli and acoustic analysis instrument: PRAAT 6.3.14. The native Filipinos perceived contour tone: rising greater than level tones (high, mid, low). Most of mismatches were made among high, falling, and rising tones.