台灣英語學習者中介語之捲舌音聲學研究

Abstract

中介語音(Interphonetics)的研究對於中介語理論(Interlanguage Theory)的建構來說，為不可或缺的一環。中介語理論為近代第二語言習得理論(Second Language Acquisition)中用來解釋第二語言學習者語言學習情況的假說，此理論假定學習者在學習第二語言的過程中，會建構出一個獨立的中介語系統，而此語言系統會隨著學習者的學習狀況，逐漸從母語(L1)的趨近目標語(TL)。本篇論文從台灣成人學習英語齒槽近似音[ɹ]的情形進行其中介語音的探討，由感知(perception)及產製(production)的角度進行實驗觀察，並對比其母語—台灣華語中的捲舌音的感知及產製，來探討台灣成人英語學習者中介語[ɹ]的建構，是否會受到其母語中類似語音的影響。\n本論文總共設計了三種實驗來觀察受試者中介語[ɹ]的建構。受試者皆為台灣成人英語初級學習者。實驗一為台灣華語之捲舌音產製實驗，實驗二則為英語齒槽近似音[ɹ]的產製實驗，而實驗三為台灣華語捲舌音及英文近似音[ɹ]的感知區辨實驗。此外，本論文採納了三種第二語音習得理論進行實驗結果的解釋，分別為言語學習模型(Flege, 1995)、認知類化模型(Best, 1995)、以及有標性差異假說(F. R. Eckman, 1977)。\n實驗結果顯示，學習者中介語[ɹ]的建構，並不是完全依賴母語的遷移。在產製實驗方面，學習者在台灣華語捲舌音的弱化會遷移到其中介語，但也有學習者建構出和其母語不同的中介語語音。在感知實驗方面，受試者似乎容易將台灣華語音節尾捲舌音及英語[ɚ]及[ɝ]視為相同的語音。實驗結果有部分符合分別為言語學習模型(Flege, 1995)及認知類化模型(Best, 1995)中的假說，並解釋了影響中介語音建構的因素不單單只有學習者母語的遷移。

The study of Interphonetics is an essential part of the construction of Interlanguage Theory (IL). IL is a hypothesis used in recent Second Language Acquisition (SLA) theory to explain the language learning of second language learners. The language system gradually moves from the native language (L1) to the target language (TL) as the learner progresses. This thesis examines the speech sounds of Taiwanese adults learning English alveolar approximant [ɹ] in their interlanguage from the perspective of perception and production and compares the perception and production of the retroflex sounds in their native language, Taiwan Mandarin. The thesis is to investigate whether the construction of English learners` interlanguage speech sound [ɹ] is influenced by the similar speech sounds in their native language.\nThree experiments were designed to observe the construction of the interlanguage speech sound [ɹ]. The subjects were all beginner adult learners of English in Taiwan. Experiment 1 was the production test of the Taiwanese Chinese retroflex sounds, experiment 2 was the production test of the English alveolar approximant [ɹ], and experiment 3 was the perceptual discrimination test between the Taiwanese Chinese retroflex sounds and the English approximant [ɹ]. In addition, three second language acquisition theories were adopted to explain the experimental results, namely, the Speech Learning Model (Flege, 1995), the Perceptual Assimilation Model (Best, 1995), and the Markedness Differential Hypothesis (F. R. Eckman, 1977).\nResults show that the construction of the learner`s interlanguage language [ɹ] is not entirely dependent on the transfer of the native language. In the production experiments, learners` retroflex reduction in the Taiwanese Chinese was transferred to their interlanguage language, but some learners also constructed interlanguage speech sounds that were different from their native language. In the perceptual experiment, it appeared that the subjects easily perceived the Taiwan syllable-final retroflex sounds as the same as the English [ɚ] and [ɝ]. The results are partially consistent with the hypotheses of the Speech Learning Model (Flege, 1995) and the Perceptual Assimilation Model (Best, 1995), respectively, and explain that except for L1 transfer, there might be other factors affecting the construction of the interlanguage speech sounds.