台灣華語子音習得

Abstract

本計畫的研究目的是要探討台灣台北地區華語的幼兒對於子音習得長期發展的歷程模式。研究對象有兩組，一組為7個月左右的幼兒，預估記錄他們完整子音習得的系統。另一組為2歲到6歲的幼童。本計畫打算進行為期三年、大規模、有系統的收集研究這群幼兒他們習得個別子音的年齡層階段、子音次序及錯誤類別，研究方式擬採取長期個案追蹤觀察法以及跨年齡層大量收集的量化研究。對於長期個案追蹤觀察的幼兒是以傳統的基本自發性語料(spontaneous speech)為收集方式，對象為上述7個月大的幼兒（6名男生，6名女生），而對於跨年齡層的幼兒將以國外經常進行的基礎經典實驗圖片命名（picture-naming）為主，對象為2歲到6歲，共計320名幼兒（160男生，160女生）以及說故事測驗(narrative-retell)，共計80名幼兒（2歲到6歲；40名男生，40名女生）。本研究主要的研究主題細分為四類：（1）台灣華語子音個別習得的年齡階段以及子音個別使用數量的穩定性；（2）台灣華語子音的習得次序；（3）台灣華語子音的習得錯誤類別; (4)台灣華語整體子音發展與其他外語比較以及音韻理論的應用。有關英語幼兒音韻習得的文獻報告可以說是非常豐富(Templin 1957, Smith 1973, Ferguson & Farwell 1975, Prather, Hedrick & Kent 1975, Ferguson 1977, Greenberg and Ferguson, 1978, Ingram 1981, Ferguson & Macken 1983, Menn 1983, Vilman, Macken, Miller, Simmons &Miller 1985)。一般而言，過去多項研究是採取長期個案追蹤觀察法，而研究對象通常只包含少數幼兒(e.g., Smith 1973, Ferguson & Farwell 1975, Ingram 1981)，因此也會產生個別差異的問題。近年來則是有許多研究採取跨年齡層的大型量化研究，即是一次收集大量的幼童語料，同時分類出不同年齡幼童組別，從這些組別中尋找一些基本的習得次序或是不同年齡層所產生的發展變化（e.g., Wellman et al., 1931, Templin 1957, Sander 1972, Irwin & Wong 1983）。研究方法除了採用自發性語料收集家長或保母與幼兒的互動言語之外，另外還有利用看圖命名的語料收集、讓孩童說故事、模仿或是由家長做問卷設計，從中探討或是印證多方的音韻理論或是心理語言模型架構（Bates, 1979）。 一般而言，對於這些豐富的英語習得語料報告，目前得到的共識為：1)從子音習得的穩定性來看，2歲之前能後發出唇音及喉音，塞音及塞擦音的穩定正確率通常要等到4歲以後（Prather et al. 1975)；2）從子音習得次序來看，塞音、鼻音及滑音學習的時間比較早，而擦音、塞擦音及流音晚很多。另外，在口腔音中，位於前面部位的子音會比位於後面部位的子音習得來得早(Edwards and Shriberg, 1983)。某些表徵例如[+nasal]，[voice]及[-corornal]不論在習得早晚或是使用數量上都比[+continuant]與[+strident]來的多(Menyuk 1968)；3）從子音錯誤類別來看，代換在幼兒習得錯誤類別中，佔有很大的比例（Menyuk 1968，Cairns & Williams 1972），目前發現代換方式傾向於簡化法(simplification)、同化法(assimilation)、前位化(fronting)、塞位化(stopping)等。本計畫打算利用三年時間研究底下一系列的議題：一、台灣華語幼兒子音習得歷程為何？各個子音分別習得年齡階段以及數量各為何？子音音型出現率、正確率及穩定狀態為何？二、台灣華語幼童習得的子音順序為何？最早出現的子音是否為鼻音、塞音及喉音？擦音、塞擦音及流音是否習得時間比較晚？華語特有的非送氣塞音是否比送氣音習得來的更快？三、台灣華語幼兒的子音錯誤類型為何？代換的類型又該如何細分？四、與國外文獻比較，差異相同處為何？音韻理論如何解釋這些不同的語料？在本計畫中，長期觀察個案研究與跨年齡層的量化收集法各有利處，一方可以一窺語言發展語音的變化也可以探討幼兒習得的個別差異，另一方則能提供許多可靠性的數據。本研究希望透過兩組研究對象，成功的紀錄幼兒子音發展詳細歷程，以便與西方音韻理論做一詳細比較。計畫主持人主要的工作為收集語料、實驗設計及音韻分析，而共同主持人負責實驗語料及項目，兩位協同主持人負責設計電腦應用程式、統計分析或組織CHILDES語料系統，透過語料分析可進一步驗證音韻習得的假設以及音韻通用性。

