擬聲詞可以神救援嗎？透過聲音擬似性習得華語動詞之研究

Abstract

幼兒學習動詞較名詞來得困難，因為動詞較不具體，也較難產生意象。而華語因為缺乏動詞詞尾變位，更加劇了這個問題，使得新的動詞難以辨識。因為擬聲詞具豐富意象，本研究探討擬聲詞是否可藉此促進動詞學習。本研究招募了50位41.00到47.90個月學習華語的幼兒，並隨機分配到五組（三個動詞學習組及兩個名詞學習組）中的一組，以執行快速配對。在快速配對階段，每題皆會出現兩張圖片，一張是幼童熟悉的物件，另一張則是新奇的物件，共有六題。幼兒在聽到新詞後，透過排除法將新圖片與新詞做連結。隨後，我們讓幼童進行新詞表達與理解測驗。在動詞學習組中，新詞皆為擬聲疊詞，並且放置於句子的動詞位置（例如：哪個會＿？）。三個動詞學習組中，一組僅以擬聲疊詞形式呈現（下稱VV），另一組以擬聲疊詞搭配其模仿的聲音呈現（下稱VVS），而最後一組則以擬聲疊詞搭配不匹配的聲音呈現（下稱VVX）。名詞學習組將新詞當作為名詞使用，放在句子中（例如：哪個是＿？）。一組以單音節形式呈現新詞（下稱N），另一組以重疊詞形式呈現新詞（下稱NN）。結果顯示，幼兒保留VVS的能力優於VV與VVX，而N與NN的表現並無不同。此外，VVS與兩個名詞學習組間沒有顯著差異。這些結果顯示，只要聲音與意義之間建立連結，擬聲詞確實可以促進動詞學習。

Verbs are generally more difficult for young children to acquire than nouns due to lower concreteness and imageability. The lack of verb conjugation in Mandarin seems to only exacerbate the problem, making novel verbs even more challenging to identify. This study thus examined whether verb learning could be boosted by onomatopoeia, which is rich in imagery and claimed to facilitate language learning. Fifty Mandarin-learning children from age 41.00 to 47.90 months were recruited and randomly assigned to one of five groups (three verb-learning and two noun-learning) to perform a fast mapping task. In all five groups, children were presented with two pictures in each trial, one with a familiar item, and the other a novel item. There were in total six novel pictures. Upon hearing a novel word, children were expected to associate it with the novel item through deduction. Later, they were tested on their production and comprehension of the novel words. For the verb-learning groups, the novel words were all in the form of onomatopoeic reduplication, and were placed in a verbal sentence frame (e.g., Nage hui ___? ‘Which makes the sound __?’). One group provided the novel label as is (VV hereafter), another provided both the label along with the novel sound it mimicked after (VVS hereafter), and the other provided the label along with a mismatching sound (VVX hereafter). The noun-learning groups placed the novel words in a nominal sentence frame (e.g., Nage shi ___? ‘Which is a __?’). One group provided the novel label in monosyllabic form (N hereafter) and the other provided the novel label in reduplicative form (NN hereafter). Results showed that VVS performed better than VV and VVX, while no difference was found between N and NN. Crucially, VVS did not differ significantly from both of the noun-learning groups. The results thus implied that onomatopoeia can indeed facilitate verb learning as long as a sound iconic association between the mimicking label and the mimicked sound is established.