探討英語學習對空間認知概念的影響

Examining the Effects of English Learning on Spatial Cognition

林沛辰(Pei-Chen Lin)

指導教授 ： 官英華

中原大學/人文與教育學院/應用外語研究所/碩士(2009年)

https://doi.org/10.6840/cycu200900825

摘要

語言決定論指出語言會影響認知,而不同語言的人會有不同的思考模式。本研究將此論點與外語習得連結,主要探討英語學習對空間認知的影響。
不同的語言各自有不同的呈現方式來描寫空間。相較於中文而言，英語對於空間上的描述較為精確。舉例來說，中文“在房子中間”在英語中可以表述為 “in the middle of the house”及“between the houses”兩種方式。本研究以中文方位詞及英語介係詞跨語言的角度出發旨在探討英語學習對台灣學生在空間認知上的影響。本研究包含兩個實驗。
實驗一包含兩個測驗: 英語介係詞測驗及空間傾向測驗。四十名以中文為母語且英語為其第二外語之大學生參與本實驗。英語程度為初階及進階者各二十名。介係詞測驗主要檢視台灣學生正確使用英語介係詞的程度。空間傾向測驗採用電腦繪圖方式，並搭配簡短的中文描述呈現圖片中主題與背景之間的空間配置關係。受試者以中文作為其空間配置的判斷依據，藉以得知以中文為母語人士的空間傾向為何。
實驗二旨在檢驗英語空間介係詞的學習對於中文為母語的台灣學生在空間認知上所造成的影響。更進一步檢視英語程度為進階的英語學習者在空間思維上是否較初階學習者易受到英語影響。實驗二包含英語介係詞測驗及促發測驗。促發測驗先以英語介係詞組成的內容段落導引出受試者的英語空間思維，再給予中文描述作為圖片選擇上的判斷依據。兩語言系統轉換下所需的反應時間可作為評估促發效果的依據。
結果顯示，不論是英語程度為初階或進階，受試者仍以中文作為思考空間的方式而非以英語為主。儘管英語學習者在學習英語介係詞後能理解英語的空間思維，但是母語仍然主導他們的空間思維。

關鍵字

英語學習 ； 語言決定論 ； 空間認知

並列摘要

Language determinism strongly claims that language determines non-linguistic cognitive processes. The speakers of different languages think differently. In relation to foreign language acquisition, the issue whether thought can be shaped by language learning was further investigated.
Cross-linguistic differences can result in differences of non-linguistic cognitive processes. English, when compared to Mandarin Chinese, makes a finer distinction in describing space. For example, the locative phrase “在房子中間” in English can be expressed either as “between the houses” or “in the middle of the house”. Therefore, the aim of this study is to examine the effect of English learning on spatial cognition of Taiwanese EFL (English as a foreign language) students.
This study was comprised of two experiments: the first experiment involved an English preposition task and a spatial tendency task. The second experiment included an English preposition task and a priming task. In both experiments, forty students voluntarily participated and were classified into two different English proficiency groups: twenty beginning- level learners and twenty advanced-level learners.
The purpose of the first experiment was to evaluate the subjects with different English proficiencies in preposition knowledge and find out their spatial tendency in the Chinese mode. The stimuli described the spatial arrangements for the located objects. An accompanying Chinese description corresponding to the spatial arrangements was given. Subjects were required to select the most suitable picture as quickly as possible. The frequency distribution for the picture selection was used to identify the Mandarin Chinese speakers’ spatial tendency. Based on this, several unsuitable trials were excluded because subjects did not show stronger tendency in picture selection. The remaining trials were used to create the priming stimuli including negative and positive priming sentences for the second experiment.
The second experiment was to investigate whether the priming effect was more likely on the advanced-level learners than on the beginning-level learners. The participants first primed with the English sentences containing several prepositional phrases to elicit their spatial cognition. Sequentially, they were given a Chinese description to evoke spatial conceptualization in the Chinese mode. The reaction time was viewed as the evidence for the strength of the effect of English ability on spatial cognition.
For the first experiment, an independent-sample T-test was used to examine whether the subjects of different proficiency levels showed significant differences in understanding the prepositions. Correlation analysis was used to examine the linear association between English proficiency and the accuracy rates. Chi-Square-based Phi coefficient was employed to estimate the degree of subjects’ consistency of the repeated measurements for spatial tendency. For the second experiment, a repeated measure Analysis of variance was used to analyze whether there was a significant difference in reaction time between the beginning-level learners and the advanced-level learners after they were primed. In this case, English proficiency (advanced level and beginning level) was the between-subject factor. Priming type (negative versus positive) was the within-subject factor. Paired sample T-test was used to examine the prime effect for the two English proficiency groups.
The results showed that Taiwanese EFL learners’ habitual thinking about space was mainly determined by Mandarin Chinese. Although EFL students learned how to conceptualize space in English, English learning did not affect their spatial orientation.

並列關鍵字

spatial cognition ； linguistic determinism ； English learning

參考文獻

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