The aim of this project is to provide some evidence on consonant acquisition of phonology by children learning Taiwan Mandarin as their first language. This study plans to describe age of consonant acquisition, order and rate of consonant acquisition, types of errors and, and types of substitution by looking at three sources of data. The first one will be drawn from a longitudinal observation of consonant acquisition process by 12 children aged 0;7 to 3;0 at a naturalistic setting. The second one will be drawn from two cross-sectional studies which involve consonant articulation in the speech of 320 Taiwan Mandarin children aged 2;0 – 6;0 (40 children in each group of eight age levels 6 month apart) and of 80 children selected from the above groups (10 children in each group of eight age levels 6 month apart). A number of studies have shown the consonant development of children learning Taiwan Mandarin as their first language (e.g., Li 1977, Jeng 1979, Shiu 1990, Su 1995, Hua & Dodd 2000, Hsu 2003). They all tested the validity and basically highlighted the heavy influence of Jakobson’s early work. In those studies, they have compared the results with earlier classical studies and distinctive feature development. Results from these studies indicated substantial similarities to other languages in the order of acquisition, and important differences attributable to language specific properties of Taiwan Mandarin were noticed as well. Several carefully conducted longitudinal studies on the early stages of Mandarin acquisition have also been completed. In this research project, the PI will plan to adopt three sources of data collection. The PI and the research team will observe and record the conversations and interactions between the subjects (children) and their main caretakers; data involving spontaneous running speech, word imitation or elicited speech will be observed and collected during the whole recording sessions. The PI will also adopt two cross-sectional studies by conducting the classical experimental techniques, picture-naming task and narrative retelling task, for elicitation of error collection containing different types or tokens of error patterns. A number of fundamental questions regarding consonant acquisition to be explored involve the following: 1) What are developmental stages of consonant acquisition in Taiwan Mandarin children? At what age will children acquire those consonants? What is the rate of consonant acquisition at various stages? Will children have any preference to acquire certain consonant phones or even phonological features earlier than the other sets? Will those phones be distributed evenly in their production system? Moreover, what are the alternations and/or variations observed in children’s consonant forms since children do not simply acquire a sound and produce it correctly? 2) What consonant phones are acquired in each stages? What is the developmental process with those consonant phones? In what chronological order will they be acquired? Will the age of consonant acquisition reflect the degree of difficulty of articulation? Will distinctive features help explain this chronological order? Will Mandarin children follow the similar pattern found in English studies? 3) What are the error patterns undergoing phonological processes? Are children more likely to substitute one phone for another? Are the target-error sets more likely to interact with one another when they are phonetically similar? Do error patterns also honor phonotactic constraints and/or syllable structure? Are consonants more likely to interact with each other syllable-initially or syllable-finally? The PI plans to describe the consonant repertories and errors patterns in Taiwan Mandarin by utilizing children’s performance from a longitudinal study as well as cross-sectional studies. The PI will work on data collections, experimental designs and phonological analyses, the Co-PI will help the test material on the cross-sectional studies, and two associate investigators will work on the computer techniques, running statistic programs or will organize CHILDES system. The PI is hoping to add the growing body of knowledge that will facilitate some understanding of the phonological acquisition process and its relation to phonological universals.