L2 Acquisition of Spatial Words in Chinese Time Expressions by English-speaking Learners

本研究旨在探討母語為英語之外籍學生華語時間表述方位詞之第二語言習得，藉由實證研究發現結果，瞭解外籍學生之時間表述方位詞習得順序，進而歸納出所可能出現之偏誤及其他影響因素。其主要研究議題包括「時間表述方位詞之習得順序」、「母語對外籍學生習得之影響」、「不同程度學習者可能出現之偏誤類型」、「習得發展之趨勢」、「理解層面與應用層面之差異」。本研究採取質性研究方法，以六個月時間觀察外籍學生之第二語言習得。研究對象主要為三名來自初級、中級及中高級之英美學生，每個月進行一次測驗，共計六次。測驗題型含兩大類：「文法選擇」及「看圖說故事」。 研究結果顯示，對母語為英語之外籍學生而言，「上下類」表時結構較「前後類」表時結構容易習得，因其母語並無「上下類」相應用法，導致出現偏誤次數較「前後類」來得低。而分析四個方位詞時，亦發現「下＞後＞上＞前」之順序，說明了對母語為英語之外籍學生而言，表「未來」概念之方位詞較為容易掌握。其次，外籍學生易出現之偏誤類型可分為「錯序」、「誤代」、「誤加」、「遺漏」四大類，其中，初級程度出現偏誤以「誤代」為主，中級程度則是以「誤加」出現次數較多，而中高級程度雖是以「誤代」為主，但出現次數明顯降低許多。第三，由測驗結果可看出，外籍學生在理解及應用層面之發展不一，學生在理解層面掌握較快，應用層面則是相對較晚。 本研究同時依據實證結果提供教學活動設計，並提出相關教學建議，以作為日後教師教學時之參考。The purpose of the thesis is to conduct a qualitative study to investigate the L2 acquisition of spatial words in Chinese time expressions by English-speaking learners. The major issues addressed include: the acquisition of Chinese spatial words, L1 transfer, L2 error types, L2 learners’ developmental sequences, and differences between comprehension and production. Three subjects were selected from different proficiency levels: beginning, low intermediate, and intermediate. Each subject was observed and assessed monthly for six months. A comprehension task (i.e. a grammatical judgment task) and a production task (i.e. a picture-cue description task) were employed to examine the subjects’ L2 acquisition of Chinese time expressions and their responses were compared with the findings obtained from 12 native controls. The overall results are as follows: First, for English-speaking learners, the shang-xia ‘up-down’ type of time expressions was easier than qian-hou ‘before-after’ type. This is because there are no corresponding “up-down” expressions in the subjects’ mother tongue. Moreover, a hierarchical sequence of L2 time expressions was found: xia ‘down’> hou ‘after’> shang ‘up’> qian ‘before,’ implying that future time expressions were less challenging than past time expressions. Second, it was found the subjects’ common errors included “wrong omission,” “wrong addition,” “wrong substitution,” and “wrong word order.” The beginning and low-intermediate L2 learners’ major errors were of the “wrong substitution” type, but the intermediate L2 learner’s error was of the “wrong substitution” type. Third, there was a significant difference between the subjects’ comprehension and production. The subjects performed better on the grammaticality judgment task than on the picture description task. Finally, given the developmental order found in the present study, a lesson plan is designed for teaching Chinese time expressions to foreign students in the L2 Chinese classroom