重複聆聽故事及詞義解釋對國小低年級學生英語單字學習的影響

Abstract

對大多數學童而言，聽故事是尋常且有趣的活動，許多研究也證實聽故 事可以增長兒童詞彙及讀寫能力。相關的文獻指出，聆聽或閱讀故事時， 兒童可自然而然地習得詞彙。本研究旨在檢視重複聆聽故事及詞義解釋對 國小低年級學生英語單字學習的影響，並進一步辨別受試者既有的英語能 力，探討不同能力學童從聆聽故事中，所呈現之詞彙學習能力。 本研究以班級為單位進行施測，隨機將三十位參加全美語課後安親班的 國小二年級學生分配到不同的實驗情境，一為重複聆聽故事並輔以詞義解 釋、另一組單純重複聆聽故事而無釋義。為確保受試者先前從未接觸過研 究用故事書及目標單字，本研究將新編故事並繪製圖畫書。故事中將有八 個新創字(pseudowords)做為目標單字。 本研究採準研究實驗設計，依變數為聆聽次數（一次、三次、四次）、 詞義解釋（有、無）以及英語能力（低、高）。受試學童將先完成英語能 力評量。一位以英語為母語並受過相關訓練的研究生將唸故事給兩組學生 聽；為確保組別間及唸故事的各階段的一致性，研究人員將遵照規劃好的 唸故事腳本及研究程序。為了解聆聽次數對單字學習的影響，在第一、第 三及第四次聽完故事後，學童將接受單字測驗。在聽完第四次故事後一星 期，學童個別重述故事，以了解他們運用目標單字的情況。 研究結果能幫助英語教師及父母更加了解唸故事給孩子聽對詞彙學習 的影響；英語教師亦可根據本研究發現，設計相關課堂活動，增進課堂聆 聽故事教學的效能。

Listening to stories is a common and most enjoyable activity for children. It also provides opportunities for children to develop decontextualized language skills and has been suggested to contribute to vocabulary growth and language development. The extant literature has suggested that incidental vocabulary learning occurs as language learners read or listen to stories. The present proposed study, extending from the findings of Penno, Wilkinson, and Moore (2002) and others on English-only children, is designed to estimate the effects of repeated story listening and the additive effects of word meaning explanations on novel word learning among EFL children in Taiwan. In addition, the present study also attempts to identify whether subject-related factor, namely children’s entering English proficiency, interacts with the previous two text-related factors. Thirty second-grade children from an English-immersion after-school program in Taipei will be recruited and randomly assigned to either of the two treatment groups: a repeated story-listening with word meaning explanation (WME) and a repeated story-listening without word meaning explanation (NWME). A wordless picture book will be created for the present study to ensure that the possibility of participants’ prior exposure to the stimulus book is minimized. Eight pseudowords will be embedded in the story as target novel words to assure a true zero word knowledge for all participants. The present study will use a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of repeated story listening and to further compare the possible additive effects of teacher explanation of novel words to children’s word learning. An English language proficiency test will first be administered to both groups of children before the story listening sessions. A trained graduate student who is a native speaker of English will serve as the main reader of the story for both groups. A scripted story-reading protocol and possible responses to children’s questions during each reading will be provided to the reader to ensure procedural fidelity across different reading sessions and both treatment conditions. For both conditions, the same story will be read to the participants four times over two weeks. To understand children’s gains in vocabulary knowledge, at the end of the first, third, and fourth story listening session, the multiple-choice vocabulary posttests will be administered. One week later, all participants will be invited to individually retell the story to measure the children’s use of the target and generalization words. Results of the present proposed study on the effects of repeated story listening and related activities may provide useful information about reading stories to children for parents and English teachers in Taiwan. English teachers can also be informed and inspired to provide effective instructional practices that consider associated factors when using storybook reading in their classroom.