Improving International Learners' Reading of Thai Royal Words Derived From Pali and Sanskrit: An Error Analysis and Instructional Intervention

This study aimed 1) to investigate reading errors in Thai royal words derived from Pali (PL) and Sanskrit (SKT) among first-year students enrolled in the Communicative Thai Language for Foreigners (TLF) Program at Kasetsart University and 2) to develop and evaluate an instructional intervention designed to improve their reading ability. The participants were 10 international students enrolled in the course 01363132 Thai Reading II during the second semester of the academic year 2025, selected through purposive sampling. Research instruments included Thai royal words reading exercises, instructional materials containing Pali and Sanskrit-derived royal words, and oral reading tasks. Data were collected through three instructional cycles and analyzed using descriptive statistics and repeated-measures ANOVA. The findings revealed four major categories of reading errors: consonant cluster reduction (36.7%), final consonant insertion (26.5%), incorrect reading of Samāsa compounds (20.4%), and misreading of Pali and Sanskrit-derived spellings (16.3%). These difficulties were associated with limited phonological awareness, insufficient morphological awareness, and cross-linguistic influence from learners’ native languages. To address these problems, a four-stage instructional intervention was developed, consisting of explicit instruction, word decomposition training, guided reading practice, and independent reading practice. The results demonstrated an overall improvement in students’ reading performance across the three assessments. Mean scores increased from 29.4% in the first assessment to 37.1% in the second assessment and 54.5% in the third assessment. Repeated-measures ANOVA revealed a statistically significant difference among the three assessments (F(2,18) = 24.67, p < .001), indicating substantial improvement in reading performance. The findings suggest that systematic instruction emphasizing phonological awareness, morphological analysis, and repeated reading practice can enhance international learners’ ability to read Thai royal words derived from Pali and Sanskrit and may serve as a useful pedagogical model for teaching Thai royal words to international students, while contributing to the understanding of phonological and morphological factors in second-language reading.