台灣高中生英語現在完成式的習得

Abstract

本研究旨在探討台灣高中學生英語現在完成式使用上的表現。研究對象為143位高中一年級及三年級的英語學習者，試題包含填充和寫作。研究分析包含(1)過去式和現在完成式的使用表現及對現在完成式篇章功能的認知；(2)現在完成式不同功能的習得；(3)母語的影響和對指示詞的依賴程度；以及(4)受試者在寫作上的現在完成式的使用。研究主要的發現是，當學習者察覺了上下文與現在的關聯性(current relevance)，他們只會用現在式；而對於過去已完成的事件，學習者不認為其與現在產生任何聯結，所以僅使用過去式。此結果顯示學習者並未完全了解到現在完成式語意上和語用上的意義；因此，他們使用過去式的正確率高於現在完成式，而現在完成式的功能中，高中學生最熟悉的為「表經驗」的用法 (experiential perfect)。中文對學習者最大的影響為普遍依賴表時間的指示詞，上下文中有指示詞出現，現在完成式的正確率就偏高。高三學生在「表持續一段時間的狀況」(continuative perfect)和「表事件的影響持續到現在」(resultative perfect)的用法、以及未與指示詞連用的情況中，現在完成式的使用較高一生有顯著的進步。學習者在作文中的表現顯示出他們對現在完成式的用法僅限於基本句型，並且甚少主動使用。 本研究除了探究高中學生英語現在完成式的使用外，也檢視國內的英語學習教材呈現現在完成式的方式，發現教材中多使用單句說明(sentence-level examples)，以及過度強調與指示詞的搭配使用，使得學習者普遍依賴指示詞，以及以單句判斷是否使用現在完成式。鑑於研究結果與上述缺失，本研究提出一些教學方向和教學活動以供參考。The present study explores the use of the English present perfect by 143 Taiwanese senior high school students in 1st and 3rd grades. The test includes blank-filling and writing. The analyses focus on (1) use of simple past and present perfect; (2) acquisition rates of the functions of present perfect; (3) L1 interference and dependence on the adverbials; and (4) performance in the writing task. The main findings are that when learners perceive the current relevance in the contexts, they tend to use simple present. As for the completed past events, they do not see their relation to the present. Thus they tend to use simple past in such contexts. These results suggest that learners do not fully comprehend the semantic and pragmatic meanings of the present perfect. As a consequence, simple past enjoys a much higher accuracy rate than present perfect. Furthermore, learners have better grasp of the ‘experiential perfect’, the most salient among all the functions of the present perfect. L1 interference can be observed in learners’ reliance on the temporal adverbials. The accuracy rate increases in contexts with such adverbials. The 3rd graders show improvement on the use of ‘continuative perfect’, ‘resultative perfect’, and in contexts without adverbials. From the writings, it is found that learners’ use of the present perfect is scarce and bound to typical structures. Besides, this study also point out the defects of the local instructional materials in the presentation of the present perfect. The sentence-level examples and overemphasis of temporal adverbials should be responsible for learners’ heavy dependence on such adverbials and judgment on single sentences. In light of these inadequacies, the present study proposes guidelines and model instruction for EFL teachers to refer to when teaching the English present perfect.