以中文為母語之兒童中文示證性標記之理解與使用

Abstract

本研究旨在探討以中文為母語的兒童對中文示證性標記之習得，主要探討的議題包括：訊息來源類型、習得順序、題型效應以及年齡效應。本研究包含兩項測驗：圖片敘述測驗與選擇題測驗，分別測試兒童的表達能力以及理解能力。研究對象包含實驗組的四十位孩童，依年齡三歲及五歲分成兩組，每組二十人；另外有對照組的二十位以中文為母語的成人。研究結果顯示，直接訊息來源的標記比起間接訊息來源的標記更早習得。其中，視覺和非視覺訊息的標記對兒童來說同樣容易；比起轉述訊息的標記，兒童對推論訊息的標記有較多誤用。在題型效應方面，兒童在選擇題測驗的表現顯著優於他們在圖片敘述測驗的表現，顯示兒童辨識中文示證性用語的能力比起使用相關標記表達訊息來源的能力來得更好。最後，本研究發現年齡是習得中文示證性標記的關鍵因素。三歲兒童已經可以掌握直接訊息來源的標記，但仍難以理解間接訊息來源的標記；五歲兒童處理間接訊息來源標記的能力比起三歲兒童已有顯著增強，但仍未達到成人能力的階段。總言之，以中文為母語的兒童對中文示證性標記習得的能力隨著年齡增長而提升。

The present study examined the acquisition of evidential markers in Chinese with Mandarin-speaking children under various issues, including evidential types, the order of acquisition, task effect and age effect. One production task (i.e., picture-description task) and one comprehension task (i.e., multiple-choice task) were conducted. Forty Mandarin-speaking children participated in the study, and they were further divided into two age groups: the 3-year-olds and the 5-year-olds. In addition, twenty adult native speakers of Mandarin were recruited as controls. The results showed that direct evidential markers were acquired prior to indirect evidential markers. With regard to the order of acquisition, the children found visual markers and non-visual markers equally easy, while they understood reported markers better than inferring markers. Concerning the task effect, the participants performed significantly better on the comprehension task than on the production task, suggesting that it is relatively easier for them to recognize evidential meanings than to produce evidentially encoded utterances. Finally, age was identified as a crucial factor contributing to the children's acquisition of Chinese evidential markers. The 3-year-olds had some success with direct evidential markers, but they still had difficulties with indirect evidential markers. The 5-year-olds significantly outperformed the 3-year-olds in indirect contexts; however, they did not reach an adult-like level. Taken together, Mandarin-speaking children's abilities of handling evidential markers in Chinese improved with the growth of age.