The Effects of L1 Vowel Development and L2 Learning Experience on the Perception of L2 Vowels for Taiwanese Elementary School Students

國語母音發展與英語學習經驗對英語母音辨識的影響：以臺灣國小學童為例

洪誼芹(Yi-Ching Hung) ； 張詠翔(Yung-Hsiang Shawn Chang)

《英語教學期刊》 41卷3期 (2017/09) Pp. 91-112

https://doi.org/10.6330/ETL.2017.41.3.04

摘要

This paper investigates the effects of the interaction between L2 learning experience and L1 vowel development on the perception of L2 vowels for older and younger children. Thirty-eight Taiwanese elementary school students (19 sixth graders who learned English for 6-7 years; 19 first graders who learned English for 1-2 years) participated in two experiments: a Mandarin (L1) vowel identification test and an English (L2) vowel discrimination test. The results show that the sixth graders' identification slopes in the Mandarin vowel identification test were steeper than the first graders', indicating that the sixth graders had more developed Mandarin vowel categories. Although the sixth graders had more experience learning English, the study did not find any significant difference between the two age groups' performances in English vowel discrimination. The fact that the sixth graders failed to outperform the first graders in the perception of English vowels could be attributed to their more developed Mandarin vowel categories, which may have served as stronger attractors of English vowels and thus offset their advantage of having more English learning experience. It is concluded that the control of L1 speech development is critical for future research on children's L2 speech production, as the developmental factor in L1 acquisition may conceal the effect of L2 experience on L2 learning outcome.

關鍵字

L1 vowel development ； L2 learning experience ； L2 vowel perception ； child learners

並列摘要

本研究旨在探討母語母音發展與外語學習經驗對外語母音辨識的影響。實驗研究對象為19位臺北市國小一年級學童與19位六年級學童，這些學生參與了國語母音識別實驗與英語母音區辨實驗。實驗結果顯示，一年級學童的國語母音系統發展仍未臻成熟，而六年級學童成熟的國語母音系統可能干擾了他們英語母音的學習，使其在英語母音區辨實驗與剛開始學習英文的一年級學童有類似的表現。因此，在未來的兒童外語發音相關研究上，我們建議控制母語語音發展此變項，以降低母語語音發展對外語學習經驗造成的干擾，進而對研究結果造成影響。

並列關鍵字

母語母音發展 ； 外語學習經驗 ； 第二語言母音感知 ； 兒童學習者

參考文獻

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