著重文法形式(Form-Focused)與著重意義(Meaning-Focused)的文法教學對台灣國小學童 學習規則與不規則動詞過去式的成效影響

Abstract

在現今全球化、國際化的趨勢之下，學習第二語和外語的蔚為潮流，學習外語的需求與潮流反映在政府的政策與人民的期許，且舉世皆然。因為多變的語言政策和趨勢促使我們持續尋找一個更好、更有效的學習方法來學習第二語或外語，如英語教育與學習，因此除了須同時考量學習者之心理及語言的發展的同時，我們必須更深入了解最好的教學方法，以建立有意義的教學方法。 這個準實驗研究將透過不同的文法教學方式來了解學生在學習規則與不規則動詞過去式的成效。三個台灣市立國小四年級班級參與本研究，並分別接受三種不同文法教學方法與歷程，包括明示文法教學法、著重形式與意義結合的文法教學法，及著重意義的內隱文法學習；後兩者藉由兩種不同故事呈現，一為研究老師特別設計的文法故事，另一為兒童英文繪本；三班學生學習同樣的規則動詞與不規則動詞，一班學生接受明示文法教學法，另兩班藉由兩個故事學習動詞過去式，但故事的順序對調。 研究資料包括文法前測，後測，和延遲後測。第一階段我們實施文法前導測試以確保文法測驗的可行性與適當性，及基礎英語能力測驗，以確保三個班級的實力是相近的。第二階段則為第一期文法教學實驗，包含了文法前測，文法教學實驗，以及第一次文法後測；接續的第二期文法教學實驗，同樣包括前測-實驗-後測的程序。最後階段在第二次後測完成的兩周後施行延遲後測，而這期間是沒有任何的測試或文法干預。 第一組接受明示文法教學法，教學過程採用傳統的文法教學活動，包括直接教學法，還有解釋文法結構，演練，和錯誤糾正。而二、三組則採用著重意義的文法教學，第二組第一期使用英文故事繪本，第二期使用研究老師所編製的文法故事；而第三組則相反，第一期用文法故事，第二期用繪本。 本研究探討三個問題。第一個問題著重於文法教學法和以意義為主的內隱文法學習對學生學習文法的影響差異。研究結果顯示第一組接受明示文法教學法的班級測驗結果明顯地高於第二組和第三組的班級。然而，這三個班級的測驗分數皆隨著實驗進行產生顯著增加。第二個研究問題探討:以故事呈現之重形式的文法教學法(第二組)，及著重意義的內隱文法學習(第三組)對學生學習產生的差異。事後比較檢定顯示出兩組學生成績皆有顯著進步；但兩組相比並無顯著組間差異，研究結果顯示這兩種形式的教學皆對學生測驗成績產生顯著成長，而故事呈現的順序並不會對測驗結果造成顯著影響。第三個研究問題探討三組學生規則和不規則動詞過去式的使用變化。測驗結果指出三組學生規則和不規則動詞的使用皆有顯著進步；然而規則和不規則這兩種動詞變化相較下並無呈現顯著差異。

There is a current and dynamic international tendency to put more emphasis on to the learning of second and foreign languages in line with the process of globalization. It is underwritten by governmental policies and population expectations, and extends beyond a geopolitical place and personal backgrounds. These policies and tendencies are dynamic and constantly search for better and more efficient approaches as can be seen in the dynamics and history of research on English as a second and foreign language. It is therefore important to gain a deeper understanding of best pedagogical practices while paying attention to the psycholinguistic readiness of language learners in order to set up meaningful instructional methods. This quasi-experimental study sets out to gain a better understanding of the effectiveness of learners’ learning of the regular and irregular verbs in the past tense under different instructional conditions. Three intact EFL fourth grade classes from an inner-city public school in Northern Taiwan took part in this study. The instructional conditions were covered under explicit form-focused grammar instruction in line with traditional grammar instructional practices, versus meaning-focused grammar instruction based on the Natural Approach and embedded in reading-aloud storytelling as the means of instruction. Two story types were used, a children’s picture book and a teacher-researcher generated story, with the order of using the two stories counterbalanced. Experimental procedures were multiphasic and involved two treatment sessions that were randomly assigned to the three classes. Data collection consisted of a pre-, post-, and delayed posttest regime and took place nine weeks. The initial phase consisted of a pilot run and a baseline English proficiency test, to ensure comparability among the three classes. The second phase included an initial grammar pretest to ensure the viability of the follow-up grammar sessions and testing. It also incorporated an initial grammar instructional session under three experimental conditions, followed by a posttest, after which the second session was conducted. The same “pretest, treatment, posttest” format was followed for the second session. The final phase consisted of the delayed posttest two weeks after the second posttest and without any intervention in between. Group 1(Gr1-FFI) received form-focused grammar instruction and learned the same set of past-tense verbs as groups 2 and 3 through explicit instruction, based on a traditional form-focused approach, -with a present-practice-produce sequence of instruction . Group 2 (Gr2-MFI-SH/HD) and Group 3 (Gr3-MFI-HD/SH) received meaning-focused treatments in an implicit grammar-teaching approach embedded in story reading-aloud. Group 2 and 3 received counterbalanced input, with Gr2-MFI-SH/HD’s first session based on a picture storybook, after which a grammar story was used for the second session. On the other hand, Gr3-MFI-HD/SH received input for the first session using the grammar story with the second session based on the picture book. Three research questions were investigated. The first question focused on facilitative differences between explicit form-focused instruction versus implicit meaning focused instruction. The results of this study indicated significantly higher test results for Gr1-FFI compared with Gr2-MFI-SH/HD and Gr3-MFI-HD/SH. However, all three groups showed a significant increase in test results over time. The second question focused on facilitative differences between explicit meaning-focused vs implicit meaning-focused instruction when instruction is based on story reading-aloud techniques. Post-hoc analysis indicated a statistically significant increase in results over time for both groups. However no significant differences were measured between the groups, indicating that the format of instruction resulted in a significant test-result increase, but the sequence of story reading-aloud had no significant impact on results. Finally, the third question looked at the effective use of regular vs irregular verb changes among the participating population. Both regular and irregular verb changes showed a significant increase in test results over time. However, no significant differences were measured between verb forms over time.