初探台灣以英文為外語之學童的口語敘事發展：以中文與英文故事「青蛙，你在哪裡？」為例

Abstract

有鑑於外語學習在台灣日漸興盛，兒童語言習得(children’s language acquisition)已是當下廣為探究的領域之一。為深入了解兒童語言習得的過程及發展，口語敘事能力(oral narrative ability)儼然成為不可或缺的一環。因此，孩童的口語敘事發展(oral narrative development)更是與其能力的培養息息相關。 本論文主要在探討台灣以英文為外國語言的兒童，其口語敘述之發展，主要是針對敘事結構(narrative structure)，又稱故事結構(story grammar)，做深入的分析及探究。除了探討不同年齡層孩童之間的敘事發展之外，亦比較跨語言的敘事差異。 本研究對象是21名全美語幼稚園學童(English-immersion kindergarten) 及23名參與該機構之課後輔導(after-school program)的國小學童。這些孩童根據研究者所提供的一本無字圖畫書(Frog, Where Are You? Mayer, 1969)，分別以中文和英文敘述出書中的內容。其敘述的內容被進一步轉譯，並針對故事結構成分(story grammar components)及故事結構等級(story grammar levels)予以分析歸類。 研究結果顯示，大部分學童的敘述能力皆符合既有的分級；以學齡前學童而言，主要都被分類至三個等級中：(1)行為順序(action sequence)，(2)反應順序(reactive sequence)，以及(3)簡易情節(abbreviated episode)。然而，國小學童的表現，相較學齡前孩童，包括更多的層級：(1)反應順序(reactive sequence)，(2)簡易情節(abbreviated episode)，(3)完整情節(complete episode)，(4)複雜情結(complex episode)，以及(5)嵌入性情節(embedded episode)。 再者，研究結果亦顯示了跨年紀及跨語言的差異。以跨年紀的敘事發展而言，學齡前學童相較於國小學童者，有以下的幾點敘事特徵：(1)較無法依照書中的正確順序將情節描述出來，(2)較容易說出錯誤的資訊及內容，(3)較不容易洞察主角的情緒狀態，(4)說出較多重覆的句子，以及(5)無法像學齡孩童一樣，使用較複雜的句子及故事慣用語式 (formulaic expression)，來開啟故事及做結尾。在跨語言的差異方面，兩組學童的中文故事，相對於英文故事而言，較能提供正確的資訊內容以及較少說出重覆的句子。 此外，本研究希望藉由此研究成果，協助英語學習者發展敘事能力。並且，能對關切及投身於語言教學的老師及家長們，有所助益。

The purpose of the present study was to examine the narrative performance of Taiwanese EFL children in both Chinese and English. The developmental changes in children’s stories across two age groups and the similarities and differences of children’s story structures in the two languages were explored. Twenty-one children from an English-immersion kindergarten program and 22 elementary-school children from an English afterschool program participated in this study. Both groups of children were asked to tell a story in Chinese and English respectively from a wordless picture book, Frog, Where Are You? (Mayer, 1969). Children’s stories were segmented into modified C-units and were further analyzed using the story grammar components (Stein & Glenn, 1979). Each of the children’s story was also categorized into different story grammar levels (Westby et. al., 1984; 1986). The overall descriptive analyses showed that the Taiwanese EFL children of the present study told their Chinese and English stories roughly matched Westby et al.’s eight-stage story grammar (1984; 1986). The preschool children’s narratives mainly fell into three levels: action sequence, reactive sequence, and abbreviated episode; in contrast, the school-aged children’s story levels were more varied, ranging from the simpler story structure such as reactive sequence to more complex structure such as abbreviated episode, complete episode, complex episode, and embedded episode. The cross-age comparisons revealed that the preschool children had lesser ability than the school-aged children in the following aspects: (1) story sequencing, (2) correct information provided, (3) the awareness of psychological states, (4) effective use of repetitions, and (5) story opening and ending. The present study further compared differences of the children’s stories across Chinese and English. The results showed that the children’s English stories contained more incorrect information, and the preschool English stories showed extensive but futile instances of repetitions. In view of the findings, the present study presented a preliminary investigation that examined Taiwanese EFL children’s narrative development in Chinese and English and hoped to provide a preliminary understanding for teachers and parents when they are involved in children’s narrative and language development.