英語冠詞之第二語言習得

Abstract

本研究旨在探討以中文為母語的學生對英語冠詞之習得狀況，研究議題包括不同冠詞類型和其所屬的語意特徵之難度順序、題型效應、語境強化之影響及語言程度效應。本研究採兩個實驗題型:選擇題與填充題，試題皆以對話呈現。受試者為八十位以中文為母語的大一非英語系學生及二十位英語母語人士，並依據其英語程度分為初、中初、中高及高級四組。 實驗結果發現，三種類型的冠詞和其語意屬性之難易度會受到第一語言轉移及英文冠詞系統本身的複雜度影響。在三種冠詞中，以零冠詞表現最佳，也最容易習得；定冠詞the表現最不穩定，習得時間最晚。在冠詞的三種語意特徵的習得上，以[+SR, +HK]最易習得而[-SR, -HK]最為困難。此外，定冠詞the較與[+HK]之語意屬性有較高相關性。在題型效應方面，當題型較受控制，受試者面對選擇題與填充題的表現大致相同。最後，英語程度也證實會影響冠詞的習得。受試者英語程度越高，冠詞的表現越好，對冠詞功能的理解和使用皆會隨著英語能力的提升而有所增進。

The present study aims to investigate the second language acquisition of the English article system by Chinese EFL learners. The research questions addressed in the present study include the difficulty order of the three English article types and their semantic features, the task effect, the input enhancement effect and the proficiency effect. The study employed a comprehension task (i.e., multiple-choices) and a production task (i.e., fill-in-the-blankets) in the format of conversations. The experimental group comprised eighty non-English majoring freshmen in Taiwan who were divided into four proficiency groups (i.e., low, low intermediate, high intermediate and advanced) according to their English proficiency level. The control group composed of twenty native English speakers. The overall results showed that the three article types and their underlying semantic features exhibited different degree of difficulty, and the sequence was subject to the L1 transfer effect and the complexity of the L1 English article system. The definite article the and the feature [-SR, -HK] were the most difficult while the null article and the feature [+SR, +HK] were the easiest. Also, the was found more associated with the feature [+HK] than [+SR]. In response to the task effect, the results did not yield a significant difference, implying the subjects’ competence and performance were similar in acquiring English articles when the production task was controlled. Finally, the proficiency effect did play an influential role in the acquisition of English articles. In sum, the higher the proficiency, the better the performance.