華裔中文學習者對多義詞「吃」之理解研究

Abstract

本研究旨在探討華裔中文學習者如何理解中文多義詞「吃」的不同義項。主要探討三個因素：各義項的語義相關性、語境線索，以及語言能力效應對學習者的影響。研究對象包括40位華裔中文學習者，根據其華語文能力測驗（TOCFL）成績分為中級組與高級組，另有20位中文母語者作為對照組。研究設計包含兩項義項詮釋任務：無語境詮釋任務（IT-WC）與有語境詮釋任務（IT-C）。每項任務包含18題選擇題，測試不同「吃」短語的義項，有語境詮釋任務則提供了語境提示和相關圖片輔助說明。研究結果顯示以下幾個主要發現：首先，華裔學習者在「吃」的義項習得上呈現出一定的習得順序，分為三個難易層次。第一層次：吃1「咀嚼並吞下」、吃2「在某地吃」、吃3「依靠」，第二層次：吃6「消耗」，以及第三層次：吃4「獲得」、吃5「遭受」。高級學習者對所有義項的解釋達到母語水準，而中級學習者僅能正確掌握第一層次的義項，對第二層次及第三層次延伸義的理解表現不佳。研究發現，義項與核心意義的語義偏離程度越大，華裔學習者理解的難度越高。其次，語境線索顯著促進了義項理解，特別是在中級學習者對於較難義項（吃4、吃5、吃6）的理解上。此外，高級學習者在不同任務及義項上的詮釋均優於中級學習者，顯示語言程度對表現具有顯著影響。綜上，研究結果揭示了「吃」義項的習得順序，並為教學實踐提供了啟示，建議根據義項習得難度採用漸進的教學順序。此外，教學中引入語境線索對於提升學習者對多義詞義項的理解具有重要作用。This study investigates how heritage learners of Chinese interpret the polysemous verb chi ‘to eat,’ focusing on three factors: semantic relatedness of chi senses, the role of contextual clues, and proficiency effects. Forty heritage learners, categorized as intermediate and advanced based on their scores on a standardized test (TOCFL), participated in the study, along with 20 native Chinese speakers who served as a control group. Participants completed two interpretation tasks: the Interpretation Task without Context (IT-WC) and the Interpretation Task with Context (IT-C). Each task consisted of 18 multiple-choice questions targeting different chi expressions, with the IT-C task supplemented by contextual clues and illustrative pictures.The findings revealed several key insights. First, heritage learners suggested three levels of difficulty order: Level 1 (chi1 ‘to chew and swallow,’ chi2 ‘to eat at a certain location,’ chi3 ‘to rely on’), Level 2 (chi6 ‘to consume’), and Level 3 (chi4 ‘to obtain,’ chi5 ‘to suffer’). The advanced learners demonstrated native-like interpretation across all chi senses, while intermediate learners struggled with the meanings at Levels 2 and 3. This indicates increasing difficulty with greater semantic deviation from the core meaning. Second, contextual clues substantially facilitated comprehension, particularly for intermediate learners in understanding the more challenging meanings (chi4, chi5, chi6). Third, proficiency levels significantly influenced performance, with advanced learners consistently outperforming intermediate learners across tasks and chi types. In conclusion, the findings highlight the importance of teaching chi meanings in sequence and incorporating contextual clues to enhance comprehension.